The Almost/Never Rule of Marketing Strategy

A general rule in #marketing is what I call the Almost/Never Rule. That rule states that #marketingstrategies (almost) never generate immediate results and (almost) never score quick wins.?

Strange thing for a #marketingexecutive to say out loud in the digital village square, but it’s the truth.?

Obviously, no executives want to hear that, and very few marketers like saying it, but there it is.?

So why am I saying it??

Because the fact is that almost everyone who hires marketers wants immediate results and quick wins and most marketers try to deliver on those impossible goals creating a huge conflict.?

So the first takeaway is if you’re an exec and someone promises you immediate results and quick wins you need to know it’s (almost) never going to happen. And if you’re a marketer and you’re hired or expected to deliver immediate results and quick wins, you need to know you are being set up to fail. (The good news is that there is an extremely rare exception to the Almost/Never Rule; read on to discover it.)?

Lately, I’ve witnessed this classic marketing conflict over and over. It’s Q4 - companies need results, there’s a recession we need to do more with fewer resources, I’ve heard all the reasons. We need results now. Marketing isn't meeting its goals. And I notice that the breakdown is particularly acute in young companies where executives read three marketing books and think they understand how marketing works and marketeers lack the experience to build and run successful marketing strategies.?

The truth is marketing is a long, slow game. Marketing strategy requires careful planning and timing, it’s a long-term investment and it takes time to build, it requires discussion, planning, trial and error…?it requires what Robin Schweitzer (Purposefulness, Excellence, Responsibility) calls the "Brilliant Basics".

Building a marketing growth strategy is like building a house… you need a vision, you need a blueprint, raw materials, special tools, resources, and the experts who know how to use them in the service of your vision. The whole house-building project is tied to the calendar with dependencies. Your contractor can’t build your deluxe bathroom before the plumber installs the pipes. The tile specialist can’t install the beautiful Italian ceramic tile in the kitchen until the concrete is poured and dries and settles; you can’t install your Viking oven until the gas and exhaust have been installed, tested, and approved, you don't want the framer to install your lighting fixtures… you get my point.?

It’s similar with marketing strategies - you can’t just throw up some social posts or launch Google campaigns and expect SQLs to immediately pour in. Have you identified the targets? Segmented lists? Set up GA properly? Done keyword research? Named and tracked campaigns across devices? Integrated the martech stack? Found a graphic designer? Copywriter? SEO expert? and so on and so on… you get the point.?

So the next time anyone wants better, faster marketing results, check first that the Brilliant Basics are in place, including

• ?Reliable, quality data and analytics?
• An integrated MarTech stack
• Segmented prospect and customer lists
• Quality UX/UI design
• Frictionless customer acquisition strategies?
• Relevant, valuable content for all stages of the buying process
• Marketing specialists to execute the finer tasks
• Trained sales and customer support teams?

I mentioned above that there is an exception to the Almost/Never Rule. Quick wins and immediate results do happen in exceptional companies. What makes those companies exceptional? By now it’s obvious, that only those companies that devote the time and resources to building Brilliant Basics, a legitimate marketing foundation, earn the right to quick wins and immediate results. Companies with the “Brilliant Basics” in place can support and fuel an aggressive, growth-oriented marketing strategy, without them, marketing is building castles in the sand.?