How Picking Socks in the Dark Affects Your Marketing
It’s 6:10 am, my wife is still sleeping. All three boys are still dreaming of far-off places, maybe even big cats wearing tall hats (yes, they love “The Cat in the Hat”).
As a good husband and father, my objective is to get dressed and out the door without waking the entire house. It doesn’t sound like a big deal, but trust me, it requires all the tip-toeing magic in my arsenal.
To help accomplish this seemingly impossible feat, I’ve created a secret weapon called – preparation. Each night I get together all my clothes for the next day and carefully lay them out.
Usually it works like magic… that is, unless I forget. If I forget, it usually creates problems.
It wasn’t a complete and total lapse in memory; nope, only a small one, but one that could have ended in disaster.
I forgot my socks.
So I did what any smart, happily married man (and one who intends on staying that way) would do. I slipped into our master bedroom and quietly pillaged through my sock drawer in total darkness.
With socks in hand, I quietly tip-toed back out, slipped on my socks and shoes, and rushed out the door – Mission Accomplished!
At least I thought the mission had been a success…
UNTIL…
I was sitting in a meeting; not just any meeting, but the meeting of the year. This meeting had the chance to completely revolutionize my entire business. If this meeting was a success, it would generate thousands in additional revenue for us.
The meeting was going well, but then something caught my eye. ” No, tell me it’s not true.” But my eyes were right. I was wearing two different socks!
I tried to simply ignore the fact that one sock was navy with stripes, and the other was solid black, but I couldn’t.
Had they noticed? What were they thinking? Should I say something?
I chose not to say anything. But that’s when I realized something about you and me.
As entrepreneurs, the way we approach marketing is often similar to picking socks in the dark. We reach into the marketing drawer, which is packed full of media and messaging options, and grab the first thing our hands touch. No due diligence. No concern for ROI. No thought about the time investment. No strategic approach. We just grab and try.
Just like picking socks in the dark, there doesn’t appear to be much potential harm to this casual (non-strategic) approach to marketing. But this perception can often have fatal business results.
Having two unmatched socks could have sent a message to my prospect that our company was clumsy, sloppy, and unprofessional. Having a random approach to your marketing can – and will – result in a perception about your organization.
Be careful with your marketing. Be strategic. Don’t pick your marketing in the dark.
P.S. – I got the contract! 🙂
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