I am in the sage marketing advice business, providing my suggestions, recommendations, and ideas to clients all day long. I summed up 22 of the major themes that emerge repeatedly that may be of help to you in 2022.
I’m so appreciative of the thousands of subscribers and readers of my Marketing Sage Blog, I hope these marketing and life lessons are helpful.
22 Simple, Straightforward and Sage Marketing Suggestions for 2022
- #1- Get closer to customers. Companies get lost in the work of doing business like creating new product offerings, streamlining processes, and all sorts of internal matters. They forget to spend time with customers in-person and that building relationships. Spending time with customers isn’t “owned” by sales – its an ongoing relationship for everyone in the company, especially if you work in marketing. ACTION: Commit to a schedule to meet with customers and don’t let anything interfere with it. The more time you invest talking, hanging out and engaging with your customers, the greater the return. Think of it as P2P marketing. (person to person)
- #2-The F Word (FOCUS). It is best to be ruthless in deciding what to focus your efforts on. Your boss and colleagues may pull you all over, but you need to say no when it distracts from your primary responsibility. ACTION: Learn to say no more often. If you are uncomfortable doing that, make sure you are clear that it will be a low priority and may not get done for months. Change your impulse from yes, to “can you wait two months from now?”
- #3 – Narrow the Target. Selling to women aged 29-65 is not a target. Neither are owners of small businesses in the U.S. The more specific you can be in who you market to, the better. ACTION: Like a particular longtail Google search, make it clear internally to your company that the best target audience is a precise individual with a problem you can solve, not a wide swath of the population with general interests.
- #4 -Simplify Your Key Marketing Message. Much of what I spend time on for clients is trying to reduce an idea to its essence so that everyone who speaks to customers and thought leaders is saying the same thing. ACTION: The more straightforward your message, the easier it is to position your brand in the mind of prospects and leads. And the more consistently you can get everyone using the same 3-5 core messagings in their communications. A consistently stated message reinforces your brand’s position. See for example- What’s in your wallet? State Farm is there. Just do it.
- #5 – Test. Fail. Learn. The quicker you can test an idea to see if it resonates with a narrow audience, the better. A quick prototype or concept image allows you to get input quickly from the marketplace. ACTION: Try putting short time limits to test something – and you’ll be surprised at how creative a team can be.
- #6 – Understand your Value Proposition: When I ask clients and their teams to describe what makes them different, I often hear that our people are the difference. Guess what, those great people who care are table stakes today. Different is a proprietary system, process, or software that no one else uses to solve a specific problem. Different is delivering in 15 minutes when the competitor takes three days. Different is when your solution is simpler than everyone elses and easy to do. ACTION: Make sure your team is clear about why your product or service is different. Finish this sentence about your company that describes THE unique thing only your company does… only we____________. (another hint – don’t tell me you make a quality product and have good service – that’s the cost to be in the game)
- #7 – Stop Competing with the Obvious Competitors. Companies can rattle off their competitors’ names, but the non-obvious competitor is often inertia and the challenge of changing. Or it can be a competitor from left field like Uber and Lyft are to Hertz and Enterprise Car Rental. I haven’t rented a car when I travel in 4 years. Competitors are an easy excuse why a customer didn’t buy – when the real competition is your approach is complicated. ACTION: Examine deals you lost and why. Is it really because of price, or did a competitor remove friction and make it easier to say yes?
- #8 -Measure what matters, not what’s easy. I love a dashboard of data as much as the next guy but measuring what matters is critical . Do you have a consensus on the most important leading indicator for your company? ACTION: We marketers love to count open rates and clicks, but aren’t qualified marketing leads that converted a more valuable hand? Drill down on one metric that is what everyone ultimately cares about improving.
- #9 – Fresh perspectives. When I start an engagement with a client, they often want a fresh point of view, a new set of ears – a different sounding board to work with on a problem. ACTION: Consider how an outsider can assist you in a small engagement to help you think through a challenge. If you are so close to an activity, you may need to take a step back and see it from a new vantage point.
- #10 – Give More Specific Instructions. No one likes a micromanager, but the clearer you can be, the better when delegating work to a team member. Think of ways to clarify what you need and when you need it. If you think of a twenty-page summary and the person you delegate to thinks you are asking for an email, trouble ahead. ACTION: Stop. Think. Be specific about requests. When you explain your expectations with specifics, it improves the communications and chance for success. There is nothing worse than spending a lot of time putting together a ten page deck when someone was expecting a one-page Word summary.
- #11 – If You Are A CMO or VP of Marketing, Get Closer to the CFO. It helps to be in lockstep with the CFO, who will ask you difficult questions to justify the value of marketing activity. Whenever I could get a CFO on board with an idea – and agree to metrics, I knew I could get stuff done. ACTION: Review your plans with the CFO and ask for her input. It will make you a better marketer and will help you sell your ideas up the ladder.
