final touch point as the only point of conversion? You have to make sure that you are considering the multi-faceted nature of today’s marketing as you measure ROI.
Making the change from the old model of marketing to the new ecosystem of momentum doesn’t have to be difficult. In fact, as you make the transition, you’ll see right away how much easier it is to handle than the old model, with its constant push for more content and more posts on more social media platforms. So take a deep breath, let go of your current notions of marketing, and let’s dive into the new reality of digital marketing together.
chapter 2
1st Principle of Momentum:
Agility Through Analytics
Agility means the ability to pivot and change direction quickly, based on data gained from in-depth analytics, in order to take advantage of opportunities to grow your business. Your business’ marketing momentum depends heavily on its ability to embrace agility and continuously revamp its strategies based on analytics.
HOW MANY TIMES have you heard the business mantra “Adapt or die”? It’s a common enough saying that you’d think this first principle of momentum, agility, was nothing new. The imperative to change according to market conditions has always been a major part of business.
But what hasn’t always been a part of business is the incredible amount of data now available, from supply-chain tracking information to e-commerce website analytics.
Due to this constant influx of data, adapting is no longer something that can take place only every once in a while—every few years, say, or even every quarter. Today agile businesses can, and should, adapt to changing conditions and new information almost instantly.
The sheer volume of data available in real time about every aspect of consumers’ interactions with your emails, social media posts, blog posts, website, and paid ads means that shaping and refining strategies and campaigns based on that information is a never-ending process.
And that process is the single most essential element in capitalizing on and building momentum from your marketing successes.
In the world of digital marketing, things happen at the speed of light. A well-timed tweet can go viral in seconds, spreading brand awareness in no time flat—think Oreo’s famous tweet when the lights went out at the Super Bowl in 2013: “Power out? No problem. You can still dunk in the dark.” It’s that kind of swift move to take advantage of a trending topic or a new insight into audience behavior that creates the momentum you need to be successful in today’s marketing ecosystem—and it’s the constant tweaks and course adjustments, based on data about your audience’s responses to your marketing, that continue to build that momentum.
Agility in marketing leads directly to marketing momentum.
So how can your company go about becoming more agile?
» Agility in Action
Let’s take another look at that sports drink company we mentioned in chapter 1—we’ll call them Marketade. How did Marketade come up with the idea to promote its drinks through mobile and Facebook offers? Did Stan in Marketing just come up with the brilliant idea during a meeting one day, all fleshed out and ready to implement?
Yeah, probably not.
The idea probably began as a much simpler version of the promotion, maybe just an offer for a free drink popping up once a jogger reached the end of their route.
Now, Marketade is an agile company, so it tracks its analytics carefully, and then puts its insights to good use.
In looking at the data here, Stan probably noticed that their initial offer was successful, and that customers weren’t waiting to redeem it, but instead were going to the nearest store to immediately get their free drink. But even more exciting than that, they were then sharing the fact that they had gotten a free drink with friends on social media!
Had anyone asked them to share this information? Nope. Did they get any benefit from telling friends? No. And yet there they were, letting their friends know about the promotion. What gives?
People love to spread the word about deals among friends— especially when associating themselves with a certain product or service makes them look good. And what could possibly make you look better than sharing a deal on a healthy drink, thus subtly letting friends know how fit and health-conscious you are?
Stan realized that Marketade was really on to something here. How could they tweak the campaign to capitalize on the momentum that was already building through these voluntary shares?
First, Stan decided to make immediate offer redemption part of the deal. So many people were already doing it on their own that making it mandatory might just inspire the rest to do so, too. The offer was then linked to stores near the ends of the joggers’ routes to make it an easy yes. This first tweak strengthened the momentum already building.
Next, Stan added a step that customers were already taking on their own—but made it even more attractive, so that more of them would participate by offering another discount for friends when a jogger posted a selfie on Facebook with their free drink. In the process, Marketade capitalized on our love affair with selfies as well as our desire to associate ourselves with products that make us look good and our excitement about sharing great deals with friends.
The result? Marketing gold. Stan’s tweaks to the campaign really only took what customers were already doing and made it a standard part of the deal, but by tapping into what people were willing to do anyway and attaching a reward to it, he increased the momentum of the campaign dramatically.
If Stan hadn’t been checking his analytics religiously, he wouldn’t have known about the customer response until it was too late to take advantage of it. But by listening and observing and tracking, he was able to make his campaign into something much more effective than it ever could have been in its original form.
That is agility.
That is marketing momentum.
» Growth Hacking: Agility on Steroids
You may have heard the term growth hacking being thrown around the internet in recent years. What is it, exactly?
Growth hacking is an extreme version of agility tactics. It is a method used by many tech startups that burst onto the scene with a vengeance, disrupting their industry by growing from literally nothing to a thriving business in as little time as possible.
Unlike established companies, these growth hackers don’t feel bound by conventional marketing methods, and they don’t try to meet a long list of marketing goals—instead, they look for uniquely creative ways to get as much as possible out of their marketing efforts, and obsess over one thing and one thing only: growth. They scrutinize analytics constantly, and make major changes instantly based on trends and insights gleaned from those analytics, to amp up results. Focus is key in growth hacking—every single move is based on data and aimed at growth. It’s the perfect marriage of left-brain and right-brain, creativity and science. And this uber-emphasis on agility means that growth-hacking companies can sometimes go from 0 to 60 in just a few weeks—the momentum produced can be almost unbelievable.
New businesses in other industries can use these tactics, too, as can established companies, with just a little tweaking to accommodate needs other than growth alone.
Here’s a real-world example:
A Fortune 500 client of ours was launching a new educational app for kids. It enabled kids to practice math and English skills they needed more help on, as well as work ahead of their grade level for enrichment. It displayed results to parents, so they could keep track of their children’s progress, and could even be synced up with input from teachers and used by school systems.