MARKETING
Digital Marketing Data and How to Optimize Like a Champ
There’s so much data, from so many different sources, with so many different reporting tools, that you could just drown in reports, attribution, and meetings. With so much noise out there, it’s important that you look at the data in a certain way. There’s important information hidden in the metrics that will help direct your digital marketing strategy.
In this article I’m going to walk you through this technique that I’ve been using for 25 years, called MAA.
Metrics, Analysis, Action
MAA stands for metrics, analysis, action.
Let me show you how powerful it is when you use this technique on any kind of data set you have. It could be SEO data, website data, email data, conversion data, shopping cart data.
The Data Doc is in…
Think of this as if you are a surgeon in the emergency room. You must follow these three steps.
- Collect vitals.
- Diagnose.
- Treat.
First you collect the vitals. It could be heart rate, blood pressure, respiratory rate, x-rays things like that. These are the numbers that clue you in to the cause of the problem.
The second phase is the diagnosis. In this phase you interpret all the vitals that you collected. Based on the data, you make the determination of a heart attack, broken bone, virus, etc. The key point is that the diagnosis is based on the data.
From that diagnosis, you create the treatment plan. The plan might include surgery, medications, a recovery plan, etc. But the list of things to be done to make the patient healthier is based upon the findings and the diagnosis.
The marketing analytics data you collect leads directly to analysis of the problem. That then leads directly to the action. What I will show you in this article is a number of examples from a variety of digital marketing projects. This works whether you’re working on a large or small project.
Data vs Analytics
Lots of people think that they have analytics because they have Google Analytics installed on their website.
But let me tell you a dirty secret.
There are no analytics in Google Analytics. It’s just Google charts. It should be called Google Chart-Maker.
Marketing analytics is figuring out what’s actually going on. It’s the interpretation of the data. Interpreting the data tells you why sales went up or down. It helps you discover why conversion rates went up or down. Analyzing the data answers questions like:
- Why did people buy or not buy?
- Why did a competitor take a certain action?
- Where are we losing customers along the customer journey?
- Is our content hitting or missing with our customers?
Analytics is more than making charts and collecting data. And action is the next step after marketing analytics.
The way we see it, if you are not taking action based on the analytics, which was based on the data, then whatever you’re doing is random.
Returning to our analogy, not everyone should take the same pill. If you’ve got a broken bone, you shouldn’t take the same medication as someone who has a headache. So the action that you take, the optimization, should be contingent upon the analysis, which should go straight back to the data that you gathered.
Most people make the mistake of just trying to look at lots of data. This Metrics Analysis Action framework is the easiest way to figure out what you really need to do versus what’s noisy.
MAA Framework Case Study: Ecommerce
If you are in ecommerce, lead gen, or any kind of performance marketing, then you’re going to start with the action, mapped back to the analysis, and back to the metrics.
Because the actions are all the things that you could do.
So make a list of the things that you could do.
- You can play with the website.
- You can change your budgets.
- You can change ads.
- You can optimize creatives.
- You can work with influencers.
- You can buy another tool.
- You can change bids.
Think of all the actions that you could take. Start with the end in mind.
Once you decide on the action, look for the trigger. In other words, when analyzing the data, what diagnosis will cause you to take that prescribed action?
That’s where you have automated rules on Google, Facebook, or Shopify. Wherever you’re looking at data, you can set up these rules.
For example, if your cost per acquisition goes above $50, then turn the ad set off. If someone leaves a positive review on Yelp, then reach out to them to say thank you.
So if a certain thing happens, then here’s the particular action.
Then there’s a limited number of things that you could do, so you don’t have to look at everything. And then if you need to determine if that triggering condition is true, then what data do you need?
Data, Analytics, and Attribution
On the far left of this image, we have plumbing. Plumbing is collecting the data from different tags in tag manager, UTM parameters, pixels that are firing, and other events inside an app.
These are the things that people are doing. For example, opening an email. When that happens, you get plenty of email marketing data. But the data doesn’t mean anything unless you can tie it to a goal.
How do you tie data to a goal?
