The fact is, business strategies based upon the idea that there is a “one true answer” to the opportunity of marketing in the digital age are a huge problem, and you have probably become tired of fighting the battle of the buzzwords. And yet the problem likely won’t go away, despite everything we’ve learned in the last decade.
That’s why it’s time to fight back. You should take the time to cut off the emerging popularity of any digital marketing buzzword before it takes root. In order to help out, I offer my first-ever list of how to fight back:
Make friends with the mailroom. What with anthrax and everything, these folks are looking for anything that will help to bring down their stress level. Buy them a latte, and spend some time chatting with them. Your goal? Cut a deal in which they will automatically reroute to you any conference brochures that are addressed to senior managers. That way, you’ll cut off any buzzwords at the pass.
Mess up their organizer. You’ve heard that the CEO or some senior marketing manager plans to attend the upcoming “Interactive Niche Program Target Marketing Using Digital Migration Implant Conference 2002?” Aaiieeee! You know that once they come back, they’ll expect you to drop everything so the company can get aggressively involved with some new type of brainwave technology that scans cerebral cortexes of customers for purchase plan insight. What do you do!? Hack into their calendar via the network, and substitute a meeting to “Discuss need to increase digital marketing budget.”
Post your own HOT/NOT billboard in the lunchroom. Watch for emerging buzzwords related to digital marketing, and as soon as you see them post them in the NOT column. Make up your own words for the HOT column, or post words related to your plans.
Comment on the age of the buzzword inventor. CEOs and others on the senior management love gurus–and the younger the guru the better. “Gee, did you know that so-and-so was 60 years old?” This will cause your CEO to immediately dismiss that buzzword, since they understand that the future is being invented by 15-year-old kids.
Make up your own buzzword. Relate it to your current strategy, so that the existence of the buzzword reinforces the brilliance of your plan. Register the buzzword as a domain name, and let it slip at the next corporate meeting. That way, your senior management team will rush out the door, visit the site and become religious about your plans.
The key thing is to stay focused on your mission. Digital marketing is all about using innovative technologies to reach the customer in new ways, position or enhance the brand or product, or provide the new empowered consumer with the information they are seeking. That’s just a few of the strategic goals–and that’s the key. No matter what you do, always keep the organization focused on the key marketing strategies that are being pursued, and, by doing so, you’ll avoid the impact of those nasty buzzwords.