Shift your marketing focus from output to outcomes
I have this annoying habit. (Well, it’s just one of them, as I’m sure those who know me best would tell you.) Anyway, the one I’m concerned about today is the answer I too often give when someone asks, “How are you?” I usually smile and say, “Good! So busy these days. But it’s a good busy.”
Inside, though, I might be overwhelmed. I might be struggling to let go of my need to be perfect. I might be forgetting to delegate things I should.
That busy isn’t a “good busy” at all.
I bet you can relate in some way. There’s a whole culture of busy that’s invaded just about every part of our lives. It inspires articles like this one on why you shouldn’t be so proud of your busy.
I quite like that article. I was tempted to take all those points and turn this post into the same article focused specifically on marketing. Because many of them also apply to marketing.
The output of your marketing is important. Believe me, I’m the last person to say it isn’t. But if you’re so busy putting stuff out there and not thinking about the bigger picture of what you’re trying to do before you take action, you’re turning your marketing into busywork that probably isn’t serving you as well as it could.
So, let’s talk about some of those key points about busyness and how they relate to marketing.
Confusing motion for progress when you’re too busy to think
Getting things done, “doing a marketing,” ticking a box on your to-do list doesn’t automatically mean you’re doing the right things in the right way to reach the right people. If you’re not prioritizing the planning before you take action, you’ll undoubtedly end up spinning your wheels.
The thinking is defining your ideal client and target audience so you’re clear on who you serve and how they benefit from working with you. It’s knowing what your goals are so you design your actions to move you closer to achieving your goals. It’s figuring out what’s most important to communicate to your audience through what you produce. Without taking the time to think, you can get a lot done with little to show for it.
I talk about building a strategic foundation all the time and this is why. It centers your focus on the outcomes instead of output. Results vs. tactics. When you know what you’re working toward, the path to get there is suddenly so much more clear.
Prioritize to maximize potential and performance
When you slow down and take time to do the work upfront, it makes it easier to set your priorities and spend time on the activities that will make the most impact toward achieving your goals.
This quote is one of my favorites:
“Slow is smooth, smooth is fast.”
Going fast and hard, adopting the hustle mentality isn’t going to guarantee you the success you can imagine and want to enjoy. But putting on the brakes, thinking things through, making intentional decisions about what’s right - that’s always going to feel better and more controlled.
When your priorities and focus are on the right things, everything just works better and that’s always good for results.
Marketing outside boundaries creates complacent inconsistency
Another favorite quote of mine related to strategic decision making is:
“The essence of strategy is choosing what not to do.”
That strategic foundation is all about setting boundaries. But the lines can get blurry if there aren’t choices included about what not to do. Whether it’s who you don’t want to work with or target, services you don’t want to offer, promotional channels you don’t want to use, etc.
When the boundaries aren’t clear, you can get complacent and inconsistent in what you do. And the further you creep outside those lines without noticing, the less effective your work will be. You might not even realize it’s happening.
Say goodbye to checkbox marketing
I’m not going to tell you that it’s a bad idea to have a checklist of things to do. It’s definitely not. I rely on that every day. But I know why I’m doing what’s on my list. And I know that the person who does the most marketings isn’t guaranteed a win.
Here’s my challenge to you: If you relate to what I’m talking about here, make a brand new list of all your regular and occasional marketing activities. Add a second column to the list and label it “why.” If you don’t know why you’re doing it or the why is because someone said you should, it might be time to re-think it.
Is it working for you by contributing to achieving your goals?
Is it aligned with your brand?
Is it draining resources you need for activities that are more effective/a better fit?
If you come away from this feeling a little lighter with a shorter to do list that has more relevant, useful items on it, that’s a win for you and your business!