Random Marketing Thoughts

Do you ever come across articles, stories, what-have-you that you know would make for great fodder for a specific article but... you'd rather lump them together and share your opinions on multiple pieces at one time?

Happens to me a lot. I save a lot of articles that I promise myself I will get back to for later use. READ: Blog/Article fodder.

Of course best laid plans often go awry, hence Random Marketing Thoughts.

I'll give you the title of each piece I want to comment on then provide you with the full link for your reading/consuming pleasure.

NOTE: Most, if not all of these articles will be within the past 6-8 months.

97% of Companies Still Don't Have This

The "this" is true, real, honest-to-goodness personalization across every-single-channel. Reading this eMarketer piece found me reaching for the nearest calendar to confirm it is in fact 2019.

The ubiquitous red & black eMarketer chart:

As you can see a mere 3% of companies surveyed say they have all channels connected while just another 9% indicated they have 'most' connected, whatever that means. Flip it around and you'll see that an incredible 74% say they have either very few channels connected or none at all.

Simply incredible. I honestly do not understand how this can be the case in the year two-thousand and nineteen. If I had to put my reasoning hat on, I would probably include the following in the list of why this is the case.

• Legacy systems. "Hey maybe it's time we upgrade our martech solution. We've had this one since 1998."
• Fear of change. A common human lament of course. This of course dovetails perfectly with the classic 'it ain't broke so why do need to fix it?' Translation: "We're hitting our numbers so what's the problem?"
• Ignorance. You don't know what you don't know. Translation: There are martech solutions out there as we speak that take you to where you AND your customers want to go AKA a cross-channel personalized odyssey but...

Read the full story.

Lead & They Will Follow

Other than 'content marketing' is there a term MORE overused than 'thought leadership?' That's a rhetorical question by the way because the answer is NO. The term 'thought leadership' has taken on a life of its own -- and rightly so.

The problem is a great number of marketers -- in this particular case B2B marketers are missing the thought leadership boat, big time.

From a recent Edelman study:

It’s more powerful than marketers think. B2B marketers and salespeople significantly underestimate the impact of thought leadership on demand generation and sales efforts compared to actual feedback from B2B buyers.

As Social Media Today aptly put it "The following stats (from the study) prove the lack of understanding sales and marketing leaders have about the value of thought leadership.

Where do I even start? Oh yeah with these stats! It is vital to point out that these numbers are not necessarily referring to blog posts or eBooks. They are referring to ANY form of thought leadership.

I say that because I know a great many of you will think to yourself: 'I know I need to do more thought leadership content, but I don't know what to write; I don't have to write and I'm not a writer in the first place!'

I hear this retort over and over and I dismiss it instantly. Or as Burt Young said in Rocky, 'instamatically.'

Whoever said and where is it written that content of ANY kind must be in written form?

Yet for some reason, I get the strange sense that when it comes to thought leadership there is a preconceived notion that it must take the form of the written word.

Nothing could be farther from the truth.

Oh yeah one teency, weency detail:

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP DOES NOT MEAN SALES PITCH.

It means to express your opinion; to share your knowledge; to allow others to learn from your experience all done in a very agnostic way. Translation: DO not write, say or otherwise anything that remotely sounds like this:

"At [[company XYZ]] we believe we are the best at..."

The second you enter that area is the same second you leave thought leadership behind.

Read the full story.

Meet Steve

Like his older siblings, Steve Olenski began his professional career in the supermarket industry where he learned the value of rolling up his sleeves and getting your hands dirty. Eventually migrating to the white-collar world, Steve never forgot his blue-collar roots.

Having never graduated college nor taking a writing course in his life, Steve somehow fought his way to earn a place among the world’s most influential journalists and writers. From CMOs and business leaders from the world’s biggest brands to celebrities and athletes, Steve’s innate ability to instantly put people at ease while distilling his unparalleled level of real-world experience and knowledge make him, as one business leader called him: A unicorn.

Steve has been writing for many leading publications for over 10 years including Advertising Age, Adweek and Business Insider. Most recently he was a leading contributor to Forbes, which receives 32 million hits/11 million unique visitors every day.

Over that time he has amassed a close network of executives and thought leaders that are second to none. He has been referred to as “The Distiller of Truth” and “The CMO Whisperer” by the former CMO of Walmart and Prudential. The CMO of the Grammys calls him “…one of marketing’s definitive authorities” while the CMO of PayPal says of him “I value his partnership, skillset and experience.

He is truly in “rarified air” for he has achieved an unrivaled respect and trust among those in the c-suite. His diverse background – ranging from the agency side where’s served in many roles including creative director, and copywriter to his current role as Master Principal Sales Architect for Oracle to director of marketing and other roles on the marketing side at large global brands such as Prudential and Marsh & McLennan, affords him a very unique perspective. No one is more attuned to the state of marketing and advertising than Steve.

As passionate as Steve is about writing, marketing, helping people and just having a good old fashioned conversation, he is most passionate about two things: his daughter Samantha and his son Josh.

The picture to the right is of Steve and his kids. However it is from the year 2012. Why no recent pictures? Because his kids are older now, 19 and 14 respectively and quite frankly they don’t have time nor much want to be in a photo with their “old man.” 

Follow him on Twitter @steveolenski or at the nearest coffee shop or at [email protected].

The views expressed here are Steve's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of Oracle.