No More Random Marketing

Is your marketing team throwing things at the wall and seeing what sticks?

Are you doing marketing without a plan? Are you more like waking up every morning, going with the flow, and creating marketing content based on your feelings or on your boss' surprise assignment? Are you normally executing marketing acts which need to be ready ASAP without a budget, without connection to the rest of your company strategy or without results measurement?

If your answer is YES, sorry but, you are just doing random marketing. Too much randomness is a recipe for a marketing disaster. 

Why We Do Random Marketing

Marketing offers us a lot of opportunities perhaps, too many to manage. If we mention the major social media channels such as Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, LinkedIn, Google+, Snapchat, there is already (more than) enough room to create content. Sometimes, this can produce some pressure for the company to create "just something". Many companies are too worried about being everywhere. That is a problem itself.  Strategically thinking and planning can save you a lot of those worries (without mentioning the time and the resources).

Other companies, simply, have no resources to hire somebody to take care of marketing. In the worst of the case, a random person inside the organization needs to manage this when she/he has some extra time. So, they try their best and publish something here and there without a real connection. 

Random Marketing Success 
 
I cannot lie to you. Sometimes, an act of random marketing can get good results. For example, your video can get viral even if this is randomly made with a reduced budget. You can get more followers after a funny picture than after a well thought and prepared campaign. The sad part is that if a random act of marketing works, it might encourage your company to continue using those. This particularly happens when company focus, for example, more on followers than in treal lead generation. But, the (long term) truth is that going to one fair trade here and there, printing an expensive glossy brochure, publishing a LinkedIn post once a year and publishing a couple of new pictures on your website or on your Instagram when you remember, will take you nowhere. When we talk about long term branding and marketing, random is not the best way to go. 

Strategic Marketing Matters 

As in any relevant part of your business, to do marketing successfully you need to have a game plan.

The first step is defining what do you want to get from your marketing (e.g. visibility, increase sales, recognition). Later, you need to define your strategy. Instead of trying to figure out what to publish in each channel, use your time smartly and define where is worth sharing content and what kind of content is worth sharing.


Sometimes in marketing, less is more. No doubt, random marketing is one of these cases. You should give it a try.

El Statu Quo No Te Lleva A Ningún Lado

Muchas veces se nos olvida todo lo que podemos lograr en 365 días. Muchas personas ven los días pasar, sin tomar riesgos, sin emprender y sin siquiera tratar de conquistar sus sueños. Algunas personas simplemente se conforman, se quedan allí en dónde están... Lo mismo pasa con las organizaciones. 

Lo bueno es que siempre podemos comenzar un nuevo capítulo y ahora con éste ano recién comenzado, me preguntaba, ¿por qué no lo aprovechamos para hacer las cosas de una manera diferente, mejor que antes?

El cambio beneficiará a tu empresa.

Desafortunadamente, en algunos casos cuando hablamos de cambio, la gente se imagina algo malo. El cambio genera miedo y también puede ser visto como algo dramático y hasta doloroso, en vez de ser percibido como una evolución. 

En el contexto laboral, en las organizaciones, muchos empleados simplemente le temen al cambio porque éste batirá la cultura organizacional, los procedimientos y hasta las conductas. Especialmente los empleados que han estado largo tiempo en la empresa deben sentir que pueden perder su poder o su reputación o sus trabajos.

Nos guste o no, hoy en día, cambiar no es opcional. Al contrario, cambiar es una obligación. Por ejemplo, las necesidades de los clientes, las situaciones políticas o económicas de los países, los cambios en el mercado o en la industria obligan a las empresas a cambiar y a adaptarse.

Un cambio, por simple que sea, trae nuevas experiencias a los empleados, y a la organización en general. Por ejemplo, le ayudará a redescubrir su verdadero potencial y a ver su negocio desde una nueva perspectiva. Un cambio, los llevará lejos de su zona de confort, pero a la vez, le ayudará a explorar nuevas dimensiones de su negocio, nuevas oportunidades. 

Foto: Pixabay

Si Usted piensa que su empresa no necesita cambiar, piense de nuevo.

