Business Strategy and Marketing Solutions

Is Your Marketing Caught In The Stare Of The Snake?

  

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Is your marketing in a rut? Are you doing the same thing the same way without any improvement? Are you jumping at every new social media option? Are you writing more content just for the sake of more content?

If so, then your marketing may be caught in the stare of the snake.

THE STARE OF THE SNAKE

The stare of the snake is an hypnotic trance, a Svengali-like grip that has you in thrall to some evil power, often called habit, routine, and "not enough time." You feel helpless and defenseless as your ability to resist flows out of you, causing you to waste time and resources.

FOUR WAYS TO BREAK THE STARE OF THE SNAKE

1. Constantly test your activity against your marketing objectives. At the least, each objective should be focused on sales, customers, or brand image. Are your efforts contributing to one of these? If not, the snake has you marked.
2. Ensure that your marketing strategies are aligned with other departments, like sales, operations, and production. Check internal communication for signs of uncoordinated efforts. The snake likes to divide and conquer.
3. Measure specific marketing tactics to determine if they are being efficient. Compare results to alternatives, goals, and trends. For example, not every social media option is equally effective; focus on the most productive ones. If you're not quick on your feet to find the best marketing tactics, how can you avoid the snake?
4. Build-in an escape mechanism. Yearly, examine strategies. Quarterly compare results with activities. Monthly ensure that you are not doing social media on autopilot, for example. Anytime- give permission to your team to call a time out and ask, "Are we in the stare of the snake?"

More ways to break the stare of the snake:

• Request case studies in your industry that demonstrate extraordinary performance.
• Sign up for a coffe break complimentary call. I promise we'll talk about business, not snakes.

Photo Credit: Flickr Matteo Catanese

The expression "stare of the snake" was taken from the book "The Life God Blesses: Weathering the Storms of Life That Threaten the Soul by Gordon MacDonald