Ambiguity is your enemy

Sounds intimidating right? Well, it should be, ambiguity is the single biggest nightmare for any digital marketer. On the contrary, ambiguity is the greatest weapon in other fields such as politics, literature and dare we say it ( for fear of being struck down instantly by lightning ): Religion.

For digital marketers, grey areas should be treated like the Bermuda Triangle – enter at your peril !!!

When it comes to assessing the performance of a campaign or marketing strategy, the bigger the grey area – the bigger the danger. The relationship between a digital marketer and a client is a close one, with both parties having the same objectives and depending heavily on each other. So why is it that in some cases, the relationship breaks up?

How can we avoid this?

All of these issues above manifest themselves if the clarity is not achieved at the very start. Both parties are eager to get moving at the start and short-term action is enough to satisfy all parties in this honeymoon period.

The best digital marketers realise that the initial period is the most crucial of them all for agreeing on the nature of the campaign and the dynamic between marketer and client.  Each of the issues above should be discussed/addressed in detail so that the client is in no doubt about :

• what to expect in terms of results
• when to expect them
• what action ( very obvious or less-so ) is being undertaken for them
• what is required of them in terms of workload or content
• what level of communication they will get
• the understanding that the marketer has about the client company’s DNA

What does success look like?

The most important part of the planning stage of any digital campaign is defining success. In most cases, the key performance indicators ( KPIs ) are sales, bookings, enquiries, etc but every client has different goals.  Some examples :

• 10 online sales per week
• 100 leads/enquiries per month
• 20,000 web sessions per month
• monthly online sales turnover of €  xxxx
• x engagement or followers on social media channels
• more complaints ( see my next blog post )

In my experience, most clients are aggressively looking to increase their sales. We live in a competitive space and everyone is fighting hard. Does ambition = greed? In Wall Street, Gordon Gekko tries to give clarity to shareholders of a company by saying :

The point is, ladies and gentlemen, that greed — for lack of a better word — is good.
Greed is right. Greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts through, and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit.

To paraphrase Gekko, Greed is good for digital marketers. If we assume that all clients are greedy or ambitious, this actually helps the digital marketer to clearly focus on the main goals. It goes without saying that goals should be ambitious but realistic. Balanced goals are in everyone’s interest and can be agreed upon based on close consultation and research.

In most cases, if the main KPI is running at a satisfactory level or is on an upward curve, the rest of the digital marketing campaign feels like it is running smoothly.  If it is not, then the cracks can start to appear in every part of the campaign. If we can define success/failure based on clear goals, everyone has a clear vision and we can keep the enemy ( ambiguity ) at bay.

Here are some tips you can use straight away :

• Define your number one goal / KPI – make it ambitious but realistic
• Ask yourself, what is the main positive activity you can engage in to help to achieve this goal?
• What is the main stumbling block or speed bump in the way of achieving your goal?
• Write these 3 things down and pin them to the wall in a place where you can’t ignore them, try to do at least one thing a week to bring you closer to success

Share this post with any of your friends who you feel have a great product/service but who need clear goals to chase. I would love to know how it goes and maybe I can give you some helpful advice, please let me know how you get on: jeff@matrixinternet.ie