You know Yoda as a Jedi master with a loose grip on grammar.
You may not know that he also knew a few things about marketing. Or it’s possible that Yoda simply knew a few things about life, and what he told Luke Skywalker tended to ring true in a lot of areas.
Take a look at some of Yoda’s most famous quotes to see what you might find applicable in your marketing practices:
“Do or do not, there is no try.”
If you go into marketing with a “try” mindset, you’re unlikely to succeed. Marketing requires optimism and determination, plus a few guardrails to make sure you’re staying on track.
What’s the difference between doing and trying? It begins with a marketing calendar and metrics that keep you on track.
It’s too easy to put off writing a blog or creating a social post. But your customers will notice that you are erratic in your approach. So, it’s important to develop your plan and be intentional with your calendar. It is also key to track metrics to see what is working and what is not, so you can make adjustments for success.
“The greatest teacher, failure is.”
It’s not only a teacher, but a gift. If you’ve just bombed on an Instagram contest or a product launch didn’t go at all how you anticipated, get your team together and pull the lessons from your experience.
Even if your failure isn’t on a big scale, you should still examine small failures. Did you allocate your budget for social media platforms inconsistently or find that your latest video didn’t create the engagement you had hoped? That’s a perfect time to stop and refine your strategy.
A lot of failure happens in marketing because it’s a mix of art and science, data and gut instinct. Learn from it and keep moving forward.
“Difficult to see. Always in motion is the future.”
Cultivate agility in your team. There are always going to be evolving trends, new platforms and a shifting set of expectations from customers. If you’re not keeping pace with them, you’re going to be irrelevant.
Marketing is a fast-paced discipline, and it can be challenging to separate trends from fads. But in recent decades, the companies that were hesitant to make their sites responsive or shift to digital marketing and social media found themselves struggling to stay relevant in the market. So, while it’s important to distinguish trends from fads, it’s also important to distinguish wisdom from a lack of agility.
If You Can’t Get Yoda… There seems to be a shortage of Jedis specializing in marketing, but you might be surprised to learn that SJC Marketing is home to a few. From web developers to writers, social media experts and videographers, you might say we’ve built a bit of a master council. Contact us today to see how we can help your company grow!