Steps Nine & Ten of Ten Steps To Marketing Relevance
Be the one singing Marketing’s praises — and leaning forward

Step nine in this series is really self-help advice…. Sing Your Own Praises. As we discussed in the previous post, many executives need continuous reminders that Marketing has changed. They will persist in thinking of it as an “arts and crafts” cost center (one that can be downsized when needed). Your job is to throw proof points at that wall until something sticks. And you should take the opportunity to build your own internal brand at the same time.

Here are a few helpful quotes about how to build your brand by Patty Azzarello, Technology CEO, consultant, and author:

• Identify your Ruthless Priorities…those few things that you refuse to put at risk….initiatives or tasks that support what matters most to the business.
• Communicate your Ruthless Priorities over and over and over again…Unless you are completely sick and tired of talking about your message, you aren’t even close to getting your audience to accept it.
• You can get away with not achieving everything if you deliver remarkable results on a few key things.   If you are known for delivering where it matters, you’ll have a lot of power.

That leads to step ten: Be an Agent For Change. There are a lot of reasons to keep improving, and if positive words don’t make the point, try these from General Eric Shinseki, “If you dislike change, you’re going to dislike irrelevance even more.”

But let’s conclude on a positive note. With today’s modern marketing tools and techniques, you have lots of avenues to relevance. Make them your ruthless priorities, lean forward as an agent for change, and demonstrate that you’ve got what it takes!