I love it when I see an article or survey that totally aligns with my thinking. Who wouldn’t. This is interesting stuff and I agree 100% with the conclusions. Why can’t small businesses think more like CEOs?
If you know me or read my stuff, you know that I believe marketing is tough. It is very hard to reach people. You know too that I believe in differentiation above all else. If your business is the same as ANY other business, buyers base their decision on price.
You also know that I do not think time spent on “social media” is worth the effort. It takes time to build a business and if you take short-cuts, the process of building will take longer and cost more. I had a client, now former client, tell me “I don’t have time for engagement. I want business now.”
No time for engagement? I watched lead after lead go down the drain while this client became impatient with me. No time for engagement? My. That’s all there is. Do you need Facebook to answer your phone or respond to email like a human being?
Here’s what CEOs are saying about marketing. If you agree with these results, we should be talking.
(1) They keep on talking about brand, brand values, brand equity and other similar parameters that their top management has great difficulties linking back to results that really matter: revenue, sales, EBIT or even market valuation (77%)
(2) They focus too much on the latest marketing trends such as social media, because they believe they represent the new marketing frontiers