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If you think of one thing that could make you more productive, effective and purposeful in your business and marketing this year, what would it be?
What derails you from your goals? What prevents you from being your best?
As a full-service marketing agency, we have a great privilege of working alongside some of the smartest business managers out there. During our marketing strategy sessions or our monthly KPI calls, one word that comes up, again and again, is clarity.
Clarity [noun]
The quality of being easy to see or hear; sharpness of image or sound.
Clarity could be one of the most sought-after commodities for all business and marketing managers in today’s world.
Why clarity?
The answer is obvious. Being immersed in the constant stream of incoming emails, messages, and social media ads, we often find ourselves torn between tasks, as they all might seem urgent and important. Naturally, that is not true. All of your tasks can’t be urgent and important at the same time.
That being said, you can’t argue with the feeling of being overwhelmed by your tasks, you might be experiencing on a daily basis. This is where clarity comes in.
“Improved productivity means less human sweat, not more.”
“It’s not what you do, it’s how you do it.”
These and many more productivity quotes all imply that the end result of our work is not determined purely by the amount of effort we put into it. Clarity allows us to isolate the most important tasks from the noise that distracts us on the path to that much-desired productivity.
Here’s our process of gaining clarity in the work we do for our marketing clients.
We go beyond the 4 Ps of marketing (Product, Place, Price, and Promotion). Our processes are based on the 4 Ps of Cucumber Marketing (Problem, Priority, Process, and Progress).
- Problem. What is the real problem that got us here, for us to have this conversation? Is it sales, is it stale marketing approach, is it the lack of clarity or consistency? Yes, the main goal of marketing is to drive sales, but there’s always more than meets the eye – we want to talk about that, we want to address the main issue, not just what’s on the surface.
- Priority. Staying focused on priorities is a habit that has to be developed. It doesn’t just happen. Distractions are taking over our personal and business lives in the form of “fake news” and a constant flow of useless information from social media. Having a strong focus and the ability to always circle back to what’s important is critical for a modern business manager.
- Process. We believe there are no bad people; there are bad processes. We will go even further, to say there are no bad business managers. There are bad processes that prevent them from getting the best out of their people and out of the opportunities that come their way. This subsequently prevents companies from growth. Our processes address the three main issues that each organization faces at some point in their business growth – clarity, consistency and connectedness.
- Progress. Our systems allow us to not only focus on priorities but also to keep everyone accountable and connected. We ensure the teams are working together as teams, communicating progress clearly and consistently, driving growth for the organization.
And how do you gain clarity in your marketing strategy? Need some help with that? Give us a shout or stop by our marketing agency downtown Vancouver, we always have chocolate.