How To Become a Strategic Marketer
More and more, I'm experiencing companies who really just want "Done-For-You" Marketing Services. And whether this is due to more and more Marketers selling services this way, or because of society's new "anyone should be able to deliver anything in 2 days or less" Amazon-mindset, it's leading individual marketers and businesses FARTHER away from Marketing That Matters💔
Oh, and you're still paying for it. So now, you're just paying for Marketing that DOESN'T matter instead of Marketing that does.
And that just doesn't make sense to me.
So, today, I'm exploring some of the things people - and businesses - can do to be more strategic with their marketing.
And it's a HECK of a lot more involved than just asking ChatGPT to create a Strategic Marketing Plan for you 🙄
So, if you want to get ahead of your competitors in a meaningful way, whether you're a Marketer looking to level up your role, a business owner that continues to be disappointed by what Marketing is delivering, or an entrepreneur trying to figure out what Marketing efforts you really need, this guide is for you 🎉
Stage One: Know Thyself
Deep down inside, we DO know ourselves. The problem is, we've been taught so many ways to NOT be ourselves, that very rarely does "what we would do" shine through in any given scenario. Expecially in business.
And when it comes to BEING a Strategic Marketer, this connection is critically importanr.
Because your natural way of solving your problem for your customers? That's where your competitive advantage lies.
Your TRUE competitive advantage, anyway.
I've watched clients go through exercises to help them understand what their competitive advantage is, only to identify that they DON'T have one. But, if you've been in an industry for enough years that you clearly have Product-Market Fit, that's not true.
What IS true is that you haven't identified what YOUR competitive advantage is.
And trying to CREATE one that isn't innately connected to your way of being is folly.
Because while it might sound like a good idea, it CAN'T work for the long term. Because you'r team won't be able to naturally deliver on it.
And sure, you can change your team, change your ideal client, change all the things that have worked for you up to this point. But now you've got a whole bunch of new factors at play which may or may not work.
But what if you DIDN'T have to change the playbook?
What if you just needed to give yourself permission for YOUR playbook to look different than the industry standard?
Because, you created your business to fill a gap right?
That gap was created by the industry standard💡
Once you identify how YOU fix problems YOUR way for YOUR people, and use THAT as the core of your marketing decisions, THEN we have places to go 💖
Stage Two: Choose Alignment
Now, each of these following stages are dependent on Stage One executing. So, if you haven't got that working yet, reach out about a Brand Philosophy Extraction 😉
So now that you've got a clear understanding of your business core, now we can go out and choose marketing efforts that align with that. And in the wide world of ALL the things you can do in Marketing, this is SUPER helpful.
And it's based in what you ENJOY.
Yes! The things you have FUN doing.
I've seen enough business owners sharing on social media how they HATE doing marketing, but they know they have to do it. And it drives me NUTS.
Yes, people need to know about your business somehow.
But there are almost INFINITE ways for that to be available.
People end up hating marketing because they're doing things THEY WOULDN'T DO.
So, I always like ot come back to, "how would you love to do business?"
I've had clients tell me they just want to go for beers. Or just want to talk to healthcare providers. Or share stories on their podcast.
All of these are possible marketing funnels.
Which MAY include social media (which seems to be the thing that MOST people hate), but not necessarily.
When you're in alignment, you turn on your ability to think creatively. And to LOOK FOR, and subsequently FIND ways that you can do what YOU would do AND turn that into a funnel.
That's what I help my clients with BTW, so if you need that in your life, let's chat.
Stage Three: Feel What Matters
Ok, the industry has talked enough about MEASURING what matters. So we're going to take a different look at that today.
Because we can measure a LOT of stuff. And the more we measure, they less we lookat how we're FEELING.
We might feel like the marketing efforts aren't working. Usually, that's beacuse they're NOT driving revenue. But we have so much marketing data that tells us it's doing STUFF, that we ignore our gut, and try to logic our way into believing it's doing something.
But how you FEEL about what your efforts are delivering is CRITICAL information.
I've had clients tell me they FEEL a shift in the velocity of opportunities coming their way, but they can't attribute that to one particular thing. And that's because it's difficult to measure self-awareness and alignment besides being able to move forward along a scale that doesn't actually have an end-point.
But human brains don't LIKE infinites, so we tend to create a fake end point. A dollar amount valuation for our business. An annual sales target. A specific number of post impressions.
And then we reach the endpoint (or don't, for the sales targets most times), and we just create a new fake end point that has an equally low impact on our actual business success.
And we go round, and round and round doing the same thing. So we can say we did the exercise.
But did that FEEL good? Does it feel good to consistently report on NOT hitting a target?
No.
Now, I don't get to decide what feels right for you and your business (or career). Only you can decide that. The point is, you NEED to decide that AFTER tapping into your feelings. Not just from a logical point of view.
Stage Four: Plan to Innovate
And finally, we come to innovation. The thing that keeps organizations in business, human's careers evolving, and in fact, our species alive on this planet.
Critical components of "success" I would say 😉
And while I think a lot of people and companies DESIRE to innovate, without a plan, the likelihood of that manifesting is slim to none. And it's definitely not sustainable.
So, in this ever evovling world, how do we not just keep up, but keep thriving?
By BEING ourselves.
And creating a culture of innovation that not just enables, but celebrates learning, failing, growing and evolving.
Because it IS what humans do naturally.
We adapt.
But with structures that are TOO severe, adaptation becomes impossible.
And, if we look at different individuals - or businesses - as if they were different species, HOW they adapt is also different. And how WE adapt is based on WHO we are 💞
And we've come full circle in a beautiful loop back to Stage One.
Because where we were going from the beginning wasn't down a linear path.
But in an ever-growing circle of influence with the people who matter 💖
How It All Adds Up
You might be asking yourself, "I thought this was about Strategic Marketing? But there's nothing strategic about the above work."
Oh, really?
Sure, if you're looking at "Strategic Marketing" as the most common things the internet (or ChatGPT) tell you, perhaps.
Things like Market Research, setting SMART Goals, identifying ICP's, SWOT Analysis, Competitive Analysis, the 4P's, tactics and channels.
Things that you've probably already done, am I right?
Wonder WHY they didn't end up delivering something that FELT strategic?
Because just doing the activity isn't what matters.
It's doing it YOUR way, so that it becomes a reflection of YOU ✨
It's about doing it in a way that you FEEL it living in your organization, and not just going moldy in a stack of other "strategic" work.
I know I've felt it. I know that young marketers are feeling it on the daily. I know that marketing leaders aren't seeing the results. And I know that entrepreneurs are so lost they don't even know WHAT they feel any more.
Doing MORE things isn't the answer.
Doing YOU is 🎉
And if you'd like a partner in all of that, well then, that's what I'm here on this planet for 😊
