The ongoing challenge is the continuing lack of predictability in our VUCA environment. What we need to acknowledge and accept is that we will lose our center – over and over again. And we will have to move forward without being sure. In order to do that, we need actionable responses to the changes coming at us. In this marketing context, we need ways for leaders and organizations to, as you say, “find their center” through the strategic content agenda – over and over again.

Part of finding our center is having an actionable vision based on our own Content Strategy. We need a commitment to where we want to be, while being flexible about how we get there. The Content Strategy you are helping us create for our own company, Parallax Consulting, is getting us closer to our vision in a way that narrows and prioritizes next steps. This is very helpful, since the alternative is an almost incapacitating number of possibilities.

Part of making sure the actions we take in support of our strategic vision remain relevant requires us to be alert to “weak signals.” Weak signals are the early indicators of patterns and meaning in the midst of the “noise” created by the huge amount of data available to us.

What I’ve learned from you is that in the marketing world this huge amount of available data shows up like this:
– a nearly endless roll out of ways to reach audiences
(social media platforms, mobile devices, strategies),
– plus all the ways businesses have to track that,
– plus all the ways they have to track what their competitors
may be doing on those platforms and devices,
– plus the incredible number of tools being developed to
help marketers manage all of this,
– and, it’s changing all the time …

So, how do we narrow this down to something manageable, while also ensuring we’re on board with the platforms, devices and tools that will become tomorrow’s standard? How do we make sure we’re both sending and receiving relevant information – that we’re prepared for what’s coming instead of only focusing on what we’ve always done? This is where a subject matter expert is helpful – in this case you with your Content Marketing expertise – helping us filter, track, prioritize – over and over again.

I spoke with someone after our presentation at WOMMA who, perhaps in a snide way, commented how our talk was about “old school” word of mouth. I immediately responded by saying it’s not old school… it’s TRUE SCHOOL. Sparking conversations using the “purple cow” approach of earning opinions is/was/will be the truest way to get customers talking.