SO WHAT? - the 1 question all marketers should ask before they continue
Tails wagging dogs. Carts before horses. Analogies for the shiny new thing syndrome, going forth without considering the rationale or outcome. Take a breather and ask yourself this little question...
Firstly, Hello! Always nice to be back here writing in September after my self-imposed summer break! However with things having gotten busy again, I am writing this even later in the month than I’d have hoped; I keep writing/chipping away then all this work stuff happens! (just made it in!)
Also, a welcome to the new Front Of Mind subscribers - if you’re new you’ve probably had email welcome and links to my key articles, what it’s about etc, but I would also add it is worth checking out ‘Summer School’ July list.
Though today’s is likely a consideration that wraps up nicely the work and elements I try to maintain thinking on; the objective of staying true to fundamentals since I kicked this off and staying true to your marketing goals and strategy.
And I know the whole ‘now more than ever’ line feels like it was written in every Gen AI engine output ever (sorry to disappoint, this is all me) but that in itself is a reminder why today’s question matters so much now. At this moment in time. More than ever…
“So What?”
A call to ask ourselves this - to think about all the things we do. Not in some saccharine fuelled ‘Start with Why’ way - but really starting to ask ourselves what the point is of our everyday actions in the line of marketing duty, in attempt to ladder up to your core marketing and business objectives (the former forming the latter of course).
It is not only a call-to-arms and PSA for you the reader, but honestly feels like one for the wider industry of marketing practitioners as a whole, including the most established!
Many years ago in an agency I worked in, when presenting client ideas, I was always encouraged to ask this small question of huge consideration, or at least be able to answer. So What? Whether showing a new advertising partner idea, or some research results, knowing the point is the point. We all get lost in sea of too many pages/slides in our interdisciplinary communication, which are often links in the chain of diluting the work; so it started with an end line to summarise things. I still instill it into many of my workstreams to this day.
Some of this may sound pretty elementary and obvious, (of course we have a reason) but the fact I’m writing this is consideration in itself! Like many things, have we sometimes diverged too far from the core purpose/point?
Why ask So What? now?
Well, because now as we are inundated with tools, potential methods of managing our data, our day, our colleagues and communications. We end up doing things because we think we should, sometimes without asking. Or researching something - but to what end?
Doing what others do - the fallacy of Similarity = Success.
I think this requires some serious consideration. Although the goal of marketing is invariably some kind of growth, we still often use the things without asking the reason. It is understandable how we got here; groundswell of a new thing or way of thinking. But it is worth asking yourself So What? at most junctures. The trap? They are doing it, so we should. But for all you know they had an informed reasons to do it, you may not. Or maybe (more likely) they did it because they thought they should. Either way, asking this questions helps you (re)focus on your own reasons.
Market Research & Insights
This really is the prime place for a bit of So Whatting (New verb I’ve decided ©). We’re often told to research, to pull data, to look at historical trends and to pull it together. As we know, data isn’t an insight. An insight is the ultimate So What? in itself. The insight is the thing that the data uncovers, the thing that moves you and informs a better, more strategic direction of travel. That is it, so bear that in mind if you are doing this, and if time or money are limited, think carefully what you need to do research wise to achieve the insights. There is an it depends consideration here too..
Audience Targeting (& Campaign Targeting)
We know we need to target this audience, and that is great. Having a segment, or a target customer profile. A lot of brand consultancies and in-house marketers have spent countless hours identifying their target segments and their traits. That is fine, and to have a strategic approach of what and what not to do helps channel the comms energy. But So What? Are we saying they are the ones that buy your product, or the ideal? Regularly questioning your segmentation helps, so look at the data. To take this on a step, to an activation level, what is the point of targeting? Or Hypertargeting or Personalisation? Is it truly driving business results? If you want to target your audience which is not necessarily niche, is it wise to overdo the traits and filters, to ultimately lose reach and therefore awareness and sales?
Creative Execution(s)
I have been thinking more about this one in recent interdisciplinary projects. I hear the trope amongst agencies and in are at times circle-jerk industry of doing award winning work. That for me personally is a big So What?. Of course we all want to win awards, and having judged these awards I know they enable the industries to raise the bar. But in terms of the work itself, it’s goal is to move the customer to make a decision or change perception. Is that for ego or for business results? It is not necessarily bad. But remember what we are here for.
