“All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”
~ J.R.R. Tolkien
Marketing Roles that Matter
Last week I sat down with one of my favourite clients and we looked at everything that he had accomplished so far in his business during 2020.
I have to say, it was a pretty impressive list when measured by the sheer number of items, but what struck me most was the balance and quality of those items!
As we started to talk about our next project, I was a bit surprised because I was somehow expecting that he’d take his foot off the accelerator now that we are in December. Along with all the craziness that this year has held, in February his beloved wife died – quite suddenly leaving him with 3 children between the ages of 14 and 20 and I had thought he’d be looking forward to a break.
It turns out that he and his children decided to honour Sally’s memory by challenging themselves in each area of their life to spend 60% as Creators, 20% as Curators, and 20% Consumers. Setting this goal, and checking in on their progress has kept them all motivated and engaged with the world around them as they worked through their grief and it has also made them incredibly productive, so he sees no reason to slow down because as he put it:
“This whole situation has created so many new opportunities to help people solve complex problems. We all know that whatever the world looks like in 12 months’ time, it won’t be the same as it was this time last year and lots of people need a helping hand.”
When I thought about his allocation of time and resources in these categories I was impressed with how effective it had been – of course, it wasn’t just his actual work, but it was his deliberate challenging of resources to meet that budget.
Before you ask:
The net result of all this has been to almost double the number of clients over the past 12 months and, far more significantly, to more than 2.5X the average client dollar value over the same period.
That represents a substantial number of clients helped and problems solved.
This is what each of those roles looks like from a marketing standpoint
Creators & Creation in Marketing
As creator, you are actively involved in the creation of solutions to problems – and the past six months have created many new problems and challenges to solve!
This is represented by creating marketing assets for both new and existing services. These assets might include:
- direct mail packages,
- landing pages,
- email sequences,
- client communications,
- attraction marketing collateral,
- videos,
- podcasts etc;
Many of these (if not quite 100%) will be evergreen or cyclical so they can be reused or repackaged later and are created with that in mind. Other elements that fall into this creation category are new angles on your message to appeal to new markets.
Curators & Curation in Marketing
As curator, you are involved in managing and curating existing projects and campaigns, monitoring their progress, and looking for ways to plug holes in the pipeline as you find them.
Many marketing departments are so busy with creation that they don’t realise that a whole flood of opportunities are simply vanishing unnoticed. Consistent curation will help you discover and prevent this waste by monitoring, tweaking and updating existing campaigns in an effort to increase conversion and streamline delivery.
Consumers & Consumption in Marketing
As consumer, you are intent on discovering what others are doing both inside and outside your own industry. Your consumption includes reading books and other publications, watching video, TV, and movies, and listening to podcasts, lectures, training etc. I have noticed that while it is important to know what your direct competitors are doing, if your goal is to be a market leader, you’ll get even more mileage out of things that are going on in other industries because that provides critical insights and innovation potential.
Tune Up Your Marketing
Many business owners and even marketing departments get these three aspects out of balance and it shows up in their product development and market stature.
If your goal is to lead the field then this 60-20-20 allocation is extremely powerful – the same balance is also helpful when it comes to your relationships, product development, and personal growth.