Don't go chasing rabbits down narrow holes.

Few things break my heart, in a professional context, like bumping into folks that lose sight of the big picture.

We will come back to this graph later, but for now, take a look at it and store it at the back of your head. It shows the biggest contributors to business outcomes for three completely different types of companies (eCommerce, Publishing, Small Biz)...

At a glance, you can see which marketing activity is adding value by delivering results for your company.

Do you have this graph for your digital presence?

Ok. Back to the start.

I was watching an Industry Guru (IG) deliver a keynote a couple of days ago. They were very excited about their topic. They went into lots of detail about every element of their area. Then they shared 27 tools that they recommended people could use to learn x or execute recommendation y or follow best practice z.

The presentation was sincere, it was clear they'd spent a lot to time on it, and it was delivered with humor.

Here's the thing: The IG never paused to reflect that they were solving a very tiny problem.

On the Acquisition graph above, they were solving for the box that would be the smallest for all three businesses. They did not realize or emphasized that even in the best case scenario their one hour talk would lead to a very expensive distraction for the attendees.

There is a tendency to believe that all you need to win the web is to get really good at using SEO Tools to work on one of the 50,000 signals Google now users to assess relevance. Or, all you need to do is win Influencer Marketing by using Tool X to dig and find the right person to harass via email and delivering to them a free trial of your product.

Before your chase every little rabbit down the 10,000 digital marketing holes, keep this in mind: Most business success will come from a combination of effective Paid Media strategies (Search, Display, Video) where your Organic efforts will never break-thru PLUS large Organic Digital efforts (Search, Email, Owned content presence) that get you in front of people your Paid efforts never will.

That is the big picture. Keep that big picture in mind.

Every time you are tempted to solve for using 50 more new shiny objects, pause and consider two simple concepts: 1. Is this material? 2. What’s the opportunity cost?

I see so many people, particularly small and medium sized businesses, getting tricked into chasing small rabbits down small holes at the cost of capturing elephants with the same effort.

No seller of Marketing Tools or Consulting will stop you from chasing rabbits that don’t pay off big, it is your responsibility to ask: 1. Is this material? 2. What’s the opportunity cost?

Recommendation #1: The graph above shows which acquisition strategy contributes most profit to the company. Draw it for your business. Then, ask this question: Is the time we are spending on each strategy proportional to the profit they contribute? Every time you have a new shiny object to chase because you went to an industry conference, go back and look at the graph and ask how long before my shiny object shows up in a material way on this graph, and if I chase this new shiny object what will need to be dropped? Then, proceed.

Recommendation #2: One rabbit we all tend to chase is a huge investment in our organic social channels. Facebook, Pintrest, Twitter, and more. I have a compelling point of view for you to consider in my latest blog post: Stop All Social Media Activity (Organic) | Solve For A Profitable Reality.

It will challenge your thinking, and I provide an alternative strategy as well.

Bottom-line: Don't go chasing waterfalls. Please stick to the rivers and the lakes that you're used to. I know that you're gonna have it your way or nothing at all, But I think you're moving too fast.

:)

Happy big picture obsession.

PS: I am looking for smart peers to join my weekly email newsletter, The Marketing - Analytics Intersect. Above is an example of what thought-provoking actionable content I share. I invite you to sign up for TMAI. Thanks.