When I was telling people about my plan to backpack Skolai Pass at Wrangell-St.Elias, I joked that I was hoping for no bear run-ins. Yeah, bears are cool, but you pack bear spray and a bear bag for food for a reason — in a run-in with a bear, there is a 0% chance any human being thinks of themself as the apex predator.
Well, in true Alaska-backpacking-stereotype fashion, my husband, Andrew, and I absolutely saw a bear.
On our second day, we saw him sprinting from one end of the valley to the other. He was so fast, and even though he was several football-fields away from our base camp, I’ve never felt more small (or more nervous!).
Yes, we’d done the prep. We had the bear spray and our food was tucked safely in a bear bag and bear canister far away from our tent.
Yes, we knew this was a potential risk and were prepared to pivot our hiking plans as needed to give him a wide berth.
And you know what? It was still easy to slip into complacency. I’d forget that I had a protein bar tucked into my pack’s side pocket. We’d walk off to the waterfall run-off to collect water, and one of us would forget bear spray.
It’s easy to get comfortable, and the same is true for your marketing.
Before long, the bear started circling our camp, often crossing the same trail that we were out-and-back hiking for the day. We never saw him get closer than we did that first day — but he was obviously sniffing around. It was time to get serious about staying alert and taking safety precautions.
Just like keeping an eye on that bear circling our camp, smart marketers need to stay on their toes when it comes to their strategy.
Think of your marketing as the wilderness – full of potential threats and surprises. You’ve got to be that alert hiker, constantly scanning the horizon for any movement.
Maybe it’s a new startup muscling in on your turf, or a sudden shift in what customers want.
Maybe the strategy you’ve been following with some success for a number of years, but you’re noticing a drop off in new leads and website traffic.
By staying vigilant and keeping tabs on industry buzz, competitor moves, and market shakeups, you’re basically giving yourself a head start.
It’s like having a really good bear bell – you’ll see trouble coming and have time to react before it’s all up in your camp, wanting to share your freeze-dried curry.
Here are a few ways you can stay alert to marketing threats:
- Track your KPIs religiously. Whether it’s website traffic, new site visitors, top pages visited, or total number of prospect calls booked — know your #’s.
- Be willing to pivot if things aren’t working. The truth is that the same strategy may not work for your firm year over year, and it’s important to stay flexible.
- Keep a pulse on what your clients want. Has your audience shifted to a different social media channel? Have the “rules” of email marketing changed? What type of content do your A-list clients respond best to? The best way to answer these questions, and to ensure you’re serving up marketing that clients and prospects love year after year, is to send an annual survey. Poll your audience! Asking what they want, and then delivering that content on their performed platform, is the best way to show you’re listening.
So, channel that wilderness awareness into your marketing strategy, and you’ll be ready for whatever the business world throws your way!