Becoming obsolete is a reality in today’s fast-moving environment. Yes, today’s business needs require us to leave our comfort zone and venture into an environment that can achieve marketing innovation.
The customer never buys what you think you sell.
Peter Drucker
Luckily, it doesn’t necessarily mean abandoning the principles we’ve learned along the way. It just means evolving our thinking and applying these same principles to the new mediums.
Related: Secrets to Share on Lego’s Marketing Campaigns
Looking for more marketing innovation? Check out the work of Jay Baer.
Here are ten areas of business change. They will get the organization paying attention on where to find breakthrough innovation ideas for marketing needs:
The arrival of channel convergence
All mediums are converging. The customer dictates the content they want to consume, across multiple mediums, the times they want it.
On-demand mediums will challenge the marketer as consumers move swiftly between tablets to a smartphone to television.
The new ways of targeting customers across multiple platforms now allow the marketer more long-tail opportunities. These will augment and support traditional targeting.
Data is the new norm
The promise of big data brings with it enormous benefits. They include ones that can now inform customer preferences. Ones that identify relevant prospects in real-time. And ones that distil meaning from reams of information where it impacts competitive or brand reputation.
The opportunities to target more granularly beyond just “company”collected transactions provides profound examples. Examples to find the right customer, at the right time, in the right channels, with the right message.
The need for strong data analysts to compile this information across multiple platforms and mediums will be an essential component. A component to target effectively for acquisition. And a component to improve retention rates and optimize for real-time performance.
Change is imperative
Gone are the days of relying on historical data. These days, any data point longer than 30 days is too old and therefore, of limited value.
No longer are we required (or should we be required) to sit and wait for results.
With data becoming more embedded in our daily work, marketers must work towards a more agile, near real-time environment:
This also means becoming more data responsive to an increasingly splintered market. It means having the structures and processes to change tactics on the fly.
It is the context
Google has gone beyond just keyword and now tries to extract real meaning from what people search or speak about.
Semantic algorithms go this one step further and now give marketers the tools to improve the understanding of what people need and want.
It’s here that will help predict and define areas the brand can connect and provide value to customers.
A more informed customer expects an optimal experience. Such an experience “allows them to shop and receive their purchases where they want when they want and how they want.”
This means providing the ‘continuous experience’ across brands, devices, and format.
Today’s marketer is channel-agnostic and is aware of sites, platforms and channels.
Note that the customer is researching, eliciting recommendations, price-comparing and ultimately, buying.
Marketing innovation examples … value is the new currency
One of the hardest lessons for marketers to have learned is to refrain from leading with overt company or product messages.
“Leading with value” has become a difficult principle to adopt, after years of “me-me-me” communications.
Declining performance of digital ad units means marketers must rethink content. Rethink content from the position of the customer.
The rise of editorial as an essential function within marketing will be necessary to install this new discipline.
Marketing innovation ideas … building sustainable relationships
The value of social media as open two-way conversations now provides brands with the ability to build relationships. It provides brands the effort and commitment to nurturing customer relationships through these channels.
Word of mouth and advocacy are strong indicators of brands doing it right.
The value of organic traffic that results from content value, social consistency, and customer commitment, will become more critical. More critical than the more costly campaign-driven ad-buys and promotions.
Agencies will never be able to be truly able to build effective community management services. This function needs to live within the heart of the organization.
Customer relationships with brands cannot be fostered via surrogate means, and then adopted by the organization.
Only employees within the organization, with the proper knowledge and solutions, can effectively troubleshoot customer complaints. They need to provide the right responses in the expected timeframe.
An emerging discipline in community /customer relationship management will be critical. It will permit the community to gauge the pulse of the audience It will also bridge the gap with the organization.
Team organizational focus
The result of these changes will inevitably move away from marketing and become embedded in all parts of the organization.
A responsive, dynamic organization means that PR, HR, Product development, Inventory Management, Operations will need seamless communication channels.
Channels must receive properly and disseminate information into and outside the company to stakeholders as well as external customers.
The future marketers will become more operations-minded but will rely on the collective organization to function effectively.
Customer-centric is all there is
As digital media matures, the areas mentioned above will move companies to start to shift. Shift in ways that puts the needs of the customers at the center of the organization.
One-to-one marketing will become a reality as data allows us to personalize experiences truly for each customer.
Retention will get increasingly harder as mediums and platforms rise and fall with the nomadic consumer.
Where critics have prophesied the death of marketing, a more responsive, dynamic and collaborative organization will take its place.
Takeaways
Marketing is no longer a discipline with best practices and tried and true techniques.
As long as the technology exists, and media evolves, consumers will continue to find new ways to connect and consume information.
What’s clear is that these days our traditional definition of longevity is short-lived. Not only does the marketer need to morph with the times, but the organization also does as well.
Marketing needs demand breakthrough innovation.
Do you have an Integrated Marketing Strategy?
So what’s the conclusion? The conclusion is there is no conclusion. There is only the next step. And that next step is completely up to you. But believe in the effectiveness of word of mouth marketing. And put it to good use.
