Recently, I attended an event called "Innovative Marketing" put on by University of Chicago's School of Business. The event was great, but it really focused just on a narrow niche–"outbound social media".
Right now, so much attention is being lavished on how to get your message out using online communities, twitter, blogs, mobile and other interactive channels. I am a big fan of these tools, but recognize their limitations too. They are just tools. A hammer and saw in one person's hands can build a castle. Personally, if someone gives me a hammer and saw, I'm likely to make a mess, and maybe lose a finger. I'm not sure how to use these tools well.
As marketers, we have been given a vast array of new tools in the past few years. These tools–which social networking platforms, tracking devices and metrics–give us more flexibility in our ability to execute on our strategies. But the fundamental strategies haven't changed at all!
In other words, we still need to start with the fundamentals. What is the problem we are solving or the pleasure we are providing? Does our product or service truly fill the need and at the right price point? Who do we want to reach? Where do our target customers gather? Who's advice do they take?
It is only once we have the fundamentals mapped out that we can start going through our tool box and evaluating each item based on its ability to help us hit our marketing goals. It is at this point that we should be aggressive and take risks. Some of the tools are tried and true, and we know exactly how to use them. Other tools may be more confusing–and it is these new and less-used tools that we should be testing. We should expect to be clumsy with the new tools at first, and to require practice before we see results. But this prudent trial and error, this form of calculated risk, is critical to staying current and ahead of the competition. O
