It’s not the what – it’s the how, why and where.

Posted on | May 26, 2010

That is very, very, true.

When I talk to people in business, and I mention I am in marketing, most people assume I am a designer of some sort or another. “So you build websites?” I get asked a lot, or “So you can design me a business card or brochure?”

Yes, but that’s not the point.

The problem is that most people think of marketing as a thing. It’s a leaflet or an advertisement. It’s a brochure or a website. And that’s true, up to a point, but it misses the real truth of how marketing is effective. Thinking of marketing as a product (ie. the ‘what’) means you’ll miss the real areas you need to look at in your business.

The truth of it is, there are lots of great designers out there. There are lots of way of putting something together that will be effective. The end products are the easy part of marketing.

The hard bit which, conveniently, most creative companies aren’t very good at, is figuring out why something needs to be done and how it can be implemented. The hard bit is understanding the profitable areas of a business and charting out where this business is, how it can be obtained, and what the easiest routes are.

Too many companies ignore this, particularly when it comes to the SME market (where marketing tends to be a knee-jerk, ad-hoc, affair).

Without an effective strategy, marketing activities tend to flounder around and not go anywhere fast. It’s hard to go anywhere, when you’re not sure which way you should be pointed (and why that’s the right way to go).

Starting with the ‘what’ is completely ass-backwards. You need to start out with how, why and where to really get structured marketing strategy that can bring you a proper return.

-j

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