Marketing As A Journey: The Importance Of Strategy

 I have a huge pet peeve that I’m going to share with you, and it shows up in the form of a question:

“Will this work?”

“Will this campaign work?”

“Will this idea [event, email, etc.] work?”

This question is the tip of the iceberg that can sink your growth. This question should never be tolerated if you are serious about achieving and accelerating growth. 

It’s intolerable because it implies that a single tool or idea can independently and massively drive results in a finite amount of time.

Marketing is a Journey, Not a Drag Race

The "will it work" question also might suggest a lack of rationale behind why the tactic or message was chosen. Marketing—business development—is a journey, not a drag race. 

It’s not a race because races come to an end.

Just like you will never get to the point in your life where you no longer have to eat because you’ve already eaten enough, you’ll never get to the point where you can stop marketing because you’ve already driven enough opportunities your way. 

The question instead should be, “When will we see how well this is working?”

Every business has a vision of long-term success, so why is it so hard to commit to a consistent strategy that will get you there?

Too often, I see people focus on the tactics and then wonder why fhe tactics aren’t working. The answer is always the lack of strategy or a broken strategic component. And I think I understand why. 

When you’re talking about business development and revenue growth, planning and thinking don’t feel like progress. 

However, strategy is the difference between running on a treadmill and running on pavement.

If the point is just to run marketing campaigns and put stuff out there, then tactics are good enough. 

But if the point is to move closer to a major goal or milestone and make real progress, you have to pick a path and run the path one step at a time—that’s the strategy part.

Strategy Breeds Consistency

Consistency is the silver bullet. 

Consistency is what greases the wheel. Consistency is what’s missing from many companies’ business-development approaches. 

Everyone wants to hire the superstar salesperson, crack a viral post, launch a culture-changing ad, or make a jaw-dropping impact at an event, but even these actions must be repeated over and over again.

I’m always surprised to encounter people’s frustration over the fact that marketing costs money. Everyone thinks or hopes that if you build a better mousetrap, the world will beat a path to your door, but it won’t. 

Ask Apple how well that went before it launched the infamous “1984” commercial. Fast-forward to today: the company doesn’t have the best product, but it does have the best marketing—and that has made all the difference.

If marketing were temporary, short-term, or free, you would actually miss out on the full opportunity your marketing provides. 

Words create reality.

When you fully step into the real potential of marketing and cultivate a message with a servant-leadership heart, you step into the fullness of your influence in the world. 

Sure, selling a lot is great, but selling a lot and taking a part in a business world full of meaning, connection, and prosperity for all is better—much better.

Anytime you read about the history of strategy, it’s described as a blend of wisdom, science, craft, and art. 

I’m not going to lie; marketing is not easy.

Marketing takes on the complexity of the human psyche, which can create a powerful long-term advantage.