Marketing Nutrition (3 of 5): Broccoli and Carrots
Nobody gets excited about eating their vegetables. Nobody. Don't make it weird.
Unfortunately, roughage and vitamins are a necessary part of a healthy, adult diet. So, at some point, almost all of us have given up and eat green and orange things on a regular basis. In some cases, a lot. But NOBODY is getting jazzed about it, all the time. You just.. chew and swallow.
There is a lot of our day-to-day business that is this sort of thing. You do it because it's healthy, not because you like it. The more structured and regimented you get, the better off you are. And if you're the sort of person who likes Twinkies (I already covered this), then you need to eat a LOT of broccoli and carrots.
In our world, the vegetables are the mainstay of what we should be doing as communication professionals. The consistent, reliable, predictable activities that form the bones of our programs. Sometimes, you get to dress it up (some communication cheese), but usually it's pretty bland.
It's things like:
Message maps and leadership alignment PowerPoints (any PowerPoint, for that matter). I cannot emphasize enough how valuable consistent talking points will be to keep a team aligned.
Bulletins, updates and progress reports. Not sexy, but these are the thing that keep the entire team on track.
Sale support material. If you ask the sales force, the answer is always more materials. There's some truth in that... good sales support truly does accelerate adoption and maintain brand. Nobody is excited after the 63rd sell sheet.
Employee recognition and appreciation communication. Often, this gets lost in the mix of other priorities, but organizations who consistently celebrate their team tend to attract better talent and retain it longer.
Unlike the Twinkie example, this marketing is heavily strategic, planned and structured. As a body of work, it makes up, easily, half of your marketing plate. It is consistent and predictable. That said, however, you should also evaluate what you are doing on a regular basis.
Here are a few guiding principles:
Governance is important for broccoli marketing (ever smell old broccoli?). Setting retirement dates and triggers ensures your messaging stays fresh and current.
Write a brief for even the mundane things. It is never a bad idea to set expectations and clearly describe the goals for the entire team. It might seem unnecessary, but it will smooth out rough patches when they do show up - and they will.
Organize your overall plan to make sure you have covered the mission critical pillars for sales, branding, and internal alignment. Then stick with it, diligently and don't get distracted by the next shiny thing.
Do NOT over stack the broccoli. You will get sick of it, and be attracted to sweeter, more satisfying choices. It's super easy to take on more than you can sustain but it's also just as easy to add on over time.
This is the block and tackle of marketing. It can be repetitive and dry, but it is critical or the organization to have a reliable structure of communication that is dependable. It makes it easier to try something new and exciting when you have a healthy, stable diet in place already. You CAN heave a cheat day, you just need to have the foundation to cheat off of.