Here’s a lifetime value example…
Seeds of Life sells flowers to people who’ve experienced the death of a loved one. The lifetime value (LTV) of a customer is $150. What can they do to increase the LTV?
They might offer a referral bonus, free shipping for orders over a hundred dollars, etc. Their goals, checked against the marketing analytics, will determine the direction of their next marketing campaign.
The important thing is to define the goals and measure them against the data. If the data doesn’t tie to the achievement of a particular goal, then you have to ask, “why are we even collecting that data?”
We’re not searching for a needle in a haystack, here. Although, that’s what most people do with their reporting.
Most people log into Google analytics, or whatever they use to pull in all the data from all the different places. And then they just hunt and peck and wander around and look for interesting things.
They look at the data then filter down to this date for that particular segment and this part of the country. It’s like the lotto, like the power ball where you choose six random balls to try to win the million dollar jackpot.
You want to have your goals before you figure out the plumbing.
Don’t Make the Same Mistakes with Analytics
Large and small companies make the same mistakes. They tend to go after impressions or click through rate or secondary metrics when the primary metric, the business goal, is more important than a diagnostic, secondary metric.
I love looking at cost per mille, or CPM, in advertising. For example, how much are you paying per thousand impressions? What is the trigger or check engine light, to let you know whether the algorithm is penalizing you for having a low click through rate, low quality score, low relevance score, etc.
Analyzing a marketing campaign in this way may show that something else is wrong.
Please don’t make the same mistake thinking that a secondary metric like click through rate, cost per click, quality score, or CPM is more important than the main business metric.
Profit, lifetime value, or cost of acquisition should be the goals that tie to your content and targeting.
Plumbing, Goals, Content, Targeting, Amplification, Optimization…
Here’s an example (above) of a marketing campaign we ran for our friend, Brennan.
At the very top are the financial metrics, specifically profit. There’s some kind of margin with or without cost of goods and services or overhead.
Then we have revenue minus costs.
Revenue is driven by factors like conversion rate, LTV, and how well you use things like recency and frequency to increase revenue.
Then there’s costs: people costs, ad costs, software costs, other kinds of costs.
On the revenue side, units (high price vs low price) multiplied by volume (clicks and/or conversion rate) is your revenue.
On the cost side, let’s say you run all your digital marketing campaigns on a cost per click basis. You can break that down to different fixed and variable costs. So we know if we double the number of clicks we’re buying from Google, we’re going to pay twice as much. Multiply the cost by the number of clicks you get for the overall cost of that campaign.
This decomposition pyramid helps you figure out the data you need to collect using secondary diagnostic metrics.
Start to think about how those different metrics will help you uncover the main issue to focus on right now.
MAA Framework: Case Study
Let’s look at how this actually applies when you’re looking at tabular data.
In this example (above), we’re looking at a lot of information. There are 132 ad sets here. That means we have all this information for 132 projects…
- Data
- Campaigns
- Ads
- Landing pages
- Messages
This happens to be a set of Facebook campaigns, but it could easily be any social media platform or other traffic source.
We use a concept called “Top N” to select a manageable number of ad sets to work with. Why? Because it’s intimidating to try and look at ALL of them to diagnose the problem or issue.
You don’t have time to look at every single keyword, creative, or landing page. The idea of Top N is to look at the top, best- or worst-performing ad sets and ignore the rest. This is just another way of using the 80/20 rule or prioritizing your work.
I find that when you use the Top N technique on any large dataset you can quickly zero in on the most important thing.
In this case, we can see that this very first ad spent $10,000 out of $43,000. That means 25% of all of the money being spent is inside that one ad out of the 132 ads total.
Look a little more closely and you’ll see the top five already account for 60% of the total spend.
That’s not uncommon. In lots of cases the top three to five ads will account for about half of your ad spend.
Applying the Top N Method
I like to start by doing Top N on spend, because that’s where I can identify a “bleeder” (a high-spend ad with very low return).
Then I look at what drove the most revenue or had the highest number of conversions. Because then I can find where the winners are.
Then I look at clicks, leads, or other metrics that are important to the business.