It’s up to you to keep improving your creative marketing efforts. Lessons are all around you. In this case, your competitor may be providing the ideas and or inspiration. But the key is in knowing that it is within you already.
All you get is what you bring to the fight. And that fight gets better every day you learn and apply new lessons.
When things go wrong, what’s most important is your next step.
Need some help in capturing more customers from your marketing strategies? Creative ideas to help the differentiation with potential customers?
Call today for a FREE consultation or a FREE quote. Learn about some options to scope your job.
Call Mike at 607-725-8240.
When things are not what you want them to be, what’s most important is your next step. Call today.
Test. Learn. Improve. Repeat.
Are you devoting enough energy to improve your marketing, branding, and advertising?
Do you have a lesson about making your marketing strategy better you can share with this community? Have any questions or comments to add in the section below?
Mike Schoultz is the founder of Digital Spark Marketing, a digital marketing and customer service agency. With 40 years of business experience, he blogs on topics that relate to improving the performance of your business. Find them on G+, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
Digital Spark Marketing will stretch your thinking and your ability to adapt to change. We also provide some fun and inspiration along the way. Call us for a free quote today. You will be amazed how reasonable we will be.
More reading on marketing strategy from Digital Spark Marketing’s Library:
A culture of marketing innovation in a business is an environment where traditions can be challenged. Your success in building an innovative culture in your business depends on making them happen. No business attribute is more important today as that of innovative, as many, many businesses are on the brink of irrelevance. Here we will explore being innovative in marketing.
Learn about: The Secrets to Building an Innovative Culture
You need to have the ability to challenge business traditions as often as possible. It’s also important to recognize that culture comes from the people—it is the people. Think about the individuals within your organization—what are their personalities like? Who are they outside of work? What tickles their fancy? All of these things lend to the culture of your organization, and ultimately your products and services.
Related: 8 Ways for a Sustainable Environment of Adapting to Change
Unfortunately, most companies fail to unleash their most valuable resources: human innovation, imagination, and original thinking. They lack a systematic approach to building a culture of innovation and then wonder why they keep getting beaten to the punch.
Make the secrets of building an innovative culture the main strengths of your company and the pillars of its long-term growth and success.
Here are some useful ways how to help move toward an innovative culture in your business:
Marketing innovation … have big goals
Make the goals big and avoid business as usual incremental approaches. Make the performance you seek to depend on focused attention and persistence.
Start small
Start small with just one part of the organization. Here is an example. ITW is a diversified manufacturing company that produces a wide array of products from industrial packaging to power systems and electronics to food equipment to construction products. It is a highly profitable company nearly 100 years old.
Yet this big, old company, which is nestled in a traditional industry, thinks small. The leaders at ITW believe that being nimble, hungry, and entrepreneurial are the ingredients for business success. As a result, any time a business unit reaches $200 million in revenue, the division “mutates” into two $100 million units. Like an amoeba, the unit subdivides so it stays hungry and nimble.
The company would rather have 10 independently run an innovative $100 million units than a single, bureaucratic, and clunky $1 billion unit. Guess what? It’s a great environment of change and adaptation.
Companies that can stay more curious and nimble, have a better ability to change and adapt more easily. They have a stronger sense of urgency and are not afraid to embrace change. They put their curiosity, imagination, and creativity to work
Marketing innovation strategy … avoid isolation
Separate the part of the organization you are starting with. Wall it off from the rest of the corporate bureaucracy. In addition, don’t forget to leave the standard bureaucracy behind. Eliminating the bureaucracy helps to stimulate risk-taking and acts as a counter to old organization inertia.
Become big believers in change and adaptation. Such believers contribute heavily to creative minds. We’re first curious about something, and it’s that curiosity that drives us to create new ideas.
Try to think of inventors who created something without first being curious or imaginative. Difficult isn’t it?
Rapid iteration and feedback
Put a strategy in place to handle failures and learn from them. Use an experimental approach to fail early, often, to increase the learning and move forward more rapidly.
The best intrinsic rewards are built on if-then external motivators. You want to incentivize behavior you want more of and eliminate behaviors you dislike. The basic needs are essential. Here are the ones I recommend:
Autonomy – the desire to steer your own ship
Mastery – the desire to excel at what you are doing
Purpose – the need for the journey to mean something
Create a spirit of collaboration
Your employees should feel like members of one big family. They are the biggest assets of your business.
Innovation rarely happens in a vacuum. As the author Steve Johnson says, chance favors the connected minds. When people are together, talking, laughing, thinking, exploring — they’re going to throw out ideas. These ideas trigger something in someone else’s mind, and it snowballs. Before long, this group of folks has developed a creative change that wouldn’t have been possible without the collective collaboration.
See our article on employee engagement as a backbone of customer culture.
Don’t fall prey to the myth that only some people are adaptable and you’re not one of the chosen few. We are all adaptable; it’s just a matter of figuring out in what way.
So find things you’re curious about and that are interesting to you, use your imagination a little, stay motivated and work at it, and surround yourself with others who are doing the same.
Seek to foster adaptability.
