Current affairs offer us many examples of throwing the baby out with the bath water, Brexit being a particularly prominent example. If you read The Chimp Paradox by Dr Steve Peters, you will be aware of how the chimp can rule our lives, leading us to make some hasty choices to prove that we know best.
With GDPR now in place I hear many business owners declaring that as these new regulations are a headache, they will give up on marketing all together. Others are being less defiant and plan to give up on e-mail marketing as a strategy. I understand this approach as many business owners of established companies hold two key beliefs which support it:
- They know they get most of their new business from referrals
- They see marketing as an expensive overhead with no guaranteed results
You might be surprised to hear that I don’t disagree with these beliefs: I regard networking and referral marketing as my key new business strategy. Like everybody else, I have seen mixed results from new business campaigns. The difference is that I have not given up on pursuing new business from scratch and have instead created an eco-system utilizing many strategies.
Sounds mysterious and complicated you might think. Others will regard it as marketing speak and they are probably right. What I mean by it is that I have come to accept a few beliefs of my own:
- Every strategy has its own rhythm and requirements which need to be taken into account in order to drive it forward.
- Referrals are great and much easier to deal with and convert. However, they don’t necessarily drive your business in the direction you currently seek.
- Very few things in life are guaranteed. Marketing is certainly not one of them but it’s essential to your business.
So, before you and your chimp run ahead and delete your marketing databases, suck your e-mail marketing company and free yourselves from the marketing overhead altogether, remember:
- GDPR is not an excuse to stop marketing but rather to do a better job of it
- Developing new markets is essential for your business to thrive and grow
- Things rarely work by magic, but they will deliver value if carefully planned and executed.
As always, we will be delighted to help if we can. Do check out our GDPR support here and get in touch if you would like more information.