The world has changed, and
marketing must change, too. To avoid eventual brand 'rigor mortis,' marketing
needs to become rigorous.
What do I mean by this?
Essentially, marketers must
realise that they need to let go of ineffective activity-based marketing that
breaks the budget and rather embrace a new marketing culture of outcome-driven
marketing to ensure that marketing spending yields returns instead of becoming
a money-losing exercise in creative wishful thinking.
It's easy to fall into the trap
of going through the motions — aka activity-based marketing. You have a scope
of tasks that must be completed, and you have a budget. That's the job, right?
Hit the mark on the number of posts per week, ensure that email blasts are sent out
on time and stick to the content schedule.
Unfortunately, that just doesn't
cut it anymore, while it ticks the boxes on productivity because, let's face
it, if you are working hard, measuring this work using vanity metrics like
followers, clicks and traffic is just that, ticking boxes. There is no clear,
measurable strategy and minimal real data analysis for optimising campaigns.
There is also another crucial element missing in this approach — adaptability.
Marketing must be adaptable, which means cutting loose that reactive mindset
and being open to changing the strategy if you see it's not bringing in the
proverbial bacon.
So, what should marketers do
instead?
How about results-driven or outcome-based marketing that prioritises
hitting specific, measurable goals to deliver a positive ROI? This means
developing and focusing on KPIs like leads and sales that directly impact the
business.
How? By using an approach driven by solid data insights, clearly set
objectives and a well-defined strategy so that everyone is familiar with the
roadmap. And be ready to be agile — data gives you insights, and the insights
should be driving your strategy. If the insights tell you things are not going
great, it's time to quickly change lanes. The beauty of digital marketing is
that we have the ability to make real-time adjustments, so why are we not doing
it more often? Campaigns must respond to changes in the market and also changes
in the customer mindset. Forget about "we sent 100 emails this week" and start
looking for "we increased qualified leads by 25% this quarter" or "we
reduced customer acquisition cost by 15%." This is the quantitative data
that equates to marketing gold.
Can you see the difference?
Activities versus outcomes. Vanity metrics versus KPIs. Lack of strategy versus data-driven
plans. Reactive versus proactive. This all translates into non-existent value vs
high and measurable returns.
Why does any of this matter?
Aside from the impact
on your bottom line, results-driven marketing delivers accountability and gives
you a view of the true value of your marketing efforts. This gives you the edge
in tracking progress and growth and ultimately justifies your budgets and
advertising spend. With a focus on outcomes instead of activities, every Rand
you spend goes right back into growing your business.
This is where the power of a
results-driven partner comes to the fore for SMEs exploring the idea of
outsourcing their marketing needs or using a collaborative team to amplify their
in-house efforts. It is also up to business leaders to ensure vanity metrics are
left behind in favour of data, analysis and optimisation. Ask the hard
questions — what is their approach to reporting? Do they have sound methods for
tracking ROI? Are they ready and willing, with the capabilities to adapt,
re-strategise, and rework if necessary? Anything other than an 'of course'
would be doing your marketing a disservice.
Of course, the best marketing
partnerships are built on transparency and collaboration. That is a given. But
when choosing to work with partners who, in essence, become an extension of
your team, they must be willing to move beyond 'doing' to challenge assumptions
and give you honest and measurable feedback. Good enough is no longer good
enough. It's time to shift marketing into 'achieving,' starting with demanding
more tangible outcomes.
For more information, visit www.jubezdigital.com. You can also follow Jubez Digital on Facebook, LinkedIn, or on Instagram.
*Image courtesy of Facebook