DaveStevensNow

By Dave Stevens
Google+

I don’t think online B2B marketing discussion groups are good for my health.  I check into some of the LinkedIn groups, for example, on a daily basis and I read the latest marketing posts.  I feel my heart begin to race.  My breathing quickens.  My muscles tighten.  If I had a blood pressure monitor, it would flash red or whatever blood pressure monitors do to indicate rising levels.

And it’s all because the questions that seem to be highest on web posters’ minds are those that seem to seek a single truth from a discipline that can provide anything but.

Posters ask:- “What are the strategies to use in B2B marketing?”  “What is the best approach for lead generation?”  “Does Twitter work in B2B marketing?”  “What’s cool in marketing?”  “Which social media channels are best?”  And so on.

There is no simple answer to any of these questions.  In all cases, the answer has to be “it depends!”

There is, though, a simple marketing tool-kit that all of these posters should be applying rather than spending their time on an online forum.  They need to conduct a marketing audit to assess their current environment, its advantages and disadvantages.  They need to develop some SMARTT marketing objectives based upon their business objectives and strategy.  They need to conduct some segmentation, targeting, and positioning on their marketing objectives.  And then – and only then – can they ask their question.  And they can work out their answer for themselves.

Because that’s the art of marketing.  There are no easy answers.  No quick fixes.  You have to work at it.  Systematically.  Consistently.  Professionally.

There isn’t a bluffer’s guide to marketing.  There is no gift horse.  And the answer to the marketing mix is most definitely not 42.

And you know what?  The profession of marketing is all the more rewarding because of that.