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Ignore Marketers Who Claim to Have the Secret Formula for Success—It Doesn’t Exist
Just like investing in the stock market, there are no guaranteed returns and “can’t miss” investment opportunities.
If artists and the music industry know-how to make hit songs, why don’t they just make them? I’ll give you a hint…
Though there are guides, and “song-writing formulas” … No one knows exactly what people are going to respond to with dollars.
If the movie industry knows how to make hit movies that are sure to be box office smashes, why don’t they just release those and not waste money on the rest?
If a car manufacturer already knows what cars are selling the best, why not just sell those cars?
It’s because the market dictates if it’s a hit, best seller, or success after you bring it to the market.
The same is true for marketing.
You don’t know until you know. And if you know because the market has responded favorably, then you keep doing what you know until the market stops reacting favorably.
Just like investing in the stock market, there are no guaranteed returns and “can’t miss” investment opportunities.
Ignore marketers who claim to have the secret formula for success—it doesn’t exist.
“How do you define success?”
It’s a question that most marketers and brands rarely ask.
Before you decide to add to the marketing noise in the market, figure out how you’ll define success first.
If you’re going to hire a marketer, make sure you agree, clarify and understand what success looks like – if you don’t articulate and communicate this, the chances of being disappointed are almost guaranteed.
Go to market with clarity and purpose and don’t rely on shiny new objects or the latest sure-thing marketing shortcut.
And if you don’t know, that’s perfectly fine – you’re in great company.
And don’t forget to use the most powerful tool we humans have—the ability to communicate.
Use it to tell stories that resonate with the people you seek to serve and let that be your guide to finding success.
However, you define it.
Momentum
Momentum is the ultimate end game in marketing.
Why? It’s perpetual motion, energy, and force that propels your brand in the market.
Over time, sustained momentum creates mind-share—the core ingredient found in successful brands.
But momentum takes time to build—perhaps too much time for today’s attention-starved marketplace. So, the game continues.
The great irony here is that marketers are literally eating themselves alive, choosing to burn trust to seek attention.
The implications are real and everlasting.
Just because everyone is a marketer, a media company with unlimited distribution, they still have a choice to make.
Choose wisely. Go slow and with purpose.
Remember, you don’t know anything, only the market does.
People don’t want what you make; they want what it will do for them and how it will make them feel better.
What’s in it for them? What’s the specific benefit/outcome that you can provide them that will make their lives better?
Invest in that.
And build momentum.
Cacophony
A cacophony of marketing noise permeates the world we live in today, yet attention is a scarce resource, so where do we go from here?
Marketing is everywhere. And everyone is a marketer.
If you truly want a competitive advantage, you’ll need to find a way to focus your attention to actually get things done. Imagine that.
Most marketers think that all attention is good attention and that short-term tactics that create media impressions, clicks, and views are all that matter.
But in this new game of selling metrics, everyone loses because it comes at the expense of trust.
Trust is the most important foundational success factor for every brand—it’s something that’s hard-earned and won over time by consistently delivering on a promise.
That dissonant and jarring noise you hear in the market is real, and will only keep getting worse if you choose to play the game.
It’s your choice. Choose wisely.