To win big in marketing, especially when you are helming a marketing department of a company, it is not to start with a perfect execution. It is not to start with a perfect list of changes you want to make. It is not to start with hiring more people. It is not to start buying things to fuel that perfect execution.
I’ve seen a lot of ambitious marketers out there, some of them I know, started their journey with the above. They failed. They tried hard for a year right after they were hired as a Head of Marketing or Marketing Director but failed—big time. Massive investments were out to satisfy the execution of the rushed marketing strategies outlined. No significant outcome came out from those strategies. It became their most expensive mistake ever made and the companies they’re working for took a big financial hit with too few ROIs to compensate for it. Rectification efforts began in the second year. Things started to stabilise in the third year—only to see everything went back to zero. The fourth year, that’s the year they started to see the initial growth after being ‘grounded’ by that terrible experience.
You see, it is about being humble.
The initial period is about thoroughly understanding things. That’s how you stay grounded and work your way in, subtly. Take enough time to get to know everyone on the marketing team and how the marketing activities are being run at the moment. Take enough time to get to know the rest of the team members in other departments and their nature of work. Take enough time to get to know the company, its culture and understand how things are running there. Take enough time to understand the market and where your company fits in it. Take enough time to understand the CEO’s aspirations, sense of direction, the destination he or she wants to bring the company to, and the timeline for that to happen. Take enough time to understand his or her expectations on marketing. Take enough time to take notes of the present situation you are in, the present reality, the gap you see, and the potential remedies you think will address the gaps.
Gaps? It is the space or area that you need to fill up between the ideal situation and the present situation you are in right now.
This is where your marketing strategy comes into play—to fill up the gap observed. Use any marketing strategy format you have in hand for this. One thing is for sure though, you won’t get a perfect version of the marketing strategy from Day 1. And that’s okay. It is perfectly normal. The version will evolve over time, and it continues to get better and better each day or week. All it takes is for you to keep on searching for the right information, the right reading sources, observe things happening out there, learn from other people’s experiences and from yours too, and talk to more people. The more you do these, the better and faster your marketing strategy version will become.
Then get feedback—lots of it from as many stakeholders as possible. Take time to plan, do it thoroughly, and again, get feedback from relevant stakeholders to close up further gaps you missed. Don’t be afraid to receive not-so-good ones as these are the ones that will help you to be better. And better.
It matters.
