Curious about how marketing connects every part of your business, like an octopus reaching out with its tentacles? In this guest blog, Margaret Bradshaw, founder of Red Button Marketing Training, explains how aligning marketing with your business vision—and using data effectively—can drive success.
Introduction: A Conversation on Data and Marketing
Hi, I am Margaret Bradshaw, the founder of Red Button Marketing Training and developer of The Marketing Performance Framework.
It is my absolute pleasure to provide a guest blog for Michelle Molyneux, who is an incredible person when it comes to data protection.
During a recent meeting, we got talking about the use of data in marketing and how so much needs to be demystified on the subject. We both agreed that combining data and marketing could present a bit of a headache to some small business owners, so we are determined between us to keep offering insights that help make life easier.
The Octopus Analogy: Visualising Marketing
Whilst chatting, I happened to mention to Michelle that I consider marketing to be a bit like an Octopus, so, with that in mind, here we are.
Imagine this: whilst trying to describe this in conversation, I literally sit with my arms stretched out pretending to be an Octopus or at least to conjure up the image of something trying to reach many different things at the same time! I feel that the power of visualisation is so powerful, and it is how so many of us absorb information. Being able to see something helps the concept fix itself firmly in our subconscious. It’s amazing how we have the ability to recall the details when we have a visual footprint in our memory to work with.
The Power of Visualisation in Business
I hope by now, you are fully on board with seeing an Octopus in your mind, I wonder if you have already decided what kind of Octopus and are starting to almost describe it. The interesting bit here is that we probably don’t see the picture; we are actively imagining the creature moving through the ocean. We can see the tentacles almost dancing around and touching different rocks as it moves along.
Marketing: The Central Process in Your Business
Now, let’s say that this Octopus is the very process in your business that needs to connect to all the other elements that form the heart and soul of your operations.
That process is the one and only Marketing! At any given time, it will have feelers in HR, sales, and finance. Then, in the blink of an eye, it will reach out to operations and make an impact there. By now, you may be asking yourself—how? That’s a Question and one that deserves a good answer, so here goes.
If we actually start by seeing Marketing as the process that it is, then we start with the right focus and mindset. The central piece to all this is being able to align the process part with the business vision, culture and purpose. Any future communication, activity or input needs to be connected to that. It all starts there, and at this point so does your data journey.
Whatever action you take from here will involve the gathering and management of data. Having spent 20 years in a marketing management role, I can honestly say that whilst I enjoyed and delighted in the creative, engaging and outreach aspect of it all – I knew that central to any success would be the effective and correct usage, storage and maintenance of data.
The Octopus and Data: Connecting Business Processes
If we go back to the octopus analogy, we can imagine data on each tentacle!
Considering that for a second, we also need to look at each tentacle as a relationship between marketing and every business process. The action it makes is the impact and movement of knowledge/insights and data. Why? Quite simply to drive a business forward.
The other part of this that is so vital is that everyone in a company is part of the Octopus and involved in the transportation of that knowledge, etc, so also can value both the purpose behind marketing activities and the importance of data management and protection.
The power is in the regular movement and connectivity – if we look at marketing like this, then we see its true value and the significant role it plays in success.
If you’ve enjoyed this guest blog, why not sign up to receive more GEMs of information via the Red Button Marketing Training newsletter? https://www.redbuttonmarketingtraining.co.uk/newsletter
Possible blogs by Michelle that may be useful: