Have you ever gotten an e-mail from one person, and then a text or a tweet from another that completely contradicts the first message? You’re not alone. In today’s realtime marketplace, miscommunication and even over communication can distract agencies and marketers alike from their main goal: delivering what their clients and customers need.
More and more, marketers seeking to improve their campaigns look to combine customer data and effective communications strategies to determine success. A failure to make this work can spell doom for any metrics-driven marketing effort.
The fast pace of modern communications can be overwhelming. According to All Things Digital and the CTIA’s 2009 semiannual wireless industry survey, 4.1 billion texts were sent per day in the U.S. in the first half of 2009, double the number sent during the first half of 2008.
Keep It Clear
While most of this is consumer-to-consumer dialogue, texting, tweets and posts have affected a whole new generation of marketing communicators. As countless businesses — digital or otherwise — attempt to keep their rising stars on track, now is the time to reinforce the expectation of and need for clear internal and external communications.
It’s all too easy for CMOs and metrics-focused marketing agencies to drown in the flood of messages. This is particularly true when good communication takes a back seat to a relentless focus on numbers. When that happens, we all begin to lose appreciation for the full, clear communications that must support these campaigns.
The best results and most glowing metrics can be lost altogether if marketers and agencies don’t have the soft skills required to communicate them clearly. Even with numbers that are off the charts, a lack of understanding can derail campaigns and strain agency/advertiser relationships.
Considering the relatively recent arrival of metric-based performance marketing, it’s unfortunate that many in the industry have allowed their writing, presentation and other communication skills to decline. This likely reflects a larger societal problem, but the effects are real across the board and impact the performance marketing discipline.
Marketers and agencies cannot ignore the importance of constantly improving soft skills across all levels of an organization — from account planners and managers to C-suite executives. At a very basic level, agencies must ensure that they train their people on more than just the latest technology tools and analytic reports. Soft skills and business training should be a part of every agency’s regimen to keep marketer/agency communications on track.
Michael Kahn (michael.kahn@performics.com) is senior vice president of client services at Performics and a monthly contributor to the Chief Marketer Report e-newsletter.
