Marketing Success – It’s in the cards

Greetings from NCMPR’s District 1 Annual Conference in Atlantic City. An ironic backdrop for my personal philosophy to marketing:

I hate gambling.

Here in Atlantic City, there’s a LOT of glitz, flash, hype and noise all designed to draw you in. But if you’re not careful, at the end of the day you’ll go broke (and lose track of time. No clocks in the casinos. Really.) That’s the way I feel about marketing campaigns. If you’re not keeping track of time, budgets and–most important–metrics, you’re just gambling. And the odds are, you’ll lose.

Here are a few tips to help you even the odds and come out a winner (enjoying my dopey gambling puns?):

• Study your current strategies and tactics. Frequently. What worked and what didn’t?

• Be marketing agnostic. Avoid the hype and stick with the things that are producing results.  No matter how traditional they are.

• Test new ideas against a clearly defined set of metrics. I recommend 15% of your budget.

• Proactively report out to senior management. Don’t wait for your next review.

Marketing success? You’re holding the right cards. You just have to know when to play them. Bet on a sure thing. Yourself. (And the Phillies. You always, always root for the underdog.)