Using this method, I kill the losing ads and amplify the winning ads.
Let’s say you were to sort just by conversions or revenue. If you do that, then you could have an ad that’s wasting lots of money that doesn’t make it into the top four or five for your most important metrics.
So I use Top N for three or four metrics in succession. Each time it reorders the ad sets or ads or creatives or whatever it is that you’re looking at.
You can use this method to determine ad performance in just three minutes.
Find and Fix the Issue
If something’s out of whack, it could require a big change or it could be something wrong with the tracking.
It could be iOS 14, or the pixel wasn’t on that landing page. It could be the data didn’t come through and it’s delayed. There’s all kinds of things that could play into why numbers aren’t adding up.
A lot of people freak out when sales are way down. Understandable. But many times it’s because of some silly issue. So before you pull the fire alarm, just think, does that really make sense?
I like this particular ad here.
There’s no way we spent this amount of money with no return. So we know there’s an issue. And we know with social media platforms like TikTok, Twitter, and Facebook, their systems often will not show data.
We know that because of the iOS 14 update, impressions and clicks are reported on different frequencies. So you might see a bunch of spend show up before the conversions show up or vice versa.
Make sure it’s statistically significant. Also make sure that you have enough data, so you don’t jump to any conclusions.
We’ve seen these systems spiral out of control. For example, let’s say you decide to reduce the bid amount on a marketing channel when the ROI falls below a certain amount. That seems logical. But if you’re only looking at revenue, not conversions, you might kill off a marketing campaign that was actually working quite well.
Imagine if it all boiled down to a hiccup in the data that caused the downward spiral. Not good. So be careful about that.
Now, if you see that a metric is out of whack and the data looks good, then ask yourself why that campaign isn’t performing as well.
Data and Instinct for the Win
Don’t let everything you do be completely automated and dependent upon rules. A successful marketing strategy requires a human touch.
Don’t set so many rules that the software automatically terminates your ads.
Instead, take a moment to look at how far out of bounds the ad performance is. It could be that you launched a new campaign and you’re doing an AB test or some kind of split test. The winner stays on and continues to win, even when other ads are losing, because you’re trying to find another winner to take its place.
If the cost per acquisition is high, then you can break that down using the metrics decomposition pyramid.
For example, the cost per acquisition will double if:
- the conversion rate is cut in half and the cost per click is the same
- the cost per click doubles and the conversion rate is the same
The cost per acquisition remains the same if either factor doubles while the other one is cut in half.
Always look at your marketing analytics when the cost per conversion goes up. Determine whether it’s because of the cost per click or the conversion rate.
When you run ads using objective-based bidding you don’t have to worry as much about cost per click, click through rate, or conversion rate because the artificial intelligence behind the ad platform is going to seek your target metric.
If the target metric is out of whack, you can decompose it into the underlying metrics.
That’s true for organic traffic. But it’s not as true for paid traffic because the systems are getting smarter and can optimize for the objective you set. Either way you should still look.
Balancing Metrics
This method gets you to look at metrics that matter according to our business goals. It gets you to think about and analyze why the data might be good or bad. And it gets you to outline the actions you’re going to take when goals aren’t being met. Over time you’ll find that the same pairing of metrics change alongside each other. So let’s talk about what these balancing metrics are.
One company we were working with was spending a hundred thousand dollars a month on advertising. When they were unhappy with the return, the analyst on the project adjusted the Google ad campaign. All of a sudden the cost per conversion dropped from $20 per lead to $7 per lead.
But I wanted to know how and why it dropped so dramatically. I found out that this person went into the Google ads campaign and turned off all the campaigns except for the brand search terms. Of course it was going to convert super well!
But the balancing metric was volume. When the analyst “fixed” the cost per conversion, the number of leads dropped from 5,000 leads a month to maybe a thousand leads a month.
The key takeaway here is that if you optimize one metric blindly, you can fool yourself into thinking everything is better when in reality another metric took a nosedive.
