“Teamwork” Can Be The Scariest Word In Marketing
Imagine you’re the foodie of the office.
When it comes to knowing the local haunts and hole-in-the-walls — NOBODY is beating your knowledge of where to get a great meal.
One day a coworker joins you for lunch.
Bob is a voracious carnivore, and you know an absolutely fantastic Argentinian place that does steaks like you wouldn’t believe. It’s your favorite place in the neighborhood.
He loves it. You both have a great time.
The next day another coworker joins you. But Jim doesn’t eat beef. Fine — you know a good seafood restaurant around the corner.
They all enjoy it.
Now add Sharon. And Rob. And Josie. One doesn’t eat any meat. The other is gluten-free. The last hates vegetables.
You end up ordering Papa John’s.
The More People You Try To Please, The Weaker Your Offering.
Your choice ends up becoming uninspiring, boring, diluted.
The exact same thing happens when it comes to picking your marketing direction… and your message.
Here’s why…
As individuals, we inevitably have our own opinions, beliefs, life experiences. This colors what we consider to be common sense.
A life-long basketball fan can’t fathom the idea of someone who doesn’t like sports. A fan of classic rock doesn’t get the mindset of someone who likes pop — or worse… someone who doesn’t listen to music.
In business especially, we have a tendency to judge how we think our customer will react by our own preferences — not theirs.
Too Often, “Teamwork” Means “Giving Your Opinion.”
And that’s a scary thing when very, very few people have the inherent mindset necessary to create AMAZING campaigns.
One that lets you run a marathon in someone else’s shoes.
Now, this mindset is NOT something you’re born with.
Nearly anyone can learn it if they give it a shot. Few are willing to do so.
How many times have you listened to someone say…
“Well, I would never think that way, and this doesn’t appeal to ME, and so we shouldn’t do it.”
And every time, you resist the urge to shake the hell out of them and repeat that classic line…
“YOU ARE NOT YOUR CUSTOMER.”
Without that willingness to step into the customer’s shoes, to adopt the viewpoint of your target market…
Everybody’s own preferences come into conflict.
The end result is a message that nobody loves, but nobody is offended by.
It’s something that’s just… there. The business equivalent of Papa John’s.
And just like factory-baked pizza — nobody is going to be awed by it. Nobody is going to be moved. And it’s not all that healthy for your business.
Because having something nobody is offended by is far worse than offending people. Further…
The Best Messages Are Always NARROW.
They are aimed at one particular person.
A type of shampoo shouldn’t be targeted at women.
It should laser-focus on a personality.
It should be targeted at a 40-year old American mom, who shops at Target, has two kids, listens to 90s pop bands, and really likes YA fiction more than she should.
The more specific your message, the most effective.
And if you think about it I guarantee you that at least once in your life…
You read a blog post, an article, an advertisement, and agreed with pretty much every word.
That’s the power of narrow targeting.
So What Happens When You Have A Bunch Of Friendly Colleagues In A Room?
The more people you have in the room, the more people you satisfy…
The broader the message is.
Which means you’re far less likely to succeed.
Because to be honest, everyone will be looking at the situation through glasses tinted by their own experiences and desires.
Being able to step into your customer’s shoes and provide a direct, targeted message?
That’s pretty much fairy land.
“Teamwork” in this case, means dilution.
But there’s a way to skip over this problem. Someone who is far more important than anyone in that meeting room.
Make Your Customer Is Your Lighthouse.
What they want, goes.
You know what they want because you have the proper analytics set up. You’re asking them questions on social media. You’re checking the keywords they are searching on Google and running surveys through your email drip campaigns.
That should decide your focus.
And the person who interprets all that data, who knows all that, needs to be the person who is the biggest decision maker on the message.
In other words, if you ask how many people should determine the marketing direction of your brand…
Two.
The person that reads and grasps the data best and knows how to exploit it. And one other person to approve the messaging.
That’s it.
That’s the optimal collaborative team for a marketing message.
Minimize unnecessary input and FOCUS.
Think narrow and deep — not wide.
The best fishermen go only to catch one kind of fish — and they do it better than anyone else.
That Said…
Everything you do needs to match the mission of the company… the WHY.
That’s the job of the CEO.
When the desires of your customer and the goals of the company match…
That’s when you achieve extraordinary brand success.
In other words, if you ever have a chance to determine or influence what is actually said and how…
Go by the data. And for god’s sake, don’t involve more people than can fit in a car.
Otherwise you’re ordering pizza for your customers.
Thanks for reading The Marketing & Growth Hacking Publication
Follow us on Twitter. Join our Facebook Group. Contact us for a sponsored post. Get early access to our job board, GrowthJob.
