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You gotta have faith Break free from immediate metrics and returns, because with marketing, the ROI could take months or even years to realize.
G rowing up in the ‘80s, the recent passing of George Michael brought a lot of songs to mind that evoked that time period. When I debuted our new marketing course in Austin, Texas, and as I was discussing one of the essential traits that visionary AEC leaders exhibit when it comes to marketing, the song “Faith” came to mind. Then, of course, I was unable to get the song out of my head, especially the chorus: ‘Cause I gotta have faith, I gotta have faith, because I gotta have faith, faith, faith, I gotta have faith, faith, faith.
Chad Clinehens BRAND BUILDING
send out a bill for an hour.” Billable hours, and the money that results within about 60 days, wires our brains to think short-term and to demand similar returns on other firm investments. The “Because the tangible benefits of a true marketing campaign may not be realized for months or even years, visionary leaders must break free from the need for immediate metrics and returns.”
How does this relate to marketing? At some point, AEC leaders must have faith in their marketing investments. Because the tangible benefits of a true marketing campaign may not be realized for months or even years, visionary leaders must break free from the need for immediate metrics and returns. Typically, the time between pursuing a project and actually working on a project is quite lengthy in the AEC industry. It is directly translated into marketing investment and the time needed to realize results. As such, we must rely on a more ambiguous and vague sense of accomplishment, or even future accomplishment, to justify a continued investment in marketing. We work in an industry that is obsessed with the immediate feedback loop of “work an hour and
See CHAD CLINEHENS, page 4
THE ZWEIG LETTER May 8, 2017, ISSUE 1199
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