Analyzing Like a Scientist, but NOT a Rocket Scientist
Metrics don’t matter, unless there’s a clear analysis that can come from the information. Remember, you’re seeking a diagnosis.
Think like a surgeon or scientist. Start with a hypothesis. If a certain thing happens, what will you do to correct it and what outcome do you expect? If there’s no potential action based on some metric, there’s no need to gather the metrics.
I see companies spend most of their efforts collecting data. No one even knows why they’re using the data. Be strategic and ask, “what are we doing with this data? Is there some meaningful action we’re going to take?”
Maybe there’s another metric that would measure the goal better.
The point of analytics is to figure out whether something is worthwhile. Most of the data you thought was important, doesn’t even matter.
I’ll give you one example. Our client was a large company, but this works for small companies, too.
We were working with an airline, taking one database and matching it against another. They wanted to know things like whether a customer that goes skiing has kids and what their income was.
They wanted predictive models to uncover which customers would be most likely to sign up for their credit card or buy flowers or upgrade or travel to new destinations.
We went all in on the idea that more data is better. After all the time and money spent on sophisticated data models, what we found was that the best predictor of people flying more was past purchase behavior. Not a surprise, right?
In this case, purchase behavior predicted purchase behavior. And the fact that they drove a station wagon, or liked to eat Haagen-Dazs ice cream, might be interesting but it had very little impact on their flying behavior.
Moral of the story, you might find that the most obvious thing is the best place to start optimizing in your business as well. Start thinking about what kind of “if-then” logic you can implement. And don’t dismiss the really simple idea just because it’s simple.
The MAA Framework is Not Just for Advertising
Collecting data allows you to put if-then sequences in place across your business. In Google and Facebook you can set up automated rules using if-then logic. For example, one might be for conversions. If conversions fall below a certain number, then an automated action would be taken or an alert might be sent to whoever’s in charge of that area to let them know there is something that needs their attention.
Here is a table of common if-then scenarios we’ve come across. Start small by looking at just a few of these things.
You’ll find a lot of value when you look at the patterns. For example, look at posts with the highest engagement versus posts with the lowest engagement. What can you learn? What do the high-engagement posts have in common? Is there a cross-over with the low-engagement posts?
Don’t spend all your time messing around inside the tools. Even Google’s head of analytics said that 90% of every dollar you spend on analytics should be on people and 10% should be on the tools.
We see a lot of businesses do the opposite. They spend 90% on tools and 10% on people. The hard truth is, the most sophisticated tools are useless without someone who knows how to make sense of the numbers.
To ensure success, set the framework in place. Make it clear that everyone is accountable for the results.
Summary
I hope the metrics, analysis, action framework I’ve just introduced you to encourages you. Data and analytics aren’t really that technical. You don’t have to collect a ton of data, build regression models, or feed your AI any recipes.
Customers buy this over that. It’s not math. It’s not huge databases. It’s not engineering.
The MAA framework is all about understanding the numbers in the context of business performance and goals. Tracking metrics should always begin with the business strategy in mind.
MARKETING
The Rise in Retail Media Networks
As LL Cool J might say, “Don’t call it a comeback. It’s been here for years.”
Paid advertising is alive and growing faster in different forms than any other marketing method.
Magna, a media research firm, and GroupM, a media agency, wrapped the year with their ad industry predictions – expect big growth for digital advertising in 2024, especially with the pending US presidential political season.
But the bigger, more unexpected news comes from the rise in retail media networks – a relative newcomer in the industry.
Watch CMI’s chief strategy advisor Robert Rose explain how these trends could affect marketers or keep reading for his thoughts:
GroupM expects digital advertising revenue in 2023 to conclude with a 5.8% or $889 billion increase – excluding political advertising. Magna believes ad revenue will tick up 5.5% this year and jump 7.2% in 2024. GroupM and Zenith say 2024 will see a more modest 4.8% growth.
Robert says that the feeling of an ad slump and other predictions of advertising’s demise in the modern economy don’t seem to be coming to pass, as paid advertising not only survived 2023 but will thrive in 2024.
What’s a retail media network?