Also on a tactical creative level, the rise of AI but also Dynamic Creative (DCO) - that presents a huge one (to me anyway): I’m yet to see any robust results about long term brand health from having a display or social ad using colours, lines and Key Visuals that spat out with 200 variants. But it has been part of the big personalisation seduction. Again, it has it’s place, especially if you offer geographic or product variants, but really question yourself on it first if it is right for you. On this, I see asks of briefs and even job specs to ‘be experienced / good at Canva’ - hmm have we lost our core perhaps?
…which dovetails into… Channel Utility and Advertising Channels
I have seen briefs for fractional CMOs to have experience creating and delivering TikToks. Lots to unpack there about role, activation vs strategy, needing one to do it all etc etc. But the point here is more about taking a breath. Referring back to the similarity fallacy, the use of channels and advertising mediums is one of the biggest areas and quickest wins for us to get So Whatting? on ASAP!
Seen this many times over, and you have too… New ad format or channel happens > they are doing it > we must therefore do something > lets get a media / category first and innovate > output happens > consumer don’t respond / resonate.
A bit of questioning early doors and realising it depends negates so much of this and mapping back to customer and business need.
Utilising new technology and digital transformation.
The evolving need to be a digital first company and have an impressive and evolving MarTech stack isn’t new and is likely universal and often necessary. But with all the crossover of features by platform, with macro progress of industry, questioning things regularly helps here. We get CRMs to keep the data, ESPs to communicate with our database and generally pay for and explore new tools to add complexity to what we think is transformation. Processes like automation of as many things as possible is obviously a good thing , especially if you are able to streamline repetition for business processes, funnel management or what not. But take a step back again. Is the need to build and segment lists with workflows for multi-channel communications necessary for your product? Do you need an all singing all dancing database? If it maps to the goal sure, but one for frequency here. To add, true proper transformation always starts with a So What? of what are the business trying to achieve, then mapping tools and processes accordingly.
AI - The Big One!
Probably should have started with this - but that would be like every other essay out there right? Also I like to respect the marketing fundamental processes first(!) This is not my primary preserve to either dispel or advocate the use cases for AI; it is a broad church and when done properly with the right tools can elevates so much. But like the channel utility conundrum, it has become the ultimate ‘we need an AI strategy’ ask in many organisations. Of course, but from a marketing standpoint, So What? Yes, it helps with elements of input and process (Research, Ideation, Pitch, Analytics et al) but in terms of output e.g. Ads and Copy, we know the quality and human connection just is not there yet (generally). So asking yourself about the use and the So What? is key here. It is good, but why? This area in particular is one to think about today.
Last but by no means least - What are we doing?
You are the in house marketer / agency lead / Brand manager / freelancer working on part of a project. You will have clarity on your asks and contribution to the work (ideally) but be sure to ask yourself day to day. I am doing this thing, but (you know the question by now). Is it fitting your scope, your skills, your philosophy? As you have garnered by now, many people spend hours doing stuff without qualifying the Raison D’etre to do so. Time is wasted, workload and stress increases. By taking a step, we rationalise, prioritise and probably do better work.
To close, SO WHAT?
Why So What? Why is it important to ask this? Especially with all the fragmentation of chat, attitudes, ways of working, media channels and technological advancement. It helps in many ways. A question for you to critically evaluate. Those who have learned to work smart on things, such as those who automate, know why and that they aren’t doing things for the sake of it etc.
We need to ask this question to ultimately map to the biggest answer of all, the one that satisfies the marketing and business objectives, as well as our own personal goals. If you cannot answer the So What? Question to each of your inputs or outputs, it probably needs further consideration - or even killing completely. Besides, what is good marketing strategy anyway, without deciding what and what NOT to do?
OK, one to think about!
What’s your So What? from this? You should be able to write it yourself (hopefully)!
SA
P.S. I really hope you are getting a semblance of value out of this. If so, and you think any other marketer or business owner would, feel free to share/forward this to them. Also, follow me on LinkedIn, personally or on my company page. If you want to discuss anything, you need some marketing advice, or you just want to discuss something I’ve said, drop me a line. Thanks and happy reading/marketing!