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- The Beat: Word Up
Welcome to The Beat by Rockstar CMO. I’m Ian Truscott, a 3xCMO, trusted advisor, strategy consultant and Chief Bottle Washer at Rockstar CMO. In this newsletter, I’d like to share a mix of what’s caught my eye from our community, our podcast and our street knowledge blog.
Hi!
As the year closes out, it’s a time for reflection, and recently, we’ve had a lot of buzz about the Oxford English Dictionary’s word of the year (which I am sure you heard is “Rizz”), and I wondered what the B2B marketing’s word of the year would be?
My nomination is “why”.
I already did a “why” themed newsletter back in the summer, yet it seems a recurring word in a lot of recent marketing commentary I have seen float by my feed. As the marketing world takes stock, the prevailing advice, whether about social media, content marketing, or any marketing strategy, is to stand back from whatever you are doing and ask questions.
Questions that ultimately lead to “why?”.
As marketers, we often find ourselves doing things because our competitors do them or that the business or CEO expect, and in the hustle of the marketing hamster wheel, we just get on.
But maybe this time of year, as things calm down over the holidays, it’s time to poke at some of these things and ask why.
In my opinion, the answer should be that we do this thing because it creates ART (Awareness, Revenue or Trust). And if it’s not creating ART, it’s time to stop.
And on the topic of stopping, my chum and regular guest on the podcast, Robert Rose, has some fine advice for that. He talks about making a “stopping list”, and I agree; how often, when confronted with a new idea, new channel or new campaign, do we ask; what shall we stop doing to make time for that?
He shared his idea on the podcast last week, but you can read it here, in his regular column for the Content Marketing Institute. It’s focused on AI (isn’t everything right now?), but you get the idea, regardless of the new thing, what old thing shall we stop?
And let’s face it: marketing is always throwing up new things, and 2023 has been no different. With the changes in the social media landscape, generative artificial intelligence, 3rd party cookies and Apple’s treatment of email, to name a few, there is constant change, and we need to constantly evaluate what’s effective.
And to know what to stop doing, we need to ask, “Why?”.
I’ve included some articles below that I hope help if you are asking questions about your marketing. Not all are “why?” but that’s my nomination for the word of the marketing year.
What would you suggest? Would love to hear from you.
(And you can’t have A.I. as that’s two words ;-) )
In the meantime, enjoy your Sunday. I will be back next week for Christmas Eve!
Cheers,
Ian
Ian Truscott | Chief Bottle Washer Rockstar CMO
Now on Threads, be great to connect there, if you are on - https://www.threads.net/@iantruscott
Latest on the podcast
Street Knowledge
This week, a rummage around the record box for tunes that share the beat with this week’s theme.
Stopping stuff
Be more honest
Jay Acunzo has written a splendid essay that explores honesty, sharing his experience of developing his own ideas in which he suggests 8 questions you need to ask yourself (three of them start with “why”) and concludes with this fantastic quote:
You don't need to invent anything groundbreaking. You don't need to go viral. You don't need to be the foremost expert. You simply need to be more honest. Most won't. But that's your opportunity.
It’s well worth a read - Want Your Content to Resonate More with Others? Start by Being More Honest with Yourself
Asking questions
Get your Monday Morning Marketing Mojo Working
An 80’s classic this week, that will definitely get your Monday morning marketing mojo working, it’s Cameo and Word Up. Tell me I’m wrong!
The copy is totally human the promo image used on the web page was partially created using A.I. through NightCafe Studio