Las empresas perfectas no existen. Lamentablemente, que la empresa está muy bien es un error que cometemos muchos. Los gerentes piensan que todo está muy bien, porque todo es cómodo y conocido. Entonces, preferimos quedarnos allí quietos, sin tomar riesgos. La verdad que el statu quo puede hacernos sentir seguros.

El statu quo es fácil de reconocer: puede ser cuando los empleados han estado mucho tiempo en la empresa sin sorprendernos y sin cambiar; o cuando la empresa ha vendido el mismo producto de la misma manera y la misma cantidad por muchos años; o cuando la empresa cree que la relación con sus distribuidores es estable y no busca otros distribuidores o canales alternativos para mejorar. La rutina nos puede hacer creer que tenemos todo bajo control. Pero establecerse de una manera tan sólida puede dañar a su empresa en el futuro. El statu quo es un engaño, no lo llevará a ningún lado. El statu quo no es suficiente para tener una empresa exitosa.

Si usted o sus empleados han hecho las cosas de la misma manera, es hora de reconocer que deben ser obsoletos y deben estar perdiendo oportunidades para crecer, expandirse o vender más. Si se toma unos minutos para pensar por ejemplo, en las ventas por internet, la globalización, el uso de las redes sociales, los desarrollos en el servicio al cliente y la digitalización, se podrá dar cuenta que muchas cosas han cambiado en los últimos años. 

 Estoy segura que al menos uno de estos ejemplos le está afectando su negocio actualmente, ¿verdad?

El statu quo y sus empleados

Usted como gerente no es el único responsable del status quo. Sus empleados juegan un papel muy importante creándolo o enfrentándolo. Usted como gerente si es responsable de elegir y de ayudar a su equipo de una manera inteligente.

Empecemos por el principio, fomentar el statu quo no es bueno para sus empleados. Cuando ellos se sienten cómodos, ellos empiezan hacer las cosas de la misma manera una y otra vez. De hecho, a la larga ellos serán resistentes a cualquier tipo de cambio.

Lo más importante es evaluar el comportamiento de sus empleados en este momento. Muchos supervisores piensan que el mejor empleado es aquel que hace lo que se le pida sin replicar. Pero la verdad es que en muchos casos esta conducta no genera ningún cambio, ninguna nueva idea. Este tipo de empleado debe ser muy bueno en su posición actual pero, en el futuro le será difícil romper con la rutina, pensar de una manera diferente y hasta adaptarse a un nuevo escenario.

Mientras Usted se dedica a elogiar a este tipo de empleados puede que esté “empujando” a los verdaderos empleados potenciales, a aquellos que tienen una perspectiva diferente y le ayudarán a entender las razones del statu quo y a enfrentarlo.

Es un hecho que contratar nuevos empleados que vengan de otras organizaciones, con otras experiencias, será beneficioso. Claro está, que esto solo sucederá si le deja hacer su trabajo sin intentos de lavados cerebrales.

Liderazgo y gestión de cambios.

Desafiar al statu quo no es una tarea fácil. Cambiar no es fácil.

Para gestionar un cambio Usted debe persuadir a sus empleados a romper el statu quo. Comunicando la necesidad de cambiar es muy importante pero no suficiente para la ejecución. Usted y su equipo deben crear planes y actividades que sean realistas para poder llevar a su empresa a una nueva dirección. Los cambios no necesitan ser tan dramáticos, puede cambiar paso a paso. Es su obligación ayudar y soportar todas las iniciativas relevantes generadas por su equipo. Usted tiene que lograr que sus empleados estén involucrados en el cambio.

Desafortunadamente, muchas empresas se dedican más a hablar del cambio que en ejecutarlo. Como líder, Usted deberá representar muy bien lo que dice. No existe cosa más frustrante y confusa a nivel laboral que tener como supervisor a una persona que habla de innovación y cambio, pero que sus acciones sólo reflejan conductas obsoletas.

