Why ‘best practice’ is killing marketingA wake-up call for marketers who know they could do better.

? Is it just us?

Or is most marketing kind of...

! well...

CRAP?

“ Me too” campaigns.

Lazy stereotypes.

Why ‘best practice’ is killing

A wake-up call for Marketers who know they could do better.

Content nobody reads.

Web pages full of DEAR GOD JUST KILL ME NOW.

Emails nobody wants.

1996

Messages that were relevant last year (maybe).

1996

Web pages full of DEAR GOD JUST KILL ME NOW.

Just about everyone thinks marketing is getting

WHY?

Two words:

1BEST

Two words:

1

2

PRACTICEBEST

Two words:

Yes, it sounds crazy,

but bear with us.

Let’s talk about

a good marketer, right?

...keep up to date with research.

...keep up to date with research.

...take an interest in new ideas and technology.

...keep up to date with research.

...take an interest in new ideas and technology.

... listen to industry viewpoints. (You must do. You’re reading this.)

And that’s great.

But still.

If you’re anything like us, there’s always this nagging thought...

YOU COULD DO BETTER.(Couldn’t you?)

Think aboutyour best work...

A piece of marketing that makes you

Did you discover a new market?

Learn something new about your customers?

Find a great angle?

Communicate in a new way?

React fast?

You did something, right?

You understood your customers.

You changed the game.

You gave your brand an edge.

That’s

marketing. As it should be. (And we applaud you.)

So forgive us for asking

Why isn’t all your work like that?

Don’t worry. It’s not just you. It’s everyone.

Nobody starts a career in marketing dreaming of...

9

5

Business as usual.

9

5

Picking your battles.

9

5

Feeding processes.

9

5

Appeasing stakeholders.

9

5

$1 $1

Justifying budgets.

9

5

$1 $1

Avoiding risks.

But everyone’s under the same pressure

M

And that’s why most marketing sucks.

Used any of these excuses?

“ That’s just how it’s done in our industry.”

“ I don’t want to rock the boat. People might look at me like I’m crazy.”

“ That’s just how it’s done in our industry.”

Translation:

“ That home page image was chosen in a top-level meeting.”

“ That home page image was chosen in a top-level meeting.”

“ We think stakeholders are more important than our customers.”

Translation:

“ This is all there’s time and budget to do.”

“ I don’t know which parts of my existing budget are wasted.”

Translation:

“ This is all there’s time and budget to do.”

“ Everyone’s doing it.”

“ It’s trendy, and if we don’t join in, we might look stupid.”

Translation:

“ Everyone’s doing it.”

“ I saw this presentation at a conference, and it looked great.”

“ This worked OK, for someone else’s customers, a year ago. I’m sort of hoping it still works.

Translation:

“ I saw this presentation at a conference, and it looked great.”

Really, what you mean is...

“ I’m under pressure. I only have so many resources. I’m the one who’ll get fired if it doesn’t work... So I’m sticking with what feels safe.”

And that’s...Conventional wisdomIndustry trendsand (dare we say it)

1BEST

And that’s...Conventional wisdomIndustry trendsand (dare we say it)

1

2

PRACTICEBEST

And that’s...Conventional wisdomIndustry trendsand (dare we say it)

And, you know what?

WE DON’T BLAME YOU.

In your position, taking a big, blind leap of faith would be really, really stupid.

!

Except your comfort zone’s none too comfortable

!?

Conventional wisdom’s not all that wise

Help!

and your low-risk policy’s pretty risky.

Because you know you can do better.(And, sooner or later, one of your competitors will.)

But what if you just changed something small?

...and, if that worked, change something else?

...and monitored the effect of that?

What if you could test whether all your current assumptions are actually true?

What if it was

What if it was

QUICK,

QUICK,

What if it was

EASY

$1 $1

EASYQUICK,

What if it was

& CHEAP

$1 $1

The “I don’t need to ask for budget approval” kind. (And if it didn’t work, you could put everything back the way it was.)

Wouldn’t that sort ofset marketing free?

What would you do with that sort of freedom?

Would you...

Test out possible responses to new opportunities in real time?

Answer your customers’ real- world problems?

Find out which potential offer brings more sales?

Check your personalization, to see how customers actually respond?

Prove to the board it’s time to change your approach?

Make decisions based on data, not anecdotes?

Would you...

...well...

Do more marketing that makes you

Look at your website.

We bet you can think of ten ideas right now that just might increase sales by 2%.

If even half of them work that’s probably the easiest 10% growth you’ve ever earned.

Truth is, lots of small improvements add up (and they make it easier to see where the next big improvement is coming from).

You just need to find out which ideas work, and which don’t.

At EPiServer, we’re aiming to make focusing on what works best as

QUICK,

At EPiServer, we’re aiming to make focusing on what works best as

QUICK, EASY

At EPiServer, we’re aiming to make focusing on what works best as

$1 $1

EASYQUICK, &

as possible.

At EPiServer, we’re aiming to make focusing on what works best as

CHEAP

But the rest is up to

It’s your call: you can wait for the next inspirational case study...

Or you can write it.

Make a difference.

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