My days are divided between teaching professionals how to change their careers and teaching companies how to change their cultures–both of whom want to embrace digital marketing. But it takes more than giving it a big hug. I actually find that attitudes are the most important thing to change in both cases.
Here are a few attitudes that often get in the way:
- I don’t have enough expertise. It’s scary to try something new, so it is natural for you to want to learn more, but digital marketing is constantly changing, and the best way to learn it is to try it. If you screw it up the first time, join the club. You didn’t ride a bicycle the first time you got on. You’ll survive the career version of a skinned knee as well.
- I don’t have enough time. Actually, the only thing we all have the same amount of is time–we are each assigned 24 hours every day. When you say that you don’t have enough time for something new, you are really saying that you are already spending your time doing all the right things. But if you aren’t focusing on digital, that can’t be right.
- I don’t have enough resources. No one does. And everyone does. Maybe start with free tactics, such as social engagement or SEO. After you start to show some results with free stuff, you can convince folks to give you money.
- I don’t have enough power. Don’t feel empowered? You’re not alone. It requires some bravery to step out and do something new, but there is no other way to shift to digital marketing. Try to start with small risks that you can apologize for, rather than huge risks that you really need permission for. And try to pick things that you can change back if it doesn’t work. Amazon can change a font at breakfast and know if it was a good idea by lunch–if not, they change it back.
- I don’t have enough analytics. This one is understandable, too. If you don’t trust the numbers, how can you know if you made the right decision? Some would argue that you must wait until the numbers are more accurate before experimenting, but I disagree. The fastest way to get support for improving the analytics system is to start making decisions based on the inaccurate numbers–they will be very interested in improving the accuracy.
It’s hard to change, but digital marketing requires that we do it constantly. Check your attitudes and see if any of them are getting in your way.
