Marketing Misstep: Understanding the Value of Failure in Marketing Strategies
Marketing Misstep: Understanding the Value of Failure in Marketing Strategies
In today's marketing scene, everyone aims to be correct. However, sometimes it's more significant to err initially and subsequently find the correct path.
This notion has been occupying my thoughts lately, specifically concerning the utilization of data in our marketing campaigns and the influence of AI on various aspects of our work.
Let's commence with data. The quantity of data we possess in marketing today can be exceptionally overwhelming. We're all so engrossed in the data points such as total impressions, SEO rankings, cost per click, and conversion rates that these metrics occasionally seem like objectives in themselves.
They aren't. Our responsibility as marketers is to comprehend the challenges our clients encounter in their businesses and then remind them of the advantages our products can offer to help tackle those issues.
This is why I advocate for the importance of occasionally being incorrect on the trail to reaching the right track in your marketing campaign. Before settling on the right campaign or integrated strategy, authorizing your team to err can lead to unforeseen, and ultimately fruitful, paths.
B2C Channels
We assist our clients in subjecting their systems to stress tests before public unveiling, always in search of innovative strategies to communicate with clients where they are most active. In our B2B-focused company, this typically meant channels like trade media, LinkedIn, and industry events.
However, as the lines between B2B and B2C have become increasingly blurred, notably after the pandemic, when personal and professional browsing habits blended, those avenues may not be the sole, or even optimal, path to reaching your target audience.
Of late, we've contemplated other channels, including Instagram and even TikTok, to determine if they could be supplementary strategies to connect with people who could profit from our technology. As of now, TikTok counts more than 1.5 billion active users globally and 150 million within the United States alone. A considerable portion of these users now falls within an older demographic, away from the Gen Z userbase previously synonymous with the platform.
Indeed, some prominent companies such as Adobe, Sage, and Square have effectively utilized TikTok for B2B marketing campaigns. Could my team and Spirent embrace a similar strategy, leveraging TikTok as one potential lead-generation channel in a broader, integrated marketing campaign? My instinct tells me we could.
The Courage to Fail
Unfortunately, I don't possess the data yet to reinforce my hypothesis—and that can be advantageous. As marketers, we all carry instincts about what might work. Fostering a sense of self-assurance within our teams to act upon those instincts—rather than succumb to the paralysis brought on by excessive data—is critical to creating an atmosphere where intelligent people feel empowered to experiment and explore novel approaches.
Throughout my marketing career, I've frequently been astonished at how project outcomes inevitably come down to the people I hire. I inform my team that if I'm the smartest person in the room, I've already faltered at my task. Rather, I want to listen to their opinions and encourage them to challenge my views. I aspire for diversity of thought, preferring not everyone to have identical viewpoints.
The objective is to test every possible approach to a campaign or challenge before arriving at the optimal solution. It's so appealing to adopt the mentality that we will ace every campaign on our first attempt. Instead, we need to embrace failure in marketing. It signifies you'll make some initial mistakes, in which you'll need to adjust and alter your approach.
Maintaining a faultless culture will also cultivate another vital skill set today—the capacity to "unlearn" what we believe we know and venture beyond our comfort zone to try a different approach.
Then, you can use all the data tools available to gauge the success, or even failure, of that tactic. Employing data in such a manner ensures that your team is using the same reference directory. It permits everyone to row in the same direction without fear of their individual efforts capsizing the ship.
Pivoting for AI
Granting your marketing team the liberty to err in marketing could not be more important today, as generative AI revolutionizes every facet of our jobs. From content creation to data analysis, AI's potential to streamline our work processes is astounding. However, it's evolving so rapidly that it can be daunting for frontline marketers, who may fear it could threaten their jobs.
As marketing professionals, we shouldn't allow this to occur. For instance, my team is actively investigating AI use cases and experimenting with how to incorporate this technology into our responsibilities. One thing we've discovered thus far is that, like any new technology, we must learn its lingo. This includes figuring out how to effectively coordinate with an AI model to generate the initial draft of the content we seek, and proceeding from there.
Obviously, one of the significant concerns about AI to this point has been its tendency to confidently propagate false information. To be crystal clear, this isn't where you want to err. Instead, you must still fact-check the information generated by the tool to confirm it resonates with your audience.
However, achieving this stage does not equal a guarantee of success, or an expectation of perpetual accuracy. Instead, if you possess the freedom—and courage—to err, you might stumble upon a campaign that leads in a direction you never anticipated on the trail to reaching the right result.
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In the context of exploring new marketing channels, Cheryl Ragland, a notable figure, has successfully utilized TikTok for B2B marketing campaigns, defying the stereotype that the platform is only suitable for Gen Z audiences. Additionally, within the Website Communications Council, there might be opportunities for individuals like you to network and learn from Cheryl Ragland and other industry leaders.