As a marketing manager, you have a lot of balls in the air and some worrisome hurdles to overcome on a daily basis. Such as… will that new campaign show positive ROI? Will your clients respond well to your design and messaging? Is this new social media platform worth investing time in, or is it a short-lived trend?
Beyond these daily concerns, there are also big-picture battles that you need to consider. Whether you are working at a big agency, or an in-house marketing department team, or marketing your business by yourself, here are three of the significant struggles that you will face - and what you can do to overcome them.
Struggle One: Avoid Becoming Obsolete
There is no doubt that technology has changed human behavior and in response, organizations have had to either respond or become irrelevant. This era of digital transformation has changed the way we buy books, book vacations, order carryout, as well as changed our overall customer experience and buying expectations. From a marketer’s perspective, the result has been a shift in outreach tactics and the way we define and measure success.
Will marketing’s role become increasingly obsolete through this digital evolution? It will if marketers do not adjust their perspective and their knowledge in regard to data and analysis. With the technology tools available today, marketers may feel like they are swimming in data with everything from leads and customers, campaign analytics, traffic sources, and information that shows how prospects are using websites and social platforms. Smart marketers will learn to adapt and become truly data driven by leveraging the data available to make informed marketing decisions – rather than basing marketing and campaign strategy around what you THINK will take place.
Struggle Two: Keep Your Customers Happy
In our era of public reviews and social media chatter, being hyper-focused on your customers is essential. Marketers should pay close attention to their customer's needs and wants, both via social listening and traditional methods like surveys and asking for suggestions. Start by creating a dialogue with your audience and then cultivate your online community.
Another important (and often overlooked) aspect of contemporary customer service is digital security. How safe is your data storage? Are you doing everything possible to protect your clients? Ensure that your company’s online practices and data protection practices are compliant, and if you accept cardholder data that you are PCI compliant.
Struggle Three: Find and Keep Resourceful Team Members
Think that public reviews and social chatter don’t matter when it comes to recruiting and hiring the staff that you need? Think again - today, potential employees can research you just like a customer would, on both your own social media accounts, and on review sites like glassdoor and yelp. Make sure that your company culture is accurately reflected in what you share, and that you are responding to reviews in a productive manner.
In addition, don’t focus only on recruiting new staff - make sure that your current staff says up to speed on the changing tools and trends in the world of inbound marketing. Invest in their growth and education. Having well-trained, knowledgeable, and motivated staff members on your team will certainly help you keep your customers happy, but it may also help keep you ahead of your competitors.
If you want to truly wow your clients and customers, you need to always be a step ahead. Think back to the first point discussed - many companies have found huge success in making people’s lives easier. Apply this to your company: What is the most tedious part of doing business with you, from your customers perspective? What makes them feel powerless and annoyed? Don’t know the answer to that? Ask them - this this may provide an answer to your biggest struggle.
