Here's a piece I submitted to CMO magazine.
Wanted to share it with YOU first because, heck, you deserve to see it before a whole bunch of corporate dudes get their hands on this info, take it into meetings, and debate it for months before deciding not to implement any of it... Ya dig?
The lesson? Action creates traction... so GO, GO, GO!!!
Top 10 Marketing Secrets
- There is NO secret - it's just hard work, good luck, and a great team
- Social isn't marketing. Social is social. Marketing is marketing. Doing one and expecting the others' result is probably the #1 cause of heartaches, headaches and disappointment.
- It's all about the basics - always has been, always will be. Now more than ever.
- B2B and B2C are different animals - yes, really. Thus, genius in one can make for a train wreck in the other.
- Marketing's main client is sales. Boom!
- There is no industry or market sector where thought leadership isn't going to make a huge difference to your success. HUGE.
- We've been saying this for a decade but still so few are doing it: stop "spreading messages" and focus more on starting conversations. Real, open, 2-way conversations with the public, the media, consumers, clients, influencers, and friends (real ones, not the ones on Facebook).
- The more you rely on third-party platforms like Facebook, the less stable and more endangered your brand becomes. Build traffic on your own properties where you have 100% control of what's visible and what's not, who can see what and when and for how long, and how content and community are built and nurtured.
- Good, creative, smart advertising has always worked. It's not about where you see it - it's about what you see. And how much it makes you think, smile and act.
- Stop following the herd - we need more leaders. Stop reading Top 10 lists like this one - and start writing your own. Stop blathering on about your products and services - and start telling real stories about real customers making real improvements in their real lives because you were there.
What do YOU think? Agree? Disagree? Comment? Rant? Rave? Awesome... go ahead and use the COMMENTS area below and let's hear from YOU...