MARKETING WARFARE

Do you know where some of the greatest military strategies are developed?

Right on the front lines, one table surrounded by several commanding officers, reconnaissance, and troops.

The same goes for developing marketing warfare strategies.

Your takeaway?

Stop excluding everyone but three chief executives from the board room, and please stop spending tens of thousands of dollars on flimsy vacations (that’s what they are no matter how you put it) to a “business resort” for a “destination strategy meeting”.

As I referenced earlier, and if you’ve read my other blog posts, you know that I have great disdain for marketing strategies that are implemented without the anticipation of tactical results.

These “I got an idea!”, “Well, just because.”, and “What if we, like, run more Facebook ads?!” marketing “strategies” or “mindsets” are a huge reason why businesses remain stagnant or fall backwards.

A military force that initiates battle just to initiate battle is bound to lose.

Rather, a military power that comes up with desired and achievable tactical results (eg. blowing up a bridge) to execute a strategy (eg. disrupting the enemy’s transportation of supplies) is bound to win.

Like they say, don’t put the cart before the horse.

Similar in marketing warfare, a business that comes up with desired and achievable tactical results (eg. using gamification to reward followers, engagement) to execute a strategy (eg. having the highest share of voice on social media) is bound to win.

Tactics fuel strategies.

The development of strategies is led by executives.

Therefore, the development of tactics should be influenced by the tacticians.

Introducing The Round Table of Marketing Warfare.

King Arthur and Charlemagne were both said to have had a Round Table where they would sit and correspond with their fellow knights. The thinking behind the “round” table was to establish the understanding that everyone at the table had equal status.

This is smart leadership for two reasons, because even though the final say will be granted by the King, the King is smart enough to realize a) tactics fuel strategies, and he doesn’t operate on a tactical level, and b) those who do operate on the tactical level should be empowered to come up with the tactics that fuel the King’s strategy.

How are a few executives going to know how to win social media without the social media coordinator, Search Engine Optimization without the digital marketing manager, Conversion Rate Optimization without the the UX/UI designer, and so on and so on?

Successful Kings and CEOs know not to let ego and prestige get in the way of marketing warfare.

I’m here to tell you. . .