Are you a marketing tactician or strategist?
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Now, in a sense, that’s a dumb question, because we all need
to be both at times, but I was put in the frame of mind to ask it because of a
recent encounter with a prospective client. As I explained how important social
media is to her organic search results, she stopped me and barked, “I want
search, not social,” showing the irritation of someone who has been sold
something different from what she needed once too often. At that moment, I had
a decision to make. It’s the moment where a consultant can lose a client–or
break through the normal blather.
When I was younger, I tried very hard to give people what
they asked for. I even felt bad about “upselling” them into things
that they didn’t think they needed. But I have learned that what helps clients
the most isn’t giving them what they want but filling their real needs.
Identifying what they really need is more important than the solution to the
problem. Any good consultant can solve a problem that has been identified. You
create lifelong clients when you can consistently show them what they are
missing and solve those problems.
Often, marketing is stuck on tactics. Clients often approach
me to tell me what they need, and it is almost universally about tactics:
“We’re looking for an SEO consultant” or “We want to get into
social media” or the dreaded “Our boss says he wants to be on
Twitter.”
While I can help clients who need these things, it’s worth
asking what value they expect these tactics to deliver. It’s worth probing how
these tactics fulfill a deeper strategic purpose. It’s worth investigating how
we’ll recognize success. Those questions start to peel away the blizzard of
tactics and reveal the underlying strategies that spell the difference between
merely doing something and achieving results.
So, after my prospective client interrupted my soliloquy on
the importance of social media to organic search with a withering, “I want
search, not social,” I paused, sat back in my chair, and took a chance.
“You don’t want search or social,” I slowly said.
“What you want is higher brand awareness, better offline leads, and more
sales. Search is one way to get that. Social is another. They work together
really well, but there are other tactics that can deliver those results, too. I
am happy to help you with whatever tactics you think you need, but I think
you’ll be more successful if you think in terms of your strategy and develop
the tactics that serve you the best.”
Luckily, that changed the conversation completely. She was
now very willing to listen to what I had to say and we started to talk about
the success metrics that made the most sense to her. In the end, it will of
course come down to tactics, but starting with them is not the path to success.
Mike is an expert in search marketing, search technology, social media, publishing, text analytics, and web metrics, who regularly makes speaking appearances.
Mike’s previous appearances include Text Analytics World, Rutgers Business School, SEMRush webinar, ClickZ Live.
Mike also founded and writes for Biznology, is the co-author of Outside-In Marketing (with James Mathewson) and the best-selling Search Engine Marketing, Inc. (now in its 3rd edition, and sole author of Do It Wrong Quickly, named by the Miami Herald as one of the 11 best business books of 2007.
Hi Mike,
The “bigger” picture or end game is what matters! It is right for a SEO or marketing consultant to have the end game in sight.
With this, a true balance would be sought between tactic and strategy needed by the client.
You are right in this observations for clients “Identifying what they really need is more important than the solution to the problem”
I have left this comment also in kingged.com – the social bookmarking and content syndication website for Internet marketers where this post was shared.
Sunday – kingged.com contributor
http://kingged.com/are-you-a-marketing-tactician-or-strategist/
Agreed, Sunday. Definitely need both strategy and tactics.
Very good post, many times we do SEO like robots, without thinking of a strategy in the medium to long term correctly.
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