On to the bigger news – the rise of retail media networks. Retail media networks, the smallest segment in these agencies’ and research firms’ evaluation, will be one of the fastest-growing and truly important digital advertising formats in 2024.
GroupM suggests the $119 billion expected to be spent in the networks this year and should grow by a whopping 8.3% in the coming year. Magna estimates $124 billion in ad revenue from retail media networks this year.
“Think about this for a moment. Retail media is now almost a quarter of the total spent on search advertising outside of China,” Robert points out.
You’re not alone if you aren’t familiar with retail media networks. A familiar vernacular in the B2C world, especially the consumer-packaged goods industry, retail media networks are an advertising segment you should now pay attention to.
Retail media networks are advertising platforms within the retailer’s network. It’s search advertising on retailers’ online stores. So, for example, if you spend money to advertise against product keywords on Amazon, Walmart, or Instacart, you use a retail media network.
But these ad-buying networks also exist on other digital media properties, from mini-sites to videos to content marketing hubs. They also exist on location through interactive kiosks and in-store screens. New formats are rising every day.
Retail media networks make sense. Retailers take advantage of their knowledge of customers, where and why they shop, and present offers and content relevant to their interests. The retailer uses their content as a media company would, knowing their customers trust them to provide valuable information.
Think about these 2 things in 2024
That brings Robert to two things he wants you to consider for 2024 and beyond. The first is a question: Why should you consider retail media networks for your products or services?
Advertising works because it connects to the idea of a brand. Retail media networks work deep into the buyer’s journey. They use the consumer’s presence in a store (online or brick-and-mortar) to cross-sell merchandise or become the chosen provider.
For example, Robert might advertise his Content Marketing Strategy book on Amazon’s retail network because he knows his customers seek business books. When they search for “content marketing,” his book would appear first.
However, retail media networks also work well because they create a brand halo effect. Robert might buy an ad for his book in The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal because he knows their readers view those media outlets as reputable sources of information. He gains some trust by connecting his book to their media properties.
Smart marketing teams will recognize the power of the halo effect and create brand-level experiences on retail media networks. They will do so not because they seek an immediate customer but because they can connect their brand content experience to a trusted media network like Amazon, Nordstrom, eBay, etc.
The second thing Robert wants you to think about relates to the B2B opportunity. More retail media network opportunities for B2B brands are coming.
You can already buy into content syndication networks such as Netline, Business2Community, and others. But given the astronomical growth, for example, of Amazon’s B2B marketplace ($35 billion in 2023), Robert expects a similar trend of retail media networks to emerge on these types of platforms.
“If I were Adobe, Microsoft, Salesforce, HubSpot, or any brand with big content platforms, I’d look to monetize them by selling paid sponsorship of content (as advertising or sponsored content) on them,” Robert says.
As you think about creative ways to use your paid advertising spend, consider the retail media networks in 2024.
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Cover image by Joseph Kalinowski/Content Marketing Institute
MARKETING
AI driving an exponential increase in marketing technology solutions
The martech landscape is expanding and AI is the prime driving force. That’s the topline news from the “Martech 2024” report released today. And, while that will get the headline, the report contains much more.
Since the release of the most recent Martech Landscape in May 2023, 2,042 new marketing technology tools have surfaced, bringing the total to 13,080 — an 18.5% increase. Of those, 1,498 (73%) were AI-based.
“But where did it land?” said Frans Riemersma of Martech Tribe during a joint video conference call with Scott Brinker of ChiefMartec and HubSpot. “And the usual suspect, of course, is content. But the truth is you can build an empire with all the genAI that has been surfacing — and by an empire, I mean, of course, a business.”
Content tools accounted for 34% of all the new AI tools, far ahead of video, the second-place category, which had only 4.85%. U.S. companies were responsible for 61% of these tools — not surprising given that most of the generative AI dynamos, like OpenAI, are based here. Next up was the U.K. at 5.7%, but third place was a big surprise: Iceland — with a population of 373,000 — launched 4.6% of all AI martech tools. That’s significantly ahead of fourth place India (3.5%), whose population is 1.4 billion and which has a significant tech industry.
