Avoid useless meetings at all costs
Most companies strive to operate efficiently, or at least they say they do. Here's the simple truth: Internal meetings are typically a waste of time. When you're working hard and working smart, meetings usually add little value. In an organization that doesn't have time to waste, you need to trim the fat, and meetings should be the first place to cut.
However, we have found that one internal meeting per week to get every member of the team together face-to-face is a must. This meeting allows you to reiterate your primary goals and action items, and keeps everyone focused on what needs to be done.
Use technology to stay organized and focused as well. Basecamp, a program we use for project management, allows our team to focus on deliverables and keep projects moving forward while streamlining team organization and communication. Whatever project management tools you decide to employ, be sure to use them. They help cut down on unnecessary meetings and keep the work moving forward.
Summary: Cut out meetings to operate more efficient internally, but never eliminate client meetings.
Launch and iterate to meet tight timelines
In digital marketing, clients make decisions, and they want to see the work done yesterday. Remember, when you need to launch a product in a week, it needs to be simple. If you're focused on only launching a complex product, app, or digital marketing campaign, you may see clients headed for the exits. Most clients, marketers, and brands today want to see results fast. Given the need for speed, your team should consider a product's or site's ultimate features and offerings and then ask, "What are the most important features that it will take to launch this by the end of the week?"
Concentrate on the foundation, and then launch it.
Once that foundation is in place and you see how the audience is using the application or how they are engaging with a profile page, you can start adding additional features. You may even get additional ideas for features from observing audience engagement. Receiving real-time feedback from users is much more effective than guessing what they want. If you listen to those users and optimize your product accordingly, it's a win-win for the users and the brand.
We've used this approach for many of our movie studio clients. They get the idea for an application or game to promote a film, and they need it launched quickly. After the launch we can add additional features, or, as we sometimes find, the basic feature set may suffice in building viral interest.
Summary: When you need to get products out fast on tight deadlines for several clients, don't get bogged down with unnecessary bells and whistles. Launch a scaled-down version first and iterate on the fly.
By codifying and following these basic principles, Buddy Media has been able to grow its client list while continuing to deliver branded apps and campaigns for its clients.
What steps does your company take to deal with new clients, while also delivering great results? Let us know in the comments below.
Michael Lazerow is CEO of Buddy Media.
On Twitter? Follow iMedia at @iMediaTweet.
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