Digital Simplicity and How to Find It

When I ran my agency, we had one client who was always trying to simplify their workflow.

Several times a year, they called us into their office to excitedly show us the latest improvements to their system. And explain how the changes would enhance productivity and generate better results.

They never consulted with us as they were developing the process to see if those of us who were doing the work might have some thoughts or feedback.

It was always presented as a fait accompli. Designed to simplify our lives and our agency-client relationship.

But you know what?

The result was almost always the opposite of what they intended.

Making Easy Way More Difficult

I actually coined a word for the process changes they foisted on us and that invariably slowed us down.

Complify.

As you can see, it's an amalgam of two words: simplify and complicate.

Or to put it another way ...

Complify — The act of complifying or complification; taking something simple and unwittingly making it way too complex.

Complification was almost always the result of my client's best intentions.

How did we deal with this? Well, after the requisite griping on the ride back to the office, we quietly learned the new way of doing things and attempted to make it work for the client and us.

Even though there were many more ways to effectively accomplish our goals.

Life in the agency game ...

Cutting Down on Digital Complification

It's safe to say, digital marketing is rife with complification.

So how can we simplify and improve our approach?

Here are six steps.

1. Question your process. This is where the user experience of the people who perform the task comes in. Begin by talking to a new hire or young person at your company who isn't wedded to your current system. Then watch how they use it. Do they catch on right away or are there too many roadblocks slowing them down? Which parts could be trimmed and which would you keep? Ask for their feedback and ideas too. And be prepared to listen.
2. Develop alternatives. You'll probably get a fair bit of resistance—at least at first—but it's important to do more than just talk about change. You need to act on your findings. And map out a better way of doing things. Or two or three. Maybe you'll find your your current setup really is the best. Or perhaps you'll get clarity on how to improve it.
3. Test, fail fast and move on. Once you develop your alternative processes, don't just pick the one you prefer and roll it out to the enterprise. Conduct a series of formalized tests with a range of people who will be using it. And if possible, get a few folks from outside your organization to try it. Then analyze the results and be prepared to adapt, or abandon the idea altogether and go back to the drawing board.
4. Or enjoy your success. Sometimes, you'll get it right the first time. And hit on the right way to fix the bottleneck. Congratulations! Launch and celebrate with your team.
5. Build change into your workflow. But don't just redesign your system or purchase new tech or tools and then set and forget them. Constantly question the way you do things. Ask how can you make it better? Never take, 'because that's the way we always do things,' as a credible answer. Abandon complification by making simplicity a part of your business culture. Your employees and customers will appreciate and embrace it.
6. Communicate openly and often. Let people know what you're planning early on. This helps you get buy-in, identifies skeptics and points to possible barriers and other considerations you should take into account. Do this throughout the process. Answer questions with honesty and transparency. And make sure everything your write, illustrate and say is clear, easy to understand and engaging to read.

That goes for all the digital and marketing technology processes and the tools you may be using to optimize your job and content marketing.

The Martech Landscape is a Scary Place

And that brings us to this week's Digital Marketing Trends video. It's all about Scott Brinker's 2022 Martech Landscape and how the environment continues to evolve.

Brinker and his team started covering marketing technology in 2011, when there were about 150 tools you could use in your tech stack. Today, there are nearly 10,000 to consider and the sector growth doesn't seem to be slowing down.

So with all that choice and complexity of offerings, how can you decide which tools to choose, whether or not they're trustworthy and if they work with your existing data and technology applications?

There's no easy answer. But this year, ChiefMartech created an interactive site that helps you sort, research, discover and compare the various apps and what they do.

Check out the video and let me know what you think.

And Then Along Comes AI

Of course, many of the martech tools use artificial intelligence in their backend to deliver results.

And the opacity of the algorithms and volume of data create yet another layer of complexity for digital marketers to wade through. How do you get a handle on that?

Well, it starts with educating yourself on what AI is and does. And then developing a protocol to test and evaluate the tools and ensure they provide the services, privacy, security and results your business needs.

One way to do that is to sign up for relevant events like the Marketing Artificial Intelligence Institute conference, that's happening in-person and online, August 3 to 5, 2022 in Cleveland.

I first heard about MAICON from David Rice. David's a friend, a Schulich School of Business marketing professor, and the founder/executive director of the Future of Marketing Institute (FMI). He attended the first event a few years ago and raved about the quality of the sessions and all the things he learned. (Disclosure: I'm a member of the FMI advisory board.)

Since then, I subscribed to MAICON's email newsletter and attended a couple of virtual events. And I highly recommend the conference and its first-class lineup of presenters.

If you're interested in attending, click on this MAICON link to find out more. And then use the code MARTIN150 to get a discount on your registration.

Connect With Martin

Well, that's about all the time I have for my personal digital complexity, AKA issue #58.

Are your work processes straightforward and efficient or are they weighed down by needless complexity? How does that affect your ability to do your job? What ideas do you have to avoid complification? Please share your thoughts in the comments below.

Be sure to reach out if you have questions about any of the videos in Digital Marketing Trends, or my other LinkedIn Learning courses.

And if you want to find me, follow me on LinkedIn or Twitter.

Or visit my my website and send a message or a question.

And speaking of ideas, if you've got any you'd like me to cover in my next newsletter, be sure to send them my way.

Thank you again for reading and subscribing!

See you in a couple of weeks.