3 questions to ask yourself when you’re not seeing results
There are people who will tell you that mindset and marketing have as much in common as the accounting and social media team of a company. I disagree. Vehemently. In fact, when the mindset isn’t right, get ready for your marketing campaign to leave a lot to be desired.
Mindset is the glue that keeps it all together. And what keeps you from seeing results. When your team is on the same page, their brainwaves practically sync, enabling them to riff off on each other when searching for the next big marketing idea. But if they don’t, how do we get there?
Ask yourself these three questions:
1) Am I taking care of my team?
Teams who feel listened to and cared for tend to perform better. That’s just facts. Think about it, who would you rather work with: someone who might not always be on the same page, but respects you and shows appreciation for your ideas? Or, someone who shoots you down immediately and doesn’t really pay attention to your input?
Taking care of your team doesn’t have to be time consuming. It starts with regular check-ins,
where your team can share what works well and where there’s room for improvement. Even if you cannot change something right then and there, even being listened to and heard goes a long way.
Which brings us to active listening. Really make an effort to listen intently to what is being brought up, positive and negative, without attaching any meaning to what is said. It’s simply an exchange in information from which on you can make decisions. Take nothing personally, see everything as data.
There are a lot more ways to take care of your team and one of the most effective is giving
recognition and praise where it’s due. Can we please bin the attitude of "no feedback means
everything is good"? This grows an environment of anxiety and fear of making a mistakes. So let’s embrace open communication. Your marketing will thank you for it.
2) Do I know my Why?
It’s easy to get lost in business, when we don’t know why we are doing it. So ask yourself, why are you creating this new campaign? Why do you want to promote this exact product? Why do you want to bring it to the customer? Your reason might be to enhance their lives, or it may be as simple as making a profitable return from it to finance another product.
Not knowing why you do something automatically puts you behind, because there is no clear route. And suddenly you have twice the meetings you need to have, spend time and resources moving in circles. Therefore, become clear on your Why, as it becomes the red thread that connects your marketing measures and ultimately leads you to a swifter success.
3) And is my team aligned with that Why as well?
If we don’t have a collective Why, we might work in a million different directions. Therefore, as soon as you get clear on what your Why behind your marketing is, communicate this to your team. Trust me, it seems like a no brainer, but people who understand Why they work on something instead of mindlessly executing tasks they’re given, feel like they’re part of something, hence perform better.
You might even incorporate them in the process, designing your team to play to their strengths. Working smart and using each persons unique talent not only makes them feel valued, but they will put double the effort, when they are personally involved. Appreciation goes a long way.