The Lone Ranger had them.  I understand they’re also used to kill werewolves.  And some VPs of Marketing and Sales, as well as CEOs, are seduced by them.  Silver bullets.

They come in all shapes and sizes: SEO, social media, inbound marketing, marketing automation, sales force automation, tagged landing pages, new editors, video streaming, sales processes, the latest financial approach, new agencies, management gurus, and the latest new hire.  They all promise greater efficiency, lower costs, time savings, more leads and sales, and have a good deal of swagger.

I’ve been seduced a couple of times.  But most of these things are just tools.  You can’t build a house with just a hammer, just as you can’t make a tool into your marketing plan.  But it happens time and again.  You have to have a plan, and do the work, and do it well.

I heard a friend relate that their VP of Marketing was thinking of changing agencies.  The company was very high tech and the agency didn’t seem to know much about FaceBook.  She wanted some Facebook and some twitter.  It’s a little sad, because she’ll probably get some Facebook, and do a few tweets.

Marketing is pretty simple.  It starts with knowing your client or customer.  It’s followed by crafting your story, and putting together a plan to communicate it.  The hardest part is doing the actual work and doing it well.  Doing it so well that it looks easy.  That’s craftsmanship.  Then having a little patience to let it develop.  Changing quickly when it doesn’t work.  Oh, and someplace along the way is selecting the tool, training on it, getting good at it, and then seeing if it works. And no silver bullets.

Desperate people do desperate things.  That’s why there are silver bullets.

Lee Stocking
Prairie Sky Group
Making Sales Cry With Qualified Leads
lee.stocking@gmail.com
651-357-0110 (Cell 24×7)

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