There's a unique 'love-hate' relationship many of us in business are all too familiar with. It’s the one that you often find yourself wondering if you should quit, but, at the same time, you can’t imagine your life without it. Even when this relationship demands your time, money, and energy, the love that connects the two of you is all too powerful to ignore.
So who’s this partner that’s driving you up the wall while having you crawling back for more, you may be wondering? Why it’s Marketing!
For organizations, marketing is the partner that challenges us, demands our best, and undeniably can create chaos in our schedules when we don’t treat her in a way that meets her standards. Even on the lowest days when it feels like the smartest choice would be to quit her, the Hall of Marketing Love reminds us that committing to marketing is worth it in the long run. Previous campaigns' success stories show us that a relationship with marketing can lead to growth, happiness, and prosperity for all involved.
With that being said, every relationship is hard, and you have to be just as committed to working through the hard times as you are to enjoying the good times. Your relationship with marketing is no different.
She may be a lot at times, but marketing is committed to her relationship with you. She’s always there providing insights to help you know what’s working and what isn’t. An important note, however. A relationship takes two—you can’t expect her to solve all your problems without working through them with her.
Ultimately, when your relationship with Marketing feels like it’s going south, you have three options:
Tell her you had a good run, but you don't see a future with her since the magic is no longer there.
Physically stay in the relationship but not emotionally. After all, maybe if you don’t talk about your problems, they’ll eventually go away.
Embrace your relationship with marketing, listen to what she’s telling you, and be willing to make the necessary changes that will help your organization grow.
Of these options, it’s safe to say that one stands out as the most suitable path. Whether your relationship feels like it’s fizzling out or exploding beyond repair, if you find marketing’s not giving you what you want, it’s time to do some self-reflecting. Here is the perfect opportunity to go back to basics and remind yourself why you fell in love with marketing in the first place.
It might have been your first social media campaign that not only saw engagement but also drove traffic to your website. Or perhaps it was the tantalizing effects of strengthening your SEO and keywords. Whatever the moment was, every organization that’s in a relationship with marketing has had it. The aha, jaw-dropping, memorable instance where you realized the impact marketing has in helping your organization achieve its goals.
That glow that this relationship brings and the potential it has in leading you closer to your mission hasn’t changed. It’s something that never will. As long as you're willing to compromise, stick with it (even when the going gets tough), and are not afraid to grow with marketing, you’ll find yourself in a lifelong partnership where only the sky’s the limit.