Dig deeper: 3 ways email marketers should actually use AI
The global development of these tools shows the desire for solutions that natively understand the place they are being used.
“These regional products in their particular country…they’re fantastic,” said Brinker. “They’re loved, and part of it is because they understand the culture, they’ve got the right thing in the language, the support is in that language.”
Now that we’ve looked at the headline stuff, let’s take a deep dive into the fascinating body of the report.
The report: A deeper dive
Marketing technology “is a study in contradictions,” according to Brinker and Riemersma.
In the new report they embrace these contradictions, telling readers that, while they support “discipline and fiscal responsibility” in martech management, failure to innovate might mean “missing out on opportunities for competitive advantage.” By all means, edit your stack meticulously to ensure it meets business value use cases — but sure, spend 5-10% of your time playing with “cool” new tools that don’t yet have a use case. That seems like a lot of time.
Similarly, while you mustn’t be “carried away” by new technology hype cycles, you mustn’t ignore them either. You need to make “deliberate choices” in the realm of technological change, but be agile about implementing them. Be excited by martech innovation, in other words, but be sensible about it.
The growing landscape
Consolidation for the martech space is not in sight, Brinker and Riemersma say. Despite many mergers and acquisitions, and a steadily increasing number of bankruptcies and dissolutions, the exponentially increasing launch of new start-ups powers continuing growth.
It should be observed, of course, that this is almost entirely a cloud-based, subscription-based commercial space. To launch a martech start-up doesn’t require manufacturing, storage and distribution capabilities, or necessarily a workforce; it just requires uploading an app to the cloud. That is surely one reason new start-ups appear at such a startling rate.
Dig deeper: AI ad spending has skyrocketed this year
As the authors admit, “(i)f we measure by revenue and/or install base, the graph of all martech companies is a ‘long tail’ distribution.” What’s more, focus on the 200 or so leading companies in the space and consolidation can certainly be seen.
Long-tail tools are certainly not under-utilized, however. Based on a survey of over 1,000 real-world stacks, the report finds long-tail tools constitute about half of the solutions portfolios — a proportion that has remained fairly consistent since 2017. The authors see long-tail adoption where users perceive feature gaps — or subpar feature performance — in their core solutions.
Composability and aggregation
The other two trends covered in detail in the report are composability and aggregation. In brief, a composable view of a martech stack means seeing it as a collection of features and functions rather than a collection of software products. A composable “architecture” is one where apps, workflows, customer experiences, etc., are developed using features of multiple products to serve a specific use case.
Indeed, some martech vendors are now describing their own offerings as composable, meaning that their proprietary features are designed to be used in tandem with third-party solutions that integrate with them. This is an evolution of the core-suite-plus-app-marketplace framework.
That framework is what Brinker and Riemersma refer to as “vertical aggregation.” “Horizontal aggregation,” they write, is “a newer model” where aggregation of software is seen not around certain business functions (marketing, sales, etc.) but around a layer of the tech stack. An obvious example is the data layer, fed from numerous sources and consumed by a range of applications. They correctly observe that this has been an important trend over the past year.
Build it yourself
Finally, and consistent with Brinker’s long-time advocacy for the citizen developer, the report detects a nascent trend towards teams creating their own software — a trend that will doubtless be accelerated by support from AI.
So far, the apps that are being created internally may be no more than “simple workflows and automations.” But come the day that app development is so democratized that it will be available to a wide range of users, the software will be a “reflection of the way they want their company to operate and the experiences they want to deliver to customers. This will be a powerful dimension for competitive advantage.”
Constantine von Hoffman contributed to this report.
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MARKETING
Mastering The Laws of Marketing in Madness
Navigating through the world of business can be chaotic. At the time of this publication in November 2023, global economic growth is expected to remain weak for an undefined amount of time.
However, certain rules of marketing remain steadfast to guide businesses towards success in any environment. These universal laws are the anchors that keep a business steady, helping it thrive amidst uncertainty and change.