- #12- Take Responsibility. When someone says, I screwed up, and it helps build trust and credibility. When someone points the finger at someone else, nothing good will happen. If you are a marketing leader, own it. ACTION: Find ways to get ahead of a problem and be the person telling your boss of a problem that occurred. Have a plan in hand to fix it too. Also, freely admit it when you screw up. Practice saying I made a mistake.
- #13 – Improve Your Writing. I don’t care what your marketing responsibilities are, but everyone can learn to improve their writing skills. I blog three times a week because I want to be a better writer. After 1,500 posts, I’m getting better with lots of room to improve. ACTION: Find tools like Grammarly that become your editors and teachers within every text box, email, Word doc, or wherever you have something that requires a response.
- #14- Change your Perspective. When I first worked in the B2B world, I used B2C marketing ideas. When I worked in the toy industry, I brought some fresh perspectives from the beverage world. Step outside your industry and see how others do stuff. ACTION: Go to a tradeshow in another category to see if you can borrow or steal some ideas. The wine industry could learn some valuable lessons seeing how other liquids, like expensive perfume are marketed and packaged.
- #15 – Collaborate More. One of the best things I learned to do in my career was collaborating with marketers and others inside a company. Getting input from sales folks in the field or operations people continuously improved my thinking and approach. ACTION: Learn to run ideas past people who ordinarily you wouldn’t speak to in the company you work. You’ll be amazed at how much they appreciate it and, they may point out the obvious that is right in front of you. No one turns you down when you say, “I’d like your advice and opinion on a new marketing idea.”
- #16- Listen More. When I’m quiet in a meeting, I hear what others say. If I can focus on their point of view without trying to signal how smart I am, I can improve my thinking. ACTION: Try not talking in a meeting until the very end. Take notes on what you want to say –don’t speak until everyone else has spoken. The wise marketer is listening and thinking – not talking.
- #17 – Push Yourself. I had a recent project come to me from a large organization. It involved doing stakeholder interviews with the top CMOs in the U.S. and Europe. My first reaction was fear. As I sat with the notion, I realized these folks might be at the top of my industry, but I can hold my own in these discussions. ACTION: Take a significant risk with a project in 2022 that scares you a bit – it is like leaping instead of one step at a time. What’s the worst that can happen?
- #18 – Ask If Someone Wants Your Opinion. If I ask someone if they want my opinion first, it helps. In some meetings with clients, I wasn’t sure if they wanted to know more points of view or just felt the need to talk. So, I asked. ACTION: It isn’t a sign of weakness to ask if someone wants advice or your point of view – it is a sign of respect. And, people who respect you often listen more carefully.
- #19 – Learn How to Sit Still. Whether you call it meditation or just sitting quietly for fifteen minutes, there is nothing like silence to help you get clear. I have been meditating for fifteen minutes every morning for as long as I can remember. It helps me balance, be grateful and remind myself of what matters. Just taking a few deep breathes to start the day can get your day off to the right start. ACTION: Where or when you do it is irrelevant. Find time in your day, as a habit, to sit quietly without any stimuli. Just breathe. You’ll be amazed at how clear some challenges become when they don’t compete for attention.
- #20 -Be More Generous. As I get older, I realize how limited time is for us. So I work hard to stop judging others and be kind and helpful. I’ll go out of my way to connect two people who could benefit from the introduction. I’ll offer to help someone because I can, not because it will lead to something of value for me. I let go of want I want and replace it with what I need. ACTION: A regular practice of generosity goes a long way. It can take lots of forms. Find what is right for you and practice being helpful everyday.
- #21 – Be more present. Every day at 5 pm, I call my Mom. (See the photo of us from Hannukah party earlier this month). She is ninety-four and a half and lives in New Jersey. We both enjoy our fifteen minute calls at 5pm each day where we discuss last night’s Final Jeopardy question, what we will have for dinner, the weather, and other miscellaneous things that happen to us that day. ACTION: Living in the present means your heart is open, stop being critical, and enjoy now. Now is all we have, so savor it. Go call someone you haven’t spoken to in a long time. It will do your heart some good. And if your parents are still around, consider a routine of calling them – once a day or once a week. Someday, you’ll wish you did something like this.
- #22 – Be More Human in Your Marketing. When I consult with clients, I’m often trying to find how to be as human as possible – not a clever marketer. Injecting my humanity in my work often leads to better brand and marketing activities. ACTION: Show up as an authentic human being each day, not some idea of what a marketer or businessperson looks like. Balance the marketing activity with a human-centric approach to the work. Laugh. Have fun. Tell a personal story. Don’t be afraid to be vulnerable. Be direct but kind.
Hard to believe it will be 2022 soon. Where does the time go? If you are taking some time off over the next few weeks, I wish you a joyful rest and celebration.
You’ll excuse me now, and I have to call my Mom to see what she is having for dinner tonight and if she got last night’s Final Jeopardy question.
You can set up a time to chat with me about your marketing challenges using my calendar. Email me jeffslater@themarketingsage.com Call me. 919 720 0995. The conversation is free, and we can explore if working together makes sense. Watch a short video about working with me.
