Sometimes I suspect they skeptically regard us as just another bunch of people with something to sell, rather than a team of people passionately committed to embracing this new paradigm shift and helping them do so as well. Whenever that happens, I chuckle softly to myself and whip out this graphic, created by Gary Hayes in September of 2009.
And when I do, I watch their eyes grow wider, as the veracity of what we’ve been trying to tell them sinks in. Social media matters. Blogging matters. Search matters. And integrating digital marketing into an overall marketing strategy is critical for businesses who are serious about success. Or even serious about staying in business. This is true whether you’re a small business or a large one – and the people who are paying attention are the people who stand to gain the most marketshare the quickest. Sometimes a picture really IS worth a thousand words, and that’s certainly the case in this instance.
I am eternally grateful to Gary for creating this compelling piece of art. For a geeky girl like me, this kind of stuff makes my heart sing. Even better, it makes my job easier on a daily basis. The other thing that makes my job easier is this: for every five prospective clients who don’t get the relevance of this information, there is one gem of a prospective client who does. And that is the client we most want to work with. That makes our jobs less like pulling teeth and forcing change upon an unwilling group of people and more exciting – because we get to be involved in what we really love. And that’s helping people grow their businesses. With people who are committed to making that happen. That’s what makes us get out of bed in the morning with smiles on our faces.
What’s the thing that wakes you up in the morning so excited about that you can’t wait to begin working on it?
And PS, I happen to think Gary is brilliant – and lots of other people do, too. If you want to know more about him, visit his website and see why I’m such a fan.
Shelly Kramer is a Principal Analyst and Founding Partner at Futurum Research. A serial entrepreneur with a technology centric focus, she has worked alongside some of the world’s largest brands to embrace disruption and spur innovation, understand and address the realities of the connected customer, and help navigate the process of digital transformation. She brings 20 years’ experience as a brand strategist to her work at Futurum, and has deep experience helping global companies with marketing challenges, GTM strategies, messaging develoment, and driving strategy and digital transformation for B2B brands across multiple verticals. Shelly’s coverage areas include Collaboration/CX/SaaS, platforms, ESG, and Cybersecurity, as well as topics and trends related to the Future of Work, the transformation of the workplace and how people and technology are driving that transformation. A transplanted New Yorker, she has learned to love life in the Midwest, and has firsthand experience that some of the most innovative minds and most successful companies in the world also happen to live in “flyover country.”