23 Sage Suggestions for Marketers in 2023
With the new year coming in two weeks, I collected 23 sage suggestions for marketers to consider in 2023. You may be doing some of these activities, but consider this list a friendly reminder of some of the best practices for marketing professionals.
2023 will be a challenging year – especially in the first half. This list is put together with you in mind as a marketing professional who wants to find profitable growth in the coming year.
- #1- Get closer to customers. Companies get lost in doing business, like creating new product offerings, streamlining processes, and all sorts of internal matters. They forget to spend time with customers in-person. Spending time with customers isn’t “owned” by sales – it’s an ongoing relationship for everyone in the company, primarily 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 must say no when it distracts you 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?”
People think focus means saying yes to the thing you’ve got to focus on. But that’s not what it means at all.
Focus means to say no to the hundred other good ideas that there are. You have to pick carefully.
I’m actually as proud of the things we haven’t done as the things we did do.
Innovation is saying no to 1,000 things.
Steve Jobs
- #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. It is easier to serve a narrow and specific audience first then to create a product for them.
- #4 -Simplify Your Key Marketing Message. Much of what I spend time on for clients is trying to reduce an idea to its essence. That way, 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 messaging in their communications. An always-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? Having great people who care is table stakes today. Your value proposition means you solve a problem better, faster, or cheaper. Different can be 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 more straightforward than everyone else and easy to do. ACTION: Ensure your team understands why your product or service is truly distinctive. 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 hadn’t rented a car when I traveled 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 the deals you lost and why. Is it 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 your company’s most important leading indicator? ACTION: We marketers love to count open rates and clicks, but aren’t qualified marketing leads that converted more valuable to the business? Drill down on one metric that is what everyone ultimately cares about improving. What percentage of demos do you close – and is the trend increasing or decreasing over time? Determine the right key metric – not metrics.
- #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. An advisor or consultant tells you that you are deluding yourself. An employee can’t. Surround yourself with some folks who can challenge you without fear.
- #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 communication and the 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. No CFO? Find the top person in accounting, bookkeeping, or finance. Who holds the purse strings?
- #12- Take Responsibility. When someone says, I screwed up, 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 your work – the good, bad, and ridiculous failures. ACTION: Find ways to get ahead of a problem and tell your boss about a situation 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. It builds trust, which is often counterintuitive.
- #13 – Improve Your Writing. I don’t care what your marketing responsibilities are, but everyone can learn to improve their writing skills. I blog two to three times weekly 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. Pick up Ann Handley’s new book Everybody Writes here. Write more stuff.
- #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 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 valuable lessons from 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 collaborate with marketers and others inside a company. Feedback from sales folks in the field or operations people continuously improved my thinking and approach. ACTION: Learn to run ideas past people, you ordinarily wouldn’t speak to in your company. 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 wisest professionals I know are listening and thinking to others before they offer their thoughts. Learn to be a better listener.
- #17 – Push Yourself. A project came to me in 2022 from The Wall Street Journal’s CMO Network. 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 2023 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. Taking a few deep breaths 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 what I wanted and worked hard to replace it with what I needed. ACTION: A regular practice of generosity goes a long way. It can take lots of forms. Find what is suitable for you and practice being helpful every day.
- #21 – Be more present. Every day at 5 pm, I call my mom. She is ninety-five and a half and lives in New Jersey. We both enjoy our fifteen-minute calls at 5 pm each day, where we discuss last night’s Final Jeopardy question, what we will have for dinner, the weather, and other miscellaneous things that happened to us that day. She loves to ask, “are you busy with work.” ACTION: Living in the present means your heart is open, stop being critical and enjoy now. Now is all we have, so savor it. 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. BTW, empathy is a powerful marketing muscle. Exercise it.
- #22 – Be infinitely curious. I’m always seeking knowledge and the chance to learn from others. I want to expand my problem-solving skills by learning new things that require deep thinking. ACTION: Commit to doing one new thing in 2023 that you have done before. Take an introductory class in coding. Read more fiction. Learn how to make lamps. Become a potter. Find something wildly different for you and explore it with passion and intensity.
- #23– 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 into 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 2023 soon. Where does the time go? Are you finding joy in the moments?
My grandson Bodhi has turned four this past week and likes to draw pictures of every type of truck and tractor while he dances after dinner. Bodhi’s namesake, my ninety-five-year-old mom, Bea, finds joy in making butterscotch pudding pie for her family and texting her loved ones on her iPhone.
If you are taking some time off over the next few weeks, I wish you a joyful rest, an invigorating celebration, and an abundance of laughter.
And maybe a slice of butterscotch pudding.
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.
