Where Marketers Get Themselves In Trouble

Marketers like to make big predictions based off small tests.

  • You flush out three different uses for a product and state there are 10 other uses for it.
  • You land a spot in a major publication, then tell your boss you’ll have no problem meeting the expected quota this month.
  • You find a handful of original pins to repin on Pinterest and then plan to repin 100 a month.
  • You know an easy way to start a fire and advertise to invest in your way because there are a dozen hard ways.

If you’re going to make a big suggestion, flush it out.

Take the fire starting example: figure out those 12 ways to start a fire that are hard even if you won’t showcase them all. Not only does it add to your authentic voice because you know you’re telling the truth about there being a dozen ways, but it also gives you content to use down the line.

Consider the big predictions, but see them through before you talk about them.

Either you’ll garner more support as in the fire starting example or you’ll realize how flawed your prediction is as in the original repins (there really isn’t much originality on Pinterest).

 

Stay Positive & Think Big (But Act On It Before You Profess)

Risk Being Wrong

I would say the most number of blog posts I’ve deleted instead of publishing were ones where I predicted things.

Predict the success of Airbnb? Predict the future of social media? Predict the future of mobile apps, eBooks, drones? Who am I to make those predictions?

Since those mistakes (the deleting, not the predicting), I’ve realized that predictions are meant to make us think about things differently. Very few who predict are right, but those who are made dozens, if not hundreds, of failed predictions before hand.

The most interesting thing is that those who predict, we’re right early. They took the risk.

If I write about how successful Airbnb will be now, well, that simply doesn’t make sense.

Predict. Try. Think about things differently.

After all, rarely does anyone notice when you’re wrong, and if they do, rarely do they care that you’re wrong. All that it takes is to be right once. And when you’re finally right? Who cares. Being right isn’t the point.

 

Stay(ing) Positive & Thinking About Things Differently Is