He’s a hard-nosed marketer but there seems to be a bit of the poet in him as well. Game of Thrones fans will appreciate the 'Winter is coming' analogy that Jonathan Rolley uses here to make the point that smart marketers are prepared marketers and knowing vital numbers can give you an edge in a wintry season. Are such times ahead? We are not doomsayers – there are plenty who predict that tougher times are in the offing. All we are saying is that, armed with the right knowledge, when someone suggests, 'Winter is coming,' you’ll be able to respond with, 'I’m ready for it'.
Whether you are a marketing manager or you're looking to increase your current performance with a marketing agency, the time to prepare for winter has come.
Transcript:
We live in a world where everything has a season, just as the sun rises and falls in the evening, just as the tides come and go each day. The economy has a season as well and we're about to head into winter. This winter that we're about to head into is going to be particularly cold and it could be particularly long. The important thing about winter is to know that when (you know) it is coming, you must prepare.
For a marketer, as winter comes, there are some things that you need to do to prepare and prepare well.
The first thing you need to do is know your numbers.
You need to know for every dollar you're investing, you need to know what return that's delivering, so if you're on TV or radio, you need to know what that's doing for your brand. But more so, what is your cost to acquire from each of these channels? When winter comes, you need to know where to trim and where to double down.
The opportunity is there in winter to (even) triple down. You can outflank and you can outmanoeuvre your competitors. You can add more value to your clients and you can take market share like never before. The opportunity is here, but we must move and we must act.
If you don't know your numbers, now is the time. Invest in analytics technology, then you'll know your cost per response and cost per lead from all your mass media so you know what it's doing for your brand.
The time has come. Act now, prepare for winter.