In this guide, we’ll explore three laws that have proven to be the cornerstones of successful marketing. These are practical, tried-and-tested approaches that have empowered businesses to overcome challenges and flourish, regardless of external conditions. By mastering these principles, businesses can turn adversities into opportunities, ensuring growth and resilience in any market landscape. Let’s uncover these essential laws that pave the way to success in the unpredictable world of business marketing. Oh yeah, and don’t forget to integrate these insights into your career. Follow the implementation steps!
Law 1: Success in Marketing is a Marathon, Not a Sprint
Navigating the tumultuous seas of digital marketing necessitates a steadfast ship, fortified by a strategic long-term vision. It’s a marathon, not a sprint.
Take Apple, for instance. The late ’90s saw them on the brink of bankruptcy. Instead of grasping at quick, temporary fixes, Apple anchored themselves in a long-term vision. A vision that didn’t just stop at survival, but aimed for revolutionary contributions, resulting in groundbreaking products like the iPod, iPhone, and iPad.
In a landscape where immediate gains often allure businesses, it’s essential to remember that these are transient. A focus merely on the immediate returns leaves businesses scurrying on a hamster wheel, chasing after fleeting successes, but never really moving forward.
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A long-term vision, however, acts as the north star, guiding businesses through immediate challenges while ensuring sustainable success and consistent growth over time.
Consider This Analogy:
Building a business is like growing a tree. Initially, it requires nurturing, patience, and consistent care. But with time, the tree grows, becoming strong and robust, offering shade and fruits—transforming the landscape. The same goes for business. A vision, perseverance, and a long-term strategy are the nutrients that allow it to flourish, creating a sustainable presence in the market.
Implementation Steps:
- Begin by planning a content calendar focused on delivering consistent value over the next six months.
- Ensure regular reviews and necessary adjustments to your long-term goals, keeping pace with evolving market trends and demands.
- And don’t forget the foundation—invest in robust systems and ongoing training, laying down strong roots for sustainable success in the ever-changing digital marketing landscape.
Law 2: Survey, Listen, and Serve
Effective marketing hinges on understanding and responding to the customer’s needs and preferences. A robust, customer-centric approach helps in shaping products and services that resonate with the audience, enhancing overall satisfaction and loyalty.
Take Netflix, for instance. Netflix’s evolution from a DVD rental company to a streaming giant is a compelling illustration of a customer-centric approach.
Their transition wasn’t just a technological upgrade; it was a strategic shift informed by attentively listening to customer preferences and viewing habits. Netflix succeeded, while competitors such a Blockbuster haid their blinders on.
Here are some keystone insights when considering how to Survey, Listen, and Serve…
Customer Satisfaction & Loyalty:
Surveying customers is essential for gauging their satisfaction. When customers feel heard and valued, it fosters loyalty, turning one-time buyers into repeat customers. Through customer surveys, businesses can receive direct feedback, helping to identify areas of improvement, enhancing overall customer satisfaction.
Engagement:
Engaging customers through surveys not only garners essential feedback but also makes customers feel valued and involved. It cultivates a relationship where customers feel that their opinions are appreciated and considered, enhancing their connection and engagement with the brand.
Product & Service Enhancement:
Surveys can unveil insightful customer feedback regarding products and services. This information is crucial for making necessary adjustments and innovations, ensuring that offerings remain aligned with customer needs and expectations.
Data Collection:
Surveys are instrumental in collecting demographic information. Understanding the demographic composition of a customer base is crucial for tailoring marketing strategies, ensuring they resonate well with the target audience.
Operational Efficiency:
Customer feedback can also shed light on a company’s operational aspects, such as customer service and website usability. Such insights are invaluable for making necessary enhancements, improving the overall customer experience.
Benchmarking:
Consistent surveying allows for effective benchmarking, enabling businesses to track performance over time, assess the impact of implemented changes, and make data-driven strategic decisions.
Implementation Steps:
- Regularly incorporate customer feedback mechanisms like surveys and direct interactions to remain attuned to customer needs and preferences.
- Continuously refine and adjust offerings based on customer feedback, ensuring products and services evolve in alignment with customer expectations.
