Over the past few weeks, I’ve done several keynote presentations about Youtility at small, focused events where nearly all attendees were CMOs or other execs at large companies.
In each of these situations, I received the same question from an audience member:
“I work at a big company with entrenched marketing processes. How can we possibly move to creating marketing that’s totally different and useful?”
It’s a great question, because it strikes at the heart of two truths about Youtility.
First, creating Youtility – marketing so inherently useful that people would pay for it if you asked them to do so – is as much about corporate culture as it is about marketing execution.
Does your company have the COURAGE to TRUST your customers and prospective customers to deliver awareness, sales, loyalty and advocacy EVENTUALLY? Some companies have that courage in their bones; in their very DNA. Other companies simply do not (yet).
Second, I have discovered after spending 20 years in digital marketing trying to convince and convert large businesses into shifting their thinking and their norms, that the way you turn a battleship is with a series of tiny maneuvers.
The bigger the company, the smaller the first step towards marketing change needs to be. (click to tweet)
If you’re trying to make any sort of major change to your company’s marketing or customer experience protocols, start with a small, under-the-radar pilot program. (and that goes double if you’re in a large company). Prove that it works in YOUR company, with YOUR customer, and YOUR dollars.
Remember, the power of a success in your own company – even if it’s a small success – has more credibility and credence than a stack of case studies from other companies.
Stop trying to adopt Youtility by boiling the ocean. Grab a teaspoon first.
