You see them everywhere you look: signs warning you of dangerous conditions. Signs requiring you to wear hard hats in construction zones. Signs restricting an area to authorized personnel only. Signs cautioning drivers to slow down in playground areas. Signs warning of high voltage. Even signs notifying you of wet floors.
Wouldn’t it be nice if your job came with warning signs, too? “Caution: Bad list decisions ahead.” “Warning: uninspiring copy enclosed.” Here are three signs of overlooked reminders that could help marketing departments everywhere.
1. “Project on Monitor May Be Closer to You Than it Appears.”
Sometimes we are so project-focused that we forget to look at the big picture. Tracking response and conversions for individual campaigns is important: you need that information to make decisions about future campaigns, offers, list rentals, products, etc. But you still need to step back and see how each campaign fits into your organization’s overall goals and strategies. If you don’t, you risk making small decisions that have big, unfortunate impacts on your organization’s mission, results, and reputation.
2. “Knee-Jerk Decisions Kick Goals to the Side.”
We’ve all been there at one point or another: startled by the unexpected and unpleasant results of what should have been a successful campaign or strategy, we react quickly out of fear and nix an entire plan based on one outcome.
Yes, poor results demand our immediate attention and careful analysis, but they also require patience. As Bloom Marketing explains in its March 13 blog, “The Importance of Big Picture Goal Setting,” your decisions should be based on trends, not on single occurrences. “Trends will keep the big picture front and center so that decisions aren’t made on whim, but rather, with a true strategy in mind.” Strategy gets results, not spontaneity.
3. “Too Many Reports May be Hazardous to Your Marketing.”
Okay, let’s be clear on something: we’re not anti-reports. Reports are key to understanding how effective your campaigns are, what motivates your market, how your market communicates and responds to messages, how much money your department spends and makes, etc. What we are cautioning against is all data and no action.
As Heather Burton, Director of Marketing for WebTrends, says in her December 17, 2105 blog, “The real value in analytics is when it’s a catalyst for positive business change. If you are just collecting and analyzing data without communicating insights and recommendations, then it’s likely your team doesn’t understand it.”
Are you heading the warnings?
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