Ahora Usted y su empresa tienen una nueva oportunidad para enfrentarse al statu quo y así llevar a su empresa a un nuevo camino. Haga que cada día y cada acción valga la pena y le lleve lejos.

The Status Quo Never Leads To Wonderland

Sometimes people forget how much 365 days actually brings to their lives. They just wait years to do something new, to take risks, or to pursue a dream. They just settle. The same happens to companies… 

So, if you are starting a new chapter why not to use this new year to change, and to do things differently and better than before?

Embracing change can be good for your company

Unfortunately, to many people, change means something negative, something to fear. Change can be seen as something dramatic or painful, instead of something positive -an evolution.    

In many organizations, people are just afraid of change because it means shaking solid organizational cultures, procedures and behaviors. People might feel afraid of losing the power or the status they have achieved during the years they have worked for the same organization. In some cases, they might be afraid of losing their jobs or of being forced to do something very different.  

Customers' needs, economic and political situations in the country, market and industry changes, and even competitors' actions force companies to change. This means, changing is not an option but mostly, a need.

A change will bring more experience to your employees and to your company. It will help you to rediscover your potential and to see the business from a new perspective. A change will take you out of your comfort zone but, at the same time, will help you to explore new dimensions of your business, new opportunities.    

Picture: pixabay.com

So, you think you don’t need to change? Think twice.

There is not such a thing like a perfect company. This is perhaps the most common mistake we face in some organizations. We believe that everything is good and therefore, we want things to stay in that way -without risks. We can get used to certain conditions because those are quite OK for us. We believe that the status quo is good because we feel safe and comfy.

It is perhaps when the employees have been there for a while, without changes or surprises; or when the company has been selling regularly the same amount of products every year, or when the company believes that its relationship with its partners is stable. Those symptoms can make us settle. However, the truth is that settling can damage your company in the long term.

If you are wondering why to change if everything is fine in your company, let me tell you something, the status quo might be a comfortable status but, it is not enough for your company success. Most of the organizations need to adapt and change if they want to survive in the wild business environment that we are facing nowadays. 

If you're doing things the way you always have, you might be already obsolete or you might be losing a lot of opportunities to grow and to expand. Think about online selling, globalization, social media marketing, customer service, and digitalization. These are only few examples of things which have dramatically changed in the last years. No doubts those things are already affecting your business, right? 

The status quo and your employees

You are not the only one responsible for creating and maintaining the status quo. Your employees play an important role in creating and breaking it. However, it is your responsibility as a leader to choose and support your employees wisely.

Supporting the status quo is not good for your employees. When the employees get comfortable because everything is good, they get complacent with the status quo. They do the same things over and over again. If fact, they will resist changing due to the risks that change entails.

So, what should you do now? Well, it is time to review your employees' behavior. Despite of some managers' believes, a good employee is not the one who just do what is required to do without challenging him/herself or challenging the company situation. They might be good in their actual jobs under the actual conditions, but they will find challenging thinking outside the box, doing things in a different way or adapting to new conditions.

When focusing on the employees mentioned above and when giving all the credits to them for doing things "as we always have done", you might be pushing away your top performers or not using their real potential. Bringing new people to your organization will help you to break this status quo. (Of course, if you let them do their job). They will bring to your company new skills and new perspectives. Remember, it does not make much sense to try to change them and make them act as the rest of your people.

Change management and leadership

Challenging the status quo is not easy. Change is not easy.

Change management is all about persuading people to break with the status quo. As a manager, explaining to your employees why we need to change it is extremely important but, not enough to achieve the goal and to change. You need to create a realistic plan with tasks and activities to lead your company to the new direction. The activities and tasks can be small, too. This means that you could change step by step. You have to motivate your team and employees to support the change and all the change initiatives that are generated in your organization. You need to get them involved.

Unfortunately, most companies talk about change far more than they actually engage in it. So, as a leader, your most important task is to walk your talk. There is nothing more frustrating and confusing than having a manager that want innovation while exhibiting behaviors that endorse doing things as “we have done before”.

You have a new year, a new opportunity to break the status quo and take your company to a better situation. Make each day count.