In Focus

10 ways marketers waste their time

Time-suck 1

Today more than ever, companies are operating with a limited supply of resources. Skeleton-crew staffs are running on scaled-down budgets while being held to even greater accountability. There is no time -- not to mention budget -- to waste.

Over the last 10 years while working in the interactive space, I have observed many tactics, strategies, and practices that are worth the often vast amounts of time and effort required to get them right. But then again, I've also witnessed many that are simply not worth the resources they require. Here are a few of the ones that just waste marketers' precious time:

1. Operating without reliable metrics and measurement
If you're operating without reliable metrics and measurement, you're essentially operating without a real plan. It is hard to determine success if you haven't established a clear set of objectives and measurements that relate directly to business success.

Every business goal can be cascaded into other areas of the business, and marketing is no exception. Building and executing a successful marketing plan back from the over-arching business plan is required to ensure that successful marketing also means a successful company. Executives have to be on the same page as to what success really means; otherwise, battle lines will be drawn, and the marketing department and its respective budget will come under greater scrutiny.

 

Comments

Reid Carr
Reid Carr October 13, 2009 at 2:21 PM

Thanks, Sean.

I hope by "nodding" you meant "in agreement" rather than "dozing off."

Sean Breslin
Sean Breslin October 13, 2009 at 9:29 AM

Hello Reid... Read every word and I was a head nodder!
Good article, Thanks.

Erin L
Erin L October 9, 2009 at 2:25 PM

5. Over-meeting and under-deciding

I'm a big fan of meeting agendas. Just the act of creating one gets your thoughts organized and can tell you if:

- The meeting will have value for all involved
- The meeting should be broken down into smaller meetings with fewer people
- You're missing key people, or including unnecessary people in the invitee list
- The meeting is even worth having at all

I actually just blogged about this recently:

http://blog.tungle.com/tungleblog/2009/10/the-secret-of-successful-time-management-hint-its-not-really-about-time.html

Creating an agenda is also an opportunity to revise your priorities and make sure you're not wasting time working on things that aren't related to your target goals.

Reid Carr
Reid Carr October 5, 2009 at 1:02 PM

Tao - Thank you for your comment (and I figured I'd get some comments on that one).

Just to clarify my point. I do agree that there is some value to "free" stuff, however, as you point out there are "a LOT of free resources" and my opinion is that it is simply not worth a time-strapped marketer's time to try and sort out which is worth it and which isn't, and then go through the time of inputting the relevant data.

At some point, once all other higher priority tasks are completed, then I think there is value in going through the process. And, in that case, you may want to hire someone else who can to do it for you inexpensively.

Tao Wong
Tao Wong October 5, 2009 at 11:26 AM

9. If something is free, don't waste your time on it

Strongly disagree. There are a ton of free resources that are wrothwhile using and testing - Google Analytics and Webmaster Tools for one. Open Source E-Commerce Platforms are great. Crazy Egg and Hootsuite another. And the list goes on.

Tao Wong
Tao Wong October 5, 2009 at 11:24 AM

9. Anything free
If something is free, don't waste your time on it. There are free link directories and myriad other widely touted "free" services out there. Don't bother. Your time is worth more than you may think; therefore, free is still not free.

- I disagree strongly. While there are a ton of free directories, etc that are wrong, there's also a LOT of free resources out there that are worth it.

This website for one.

Google Analytics.

Webgility.

Crazyegg.

The list goes on.