Conversations with thousands of marketing folks revealed their greatest challenges going forward. Here are some tips for tackling them.
The top 10 challenges facing the interactive marketing community are very much the same as the top 10 challenges facing the entire marketing community in that almost every marketing professional must address the interactive/online marketing medium.
In my business travels over the past two years, I've had a chance to interact with thousands from all areas of marketing, and when asked about top challenges many say things like "social media" or "search engine optimization" or "integrating online and offline." But I think the real issues are much more basic, much more fundamental to the day-to-day functioning of the individual and organization.
Here's my list of the top challenges, and my recommendations for dealing with them:
#10: Time
"I have to get this e-newsletter out tomorrow; can we talk about our landing page strategy next week?"
As marketers, especially online marketers, we are all stretched way too thin. So, I put time at the bottom of the list because it's never really about a lack of time; it's about prioritizing time, right? We can do whatever we want; it just depends on what we decide to do first. As it applies to online marketing, we get so caught up in the day-to-day execution of existing campaigns, that we never take the right amount of time each week, month or year to say, "What can I do, which will have the largest impact on my marketing goals?" I'd argue taking the time to properly research what your customers do online and where they spend their time would be paramount, but rarely do we do our homework.
Recommendation: Familiarize yourself with "website usability" and start testing or learning from others who have already done so.
#9: Saying no (to client, agency or boss)
"I just read about a blog that Starbucks' CEO does… we need to do that!"
This ties in with #10 on time factors, but moreover, saying no to the 1,000s of ideas that are out there today is really needed, regardless of whether it's a request from your boss, client or agency. Have the courage to ask for the research, the case studies and the plan for execution first, before taking on activities that are hot or sound cool, but, in the final analysis, have very low utility.
An example of such would be saying no to building a blog until you have mapped out the audience, the time it takes to maintain such and what the desired outcome would be.
Recommendation: Write down your list of priorities for the year, and if this new idea does not help one of these, then put it in the idea box for next year.
#8: Getting involved
"Facebook is for kids. I don't really see why I'd want to join, plus who has the time for that?!"
One of my favorite conversations focuses on social media and social networking. Most marketing professionals over the age of 30 are skeptical when it comes to social networks like Facebook, reason being, they've never taken the time to explore the medium. The psychological elements inherent here cannot be explained; they must be experienced, and then, and only then, can you be the judge.
Recommendation: Join Facebook. It's not going to be of huge utility at first, but put in some time and poke around; you'll then see. To encourage you further, I'd be happy to be your first friend and connect you to hundreds of marketing leaders across the United States.
#7: Unifying stakeholders
"IT doesn't think we need it; boss-man/woman is too busy for it and marketing department has all sorts of opinions."
So many people these days have opinions on what's best as it relates to online marketing. IT professionals feel they can create everything; your executives are not willing to spend time thinking about it because they are too busy, and your peers have certain opinions based on what they read and see. Your annual budget and strategy meetings seem to default to whoever has the loudest voice and/or the biggest ego.
Recommendation: Spend a day learning best practices together as a team. Have an executive debriefing (a consultant or advisor who will share what's happening in the marketplace and why companies are successful).
#6: Budgeting
"Got shot down again on getting budget for a new analytics tool; not going there again."
Most companies still have the same formula for allocation of marketing budget they've had for years. In fact, I'd say the majority of marketing departments take a look at last year's budget and tweak it, taking some dollars here, and placing some there, etc. I bet if you were able to find your company's marketing budget from 20 years ago, you'd see the same layout.
Recommendation: Take out a blank sheet of paper, write down top 10 things your target customers do with their time on a daily basis and the top three places they will search for your offerings, and then start talking about where to spend your money.