We don't know each other, so let's get to know each other with a little game – a crowd pleaser if you will – two truths, one lie. I will make three statements about marketing, and you have to decide which of the statements is a lie. Ready?

1. Your marketing mix should be simple, concise and integrated
2. Every brand should have a strategy in place before going to market
3. All marketing efforts must be measurable and directly attributable to sales

It's a bit of a brain, but if you guessed #3 as a lie, you would be right. Why? Don't worry, I'll explain.

IN the field of marketing, everyone has different opinions. However, I believe there are a number of 'universal truths' about the industry. These are undeniably accurate statements.

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The first truth

For statement no. 1, this is the truth that simplicity is crucial big marketing. This applies in many different ways, firstly from the perspective of your offer. People will get frustrated and leave if it's too hard to understand or use.

Marketing your offer, messaging and user experience it should be even simpler. Why? Because your customers – like you – are overwhelmed. The average consumer is responsible for making over 33,000 decisions per day on average. If you don't sell puzzles, the consumer doesn't want to take the time to figure it out.

Think about it in the context of your life: you have bills to pay, work to do, friends to see and dinner to figure out. If you have to decide on a product or service you need, you want it to be easily. You can ask a friend or read reviews to guide your decision, but generally, you want to make the decision and get on with your day.

Focusing on simplicity in your marketing makes everything easier for the customer. By making your message clear and direct to ensure the path to purchase is smooth, you win more business by making your offer a no-brainer solution to what they're looking for.

Finally, your marketing should be integrated. This is a fancy way of saying it should be aligned and consistent and provide yours CLIENTS they are not confused. Remove that simple button and make it your marketing priority.

The second truth

The second statement may be a little more controversial, but I strongly believe that going to market without a strategy it's like going into battle without a plan. The stakes are too high and the potential for miscommunication and misunderstanding too great. Can you hold my arm? Of course. But why would you want to? Why put yourself in a position to 'figure it out' as you go when you can take a few hours and get it all down on paper?

Your strategy is your north star when you lose. It answers who this is for, why it was created, and where you want it to go. With this in mind, you can make better, easier, and more informed decisions every day instead of being locked in analysis paralysis for every new opportunity.

Additionally, your strategy ensures that others are all on the same team, working toward the same goal brand goals and objections. Your strategy can and should change over time, but having a basic “kid” strategy will set you up for higher and more consistent levels of success.

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Lies

And now we come to the lie: all marketing efforts must be measurable and directly attributable to sales. This is a tough pill to swallow, especially from an operational and financial perspective.

As marketers, we are hammered into it to use data. Don't get me wrong, I love it – we have more information than ever at our fingertips, but first, we need to get over the fact that marketing does not equal sales. Yes, your marketing department should be a revenue-generating arm of your business, but it can and should be so much more than that.

I can't tell you how many times I've had to present metrics that mean nothing just to justify my existence as a marketer. In a way, these numbers hold us hostage and the expectation is that they will just grow, grow, grow over time. Let's be real – we have all this data, and most of it doesn't really matter. We can tell you how long someone spent on your site, but not why they left and didn't buy. We can tell you how many likes you got on your last reel, but not why it performed better than the rest. So much emphasis is placed on the 'what' rather than the 'why'. Data can only take you so far.

Moreover, so many of marketing is creative at its core. Can you measure how many people laughed at your latest campaign or how many friends were told about it in real time? Can you measure the joy you've brought or how much your offering has impacted the lives of your customers?

Do not misunderstand me. I'm not saying don't use data – I like data. I'm saying stop tying marketing's hands with meaningless success metrics or straight sales figures that are outside of their sphere of influence. You'll end up with boring tactics like any of your competitors because they're more concerned with making a quote than trying something new. The best marketing surprises – I want you to leave room for this to happen.

Marketing can be such a subjective field. Ask five marketers what they think about something and you'll probably get five different answers. That's what makes this industry fun and ever-evolving. I believe that when we plan properly, we make it easy and allow success to look different than a metric report, big marketing can flourish.

I don't use the term lightly – but think about it. How much big marketing have you seen lately? Something that would make you stop in your tracks? I call it the 'sea of ​​similarity'. Everyone says similar things because they are too afraid of what it would look like to be truly themselves and stand apart from others. You didn't build a business to land here.

You want more from your marketing and it's not hard to get it. If you aspire to something more, I encourage you to keep it simple, plan it out, figure out what really matters and move the needle for your brand.