Marketing as we know it has changed considerably in the recent years, and will continue to change at a rapid pace. If we don’t know how to handle the disruptive change that’s thrust upon us, we just won’t survive. http://www.yourbrandexposed.com

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Scott MacFarland | December.2013
SURVIVAL TACTICS
Marketers Must Embrace
eBook

2. Marketing Has Changed
Marketing has changed drastically since I graduated
from college in the late 80s. Yes I know, the whole
world has changed, however, marketing is one of
those disciplines like technology that thrives and
survives on the speed of change. A popular
colloquialism said,
“
Marketing is like having a fire hose of information
speeding directly into our brains all at once.
”
It’s like an information superhighway that creates
overload and confusion for marketers. Today, those
same marketers don’t have just one fire hose feeding
information into their brains, they have several, and
each has expanded the amount of data to alarming
levels, streaming into our creative brains. This data is
now competing for the same space, time and access
to our marketing intellect. How do we survive and
what can we do to be more equipped to handle
what’s coming?
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SURVIVAL TACTICS
eBook
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3. It’s Our Job To Know The Landscape
As marketers, we must obtain as much knowledge
and experience as possible, and draw from that for
guidance. We must also carefully traffic the speeding
content traveling into our brains and connect that
content to realistic goals and strategies. Through
years of marketing successes and failures, I figured
out what works and what doesn’t, what new ideas
have value and what tools I can use that I have
available at my fingertips. Then I put them all in my
professional arsenal so that I can be far more
equipped to handle the disruptive change that’s
ahead.
Marketing as we know it has changed considerably in
the recent years, and will continue to change at a
rapid pace. If we don’t know how to handle the
disruptive change that’s thrust upon us, we just won’t
survive. With that being said, I put together a list of
50 Survival Tactics Marketers Must Embrace.
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SURVIVAL TACTICS
eBook
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4. 1-10
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2
Create a marketing strategy from ground zero and
attach the tactical, creative and production components
to that strategy.
Use all your resources when launching new products.
3 Create content for all channels, devices and customers.
4 Be a connector of people, ideas and content.
5 Creatively think for new and innovative ways that you
are not doing now that can be more effective in marketing
your business.
6 Integrate creative thinking to business principles and metrics.
7 Research industry and consumer trends.
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SURVIVAL TACTICS
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8 Understand paid media buying and cost-per principles.
9 Know the benefits of traditional and digital marketing and
where they function best to give you maximum results.
10 Understanding and applying measurement.
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5. 11-20
11 Know how to push an idea forward under pressure.
12 Execute on time, all the time.
13 Study how each digital channel works together.
14 Be a master at juggling people, process, time, media and
creative.
15 Know your software tools and exactly what they do best.
16 Technology is your friend, fully understand it and embrace it.
17 Web: understand the trends, technology, toolsets, creative
development as well as Google Analytics.
18 Mobile/Apps: Know the reasons why mobile is growing at
alarming levels.
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SURVIVAL TACTICS
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19 Social: Provides more exposure for your brand than any
other channel in the history of marketing – you better
know it well.
20 Study the competition, know their products and customers.
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6. 21-30
21 Master the art of writing a project brief. It requires you to
distill complex information quickly and see the big picture
organizationally.
22 Be the ultimate brand ambassador and protect the vitality and
integrity of the brand you are working to create.
23 Creatively write for all marketing initiatives, including public
relations.
24 Understand the “if-then” interactive mindset of marketing in a
digital world. Marketing is not passive; it evolves and tells the
story in real time.
25 Understand sales strategies and tactics.
26 Study consumer buying behavior and consumer media
consumption.
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SURVIVAL TACTICS
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27 Be an incredible storyteller of your brand.
28 Apply your content strategy and tactics to the sales funnel.
29 Predict the consumer path from first touch point to purchase.
30 Be a 24x7 student of marketing, advertising, communications
and all things digital.
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7. 31-40
31 Project manage from creation-to-deployment.
32 Search engine optimization (SEO) changes frequently.
Know the rules and recipe for increasing ranking and score.
33 Be wildly creative and bring innovative ideas to reality
frequently.
34 Harness your creativity and use it wisely. Know when to use it
and when to save it for later.
35 Think about prioritizing all your ideas in “Yes”, “Later” and “No”
categories.
36 Be a master juggler and flexible because you will always have to
manage multiple resources, projects and delivery dates. You
must also know how to mitigate a potential crisis before it
happens.
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SURVIVAL TACTICS
eBook
37 Review big brands and agencies for what's new and different.
38 Find influencers in your company that will help advance your
ideas.
39 Know how to develop the business case strategy and apply it to
all marketing initiatives. This is like a mini business plan.
40 Ask yourself this question every day. If what I am doing is to be
a success, what does it have to accomplish?
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8. 41-50
41 Think about the customer’s perception of the brand, not your own.
42 Determine the Key Performance Indicators (KPI) for all initiatives.
43 Study generational attributes that align with your customer base.
44 Create personas for your brand and know them extremely well.
45 Don't say, “Because we always did it that way” – That excuse
doesn’t work any longer.
46 Know the key selling points of your brand and what makes them
so important for your marketing message.
47 Create an emotional response from your customer.
48 Search engine marketing is more than just banner display ads.
Become an expert at how to play the online game of marketing.
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49 Inbound tactics are critical in today’s content-driven marketing
world. Study, adopt, and use it frequently. Inbound touches your
entire brand and marketing team as well as activates brand
exposure and closes the gap from awareness to sale.
50 Ship: Know when to stop creating for perfection and get the
marketing out to the customer. If you don’t ship, you will probably
be out of a job and won’t survive.
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Scott MacFarland | December.2013
SURVIVAL TACTICS
eBook
Marketers Must Embrace
YourBrandExposed.com - Original Content Series
Email: scmacfarland@yahoo.com
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/scottmacfarland
Twitter: @scmacfarland
561.339.2278
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