- In conclusion, adopting a customer-centric approach, symbolized by surveying, listening, and serving, is indispensable for nurturing customer relationships, driving loyalty, and ensuring sustained business success.
Law 3: Build Trust in Every Interaction
In a world cluttered with countless competitors vying for your prospects attention, standing out is about more than just having a great product or service. It’s about connecting authentically, building relationships rooted in trust and understanding. It’s this foundational trust that transforms casual customers into loyal advocates, ensuring that your business isn’t just seen, but it truly resonates and remains memorable.
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For instance, let’s talk about Oprah! Through vulnerability and honest connections, Oprah Winfrey didn’t just build an audience; she cultivated a community. Sharing, listening, and interacting genuinely, she created a media landscape where trust and respect flourished. Oprah was known to make her audience and even guests cry for the first time live. She had a natural ability to build instant trust.
Here are some keystone insights when considering how to develop and maintain trust…
The Unseen Fast-Track
Trust is an unseen accelerator. It simplifies decisions, clears doubts, and fast-forwards the customer journey, turning curiosity into conviction and interest into investment.
The Emotional Guardrail
Trust is like a safety net or a warm embrace, making customers feel valued, understood, and cared for. It nurtures a positive environment, encouraging customers to return, not out of necessity, but a genuine affinity towards the brand.
Implementation Steps:
- Real Stories: Share testimonials and experiences, both shiny and shaded, to build credibility and show authenticity.
- Open Conversation: Encourage and welcome customer feedback and discussions, facilitating a two-way conversation that fosters understanding and improvement.
- Community Engagement: Actively participate and engage in community or industry events, align your brand with genuine causes and values, promoting real connections and trust.
Navigating through this law involves cultivating a space where authenticity leads, trust blossoms, and genuine relationships flourish, engraving a memorable brand story in the hearts and minds of the customers.
Guarantee Your Success With These Foundational Laws
Navigating through the world of business is a demanding odyssey that calls for more than just adaptability and innovation—it requires a solid foundation built on timeless principles. In our exploration, we have just unraveled three indispensable laws that stand as pillars supporting the edifice of sustained marketing success, enabling businesses to sail confidently through the ever-shifting seas of the marketplace.
Law 1: “Success in Marketing is a Marathon, Not a Sprint,” advocates for the cultivation of a long-term vision. It is about nurturing a resilient mindset focused on enduring success rather than transient achievements. Like a marathon runner who paces themselves for the long haul, businesses must strategize, persevere, and adapt, ensuring sustained growth and innovation. The embodiment of this law is seen in enterprises like Apple, whose evolutionary journey is a testament to the power of persistent vision and continual reinvention.
Law 2: “Survey, Listen, and Serve,” delineates the roadmap to a business model deeply intertwined with customer insights and responsiveness. This law emphasizes the essence of customer-centricity, urging businesses to align their strategies and offerings with the preferences and expectations of their audiences. It’s a call to attentively listen, actively engage, and meticulously tailor offerings to resonate with customer needs, forging paths to enhanced satisfaction and loyalty.
Law 3: “Build Trust in Every Interaction,” underscores the significance of building genuine, trust-laden relationships with customers. It champions the cultivation of a brand personality that resonates with authenticity, fostering connections marked by trust and mutual respect. This law navigates businesses towards establishing themselves as reliable entities that customers can resonate with, rely on, and return to, enriching the customer journey with consistency and sincerity.
These pivotal laws form the cornerstone upon which businesses can build strategies that withstand the tests of market volatility, competition, and evolution. They stand as unwavering beacons guiding enterprises towards avenues marked by not just profitability, but also a legacy of value, integrity, and impactful contributions to the marketplace. Armed with these foundational laws, businesses are empowered to navigate the multifaceted realms of the business landscape with confidence, clarity, and a strategic vision poised for lasting success and remarkable achievements.
Oh yeah! And do you know Newton’s Law?The law of inertia, also known as Newton’s first law of motion, states that an object at rest will stay at rest, and an object in motion will stay in motion… The choice is yours. Take action and integrate these laws. Get in motion!
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