Ep. 11 - Marketing Strategy to Execution: What Inhibits and Facilitates Success
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Often times, the execution of potentially compelling marketing strategies and plans fall short.
Greg Johnston, SVP & Creative Director of AgencyQ and a returning guest to the Strategic Momentum podcast, attributes this to fear – a company may have a fear of doing something different or a feeling that the wrong type of message is going out.
This fear can also be a manifestation of ego; the need to control the creative and delivery processes, which can result in an inability to relinquish control to customers – the notion of putting them first vs. your own perspectives and needs.
““When you when you strip away the fear, and your own arrogance, you’re more able to see what’s really going on, and even get an insight into the future.””
Breaking through requires alignment on what customers care about, while adapting and evolving to their changing dynamics
No strategy will be successful if it does not align with the wants and needs of your customers, or your client's customers. “Our attention is so fractured nowadays that we just have to make people care, and that's that's our biggest challenge,” Greg says.
But any strategy (and the execution around it) will need to evolve over time because your customers’ behaviors and interests change. This requires agility – You can’t just set it and forget it.
Key Takeaways:
Agencies and clients need to remember that they are serving people. As such, it’s critical to be constantly be in touch with your customer and align your activities your efforts so that your message and your product continue to be relevant – it’s the mindset of putting your customer in control, and not yourself.
People don’t care what you have to say, so you have to make them care. They have so much going on and we are trying to interrupt their lives, so it’s important to give them something that creates an emotional attachment, as well as the rational benefit.
Laying the foundation for an effective marketing strategy and execution plan should involve answering these three core questions from the customer’s point of view: Why should I care, what's in it for me, and I didn’t know that.
Telling customers something they don’t know will give them a reason to come back.
Addressing those fundamental questions also creates both client and agency focus, while saves time and money.
It’s also important to recognize that you will need to be agile in your approach because customers are not static. Staying current with their behaviors and interests means you need to be adaptive and dynamic as well.
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