1. Stay Together! – Teamwork
I recently told someone that if we looked through different websites or landing pages, I could point out specific, successful, elements on the pages that were my idea. But at the same time, I can point out several other elements that came from other team members, or that emerged in group discussion. The most effective campaigns that we’ve run at Xcellimark are those where multiple team members had creative input and direction.
There is significant expertise that can be provided by any one person on any project you may be working on; however add that person to a group of creative professionals and the ability to produce a highly successful campaign has doubled, if not skyrocketed.
Horror Movie Lesson: Stay together! If you’re alone, you die.
2. Run the Other Way! – New Ideas
One of the toughest things to accomplish with new clients or new campaigns is trying something new. Not only for clients that are sure their standard way of doing things has always worked so don’t change it, but even for those of us in Interactive Marketing that have the tests to back-up why we do things a certain way. We tried a new landing page layout recently here at Xcellimark that we were sure would not be successful against the control we had running on an A/B split test.
Well, were we surprised. The page has been converting quite nicely, actually. Sometimes, the best ideas or the most successful tactics are the ones you are sure will not work; in fact, they’ve been proven not to work. But, something to keep in mind is that no audience is exactly the same. So, different tactics works differently with various markets.
Horror Movie Lesson: Run! Go the other way!
3. Always Carry Garlic! – Working Lunches
A terrific tool our bosses here at Xcellimark initiated the last two years is called “Lunch and Learn.” They buy us lunch, and we listen to a presentation from someone inside our company, or we do team training on a new marketing idea, tactic, or strategy. The benefit to having all of us sit in a room chowing down together is that it becomes an informal meeting where we feel quite comfortable sharing ideas or asking questions of each other, our bosses, and of different teams.
Not to mention the new company strategies that have been inadvertently introduced at these meetings, during casual but meaningful conversation. Pulling teams together, especially those that work in different departments, allows for what can sometimes be stressful relationships to dissipate upon getting to know someone personally and professionally.
Horror Movie Lesson: Keep Garlic Close at Hand! (Or Around Your Neck)