Foster adaptability
Change and adaptability have a great ability to drive innovative thinking. Innovative thinking is best when built around a process and can be taught. There are many courses that teach people different innovative techniques.
Give your employees the opportunity to acquire skills that will help them become more productive and proficient in what they are doing.
Encourage Autonomy
We all prefer control over our environments. According to a 2008 study by Harvard University, there is a direct correlation between people who have the ability to call their own shots and the value of their change and adaptability. An employee who has to run every tiny detail by her boss for approval will quickly become numb to the environment of change.
Granting autonomy involves extending trust. By definition, your team may make decisions you would have made differently. The key is to provide a clear message of what results you are looking for or what problem you want the team to solve. From there, you need to extend trust and let them do their best work.
Passion starts with leaders
Believe in what you preach. Give yourself 100% to the cause. Be honest if you want to be accepted. Lead by providing the example. Do not just lead – inspire!
With a team full of passion, you can accomplish just about anything. Without it, your employees become mere clock-punching automatons.
Celebrate even small successes
Social norms in any culture are established by what is celebrated and what is punished. Consider more narrowly how they function within an institution. Nearly every business’s mission statement includes words about “innovation,” yet risk-taking and change are often punished instead of rewarded. Rewards come in many forms, and often the monetary ones are the least important.
Celebrating change and adaptation is not only about handing out bonus checks for great ideas—although that is a good start. It should also be celebrated with praise (both public and private), career opportunities, and perks. In short, if you want your team to be creative, you need to establish an environment that celebrating their successes.
Foster risk-taking
Zappos as a company is known as much for its culture as for its innovative business model. The company has built a business that is growing rapidly by allowing individuals the freedom to take creative risks without that overwhelming sense of fear or judgment.
They tell their employees to say what you think, even if it is controversial. Make tough decisions without agonizing excessively. Take smart risks. Question actions inconsistent with business values.
Here is another interesting example: A software company in Boston gives each team member two “corporate get-out-of-jail-free” cards each year. The cards allow the holder to take risks and suffer no repercussions for mistakes associated with them.
At annual reviews, leaders question their team members if the cards are not used. It is a great way to encourage risk-taking and experimentation. Think this company comes up with amazing ideas? Absolutely.
Create a changing climate
Always look for alternatives, improvements, and non-standard ways of solving problems. Many of the ideas that your team will come up with will be unfit, some of them will be excellent and a few will be brilliant. Sometimes one brilliant idea is all it takes to make a huge business success.
Readily accept mistakes and failure
There is no success without failure. Ask any successful person and they will confirm that they have failed in life but that their failures made them stronger and even more determined to go on. It is perfectly OK to fail as long as we learn from our own mistakes. Your employees should not fear failure because it will kill their desire to create new and unusual ideas.
In many companies, people are so afraid of making mistakes that they don’t pursue their dreams. The simply follow the rules and keep their heads down, which drives nothing but mediocrity.
James Dyson, the inventor of the Dyson Vacuum cleaner, “failed” at more than 5,100 prototypes before getting it just right. In fact, nearly every breakthrough innovation in history came after countless setbacks, mistakes, and “failures.”
The best innovators and achievers weren’t necessarily smarter or inherently more talented. They simply released their fear of failure and kept trying. They didn’t let setbacks or misfires extinguish their curiosity, imagination, and ability to change.
Failing means taking risks and increasing the rate of experimentation… and exploring. Some bets will pay off; some will fail. The key is to fail quickly. The speed of business has increased dramatically and every minute counts. The best businesses try lots of ideas and let the losers go quickly and with no remorse.
Conclusion
As you can see, some of these ideas do not take much time and money to implement. Start from small and transform your company step by step. Creating an innovative culture is a process that takes time, but as the first creative ideas become reality, and the first results show up, both you and your employees will appreciate the positive effects.
Things change. New technologies come along. Leaders fail to adapt, as Clayton Christensen pointed out years ago in “The Innovator’s Dilemma.” But doing nothing only accelerates the results.
Need some help in improving the innovation process for you and your staff? Innovative ideas to help the differentiation with your toughest competitors? Or maybe ways to innovate new products and services?
Call today for a FREE consultation or a FREE quote. Learn about some options for innovation workshops to get noticeable results.
Call Mike at 607-725-8240.
All you get is what you bring to the fight. And that fight gets better every day you learn and apply new innovative ideas.
When things are not what you want them to be, what’s most important is your next step. Call today.
Test. Learn. Improve. Repeat.
Do you have a lesson about making your innovation learning better you can share with this community? Have any questions or comments to add in the section below?
Mike Schoultz is the founder of Digital Spark Marketing, a digital marketing and customer service agency. With 40 years of business experience, he blogs on topics that relate to improving the performance of your business. Find them on G+, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
Digital Spark Marketing will stretch your thinking and your ability to adapt to change. We also provide some fun and inspiration along the way. Call us for a free quote today. You will be amazed at how reasonable we will be.
More reading on creativity and innovation from Digital Spark Marketing’s Library:
Learn How to Think What No One Else Thinks
Generating Ideas by Convergent Thinking
Amazon and Managing Innovation … the Jeff Bezos Vision
