Marketing is full of advice of the “one thing” you need to do to achieve success. The right channel. The right kind of content. The right audience.
Yet the truth is, it’s never just one thing. If it was, we’d all have marketing pretty well solved by now.
We’re all operating in different environments (both internally and externally). What works for me may not work for you. The audiences are different. The use cases vary. It’s impossible to copy an idea or hack and expect it to perform the same in a completely new setting.
Yet we act as if this isn’t the case. As if we just need to assemble the right collection of point solutions to solve all our problems. And we act surprised every time our plans don’t fall into place.
If there is “one thing” to do, it’s to take nothing for granted, to make no assumptions. What was a smashing success today may be a flop tomorrow. But this constant reinvention and improvisation is the whole appeal of marketing. If it were easy, everyone would do it the same way. And sometimes it feels as if everyone IS doing it the same way. But the real success is found at the edges, for those willing to embrace uncertainty and to try sometime new.