Elevate

Hello fellow marketers. AI is great. But please stop copying and pasting the word elevate. ChatGPT by its own admission loves the word elevate. If you see "elevate" in a subject line, advert, email, etc. It's 99% likely someone has used AI to create that content. If that's a good or a bad thing, I'll let you be the judge. My view is, as marketers our job is to differentiate, get noticed, stand out and be memorable. Why would you use a verb that has become so ubiquitous and dare I say meaningless to "elevate your brand"

War Stories and strategic Vision

• EMEA marketing. Data servers, culture of buying, GDPR, regulation, payment methods
• Hiring cam be hard, tales time and energy. 
• Covid and the shift to digital 
• Shift from FOMO to FOMU

This is based on a small team of 1 or 2 people, leaning into coporate resources and local agencies. The focus is on Demand Generation working in partnersghip with Sales. BTW the following isn't just a chatgpt list, it's based on on the job experience. It's deliberatley a deliberatley lean list to 

Understand the corporate (and regional) vision. 

• ARR projections
• Net retention projections
• Markets / ICP
• Corporate GTM (USP, Positioning, etc)

Analysis the current EMEA situation: 

• SWOT Analysis (including regional issues)
• Analyse the marketable database of ICP / Persona
• Lead / Pipeline metrics.
• Competitive Analysis
• Content Audit

Planning (EMEA GTM)

• Strategies for growth (quadrant)
• Budget / Expected Results (based on historical)
• Resource planning (internal / external)
• Tweaked messaging / campaigns for region
• Set OKRs

Execution (leaning into corporate campaigns and resources).

• Quarterly marketing plan. Considering country variance: 
• The Four C's of Marketing (something I've coined)
• Contacts (build out marketable database)
• Campaigns (messaging and CTAs)
• Content (created or re-purposed)
• Channels (Digital, events etc)
• ABM Strategy for high-value accounts
• Programmatic strategy for tier 2 accounts
• Sales Enablement

Quarterly Business Review

• Track four OKRs
1. Demand Generation (Pipeline SQLs)
2. ICP engagement (Brand Awareness - leads)
3. Sales Enablement (SQL to Win Conversion Rates)
4. Customer Advocacy (Case Studies)
• Adjust plans for next quarter

Ongoing procesess

• Test, measure and learn
• Playbooks to document operational efficiencies

What 3 Things

What 3 Things - WTT
As an information worker I live a world of distractions. I wrote about this five years ago (https://lnkd.in/eyw5crPJ) and if anything distractions have become more frequent, and more distracting since 2019.

But, I've been doing this exercise for a while now - I state in the morning the three things I want to get done that day - what three things.

Three things don't sound much. But if these are three major things that are going to really move the needle and you've identified them as such, if you get to the end of the day and you haven't achieved those three things, you've missed a trick,

About a year ago I even thought this could be a website or service. Sharing with someone, or a community that can hold you accountable. Or at least check in on you and then it keeps you hyper-focused during the day to actually get sh!t done. I even created a whatsapp group.

No chat - just what 3 things.

If you think about it, if you ticked off three major important things every day and you achieved them all, that would soon mount up to a hell of a lot of productivity. Doesn't even need to be for business, could be, health, learning, travel, family, finance goals.

Sure, you can do more than three things, but the whole point of this exercise is to hold the course.

The other idea of this service was that you could have people doing entirely different projects or professional careers and would it be fascinating to see how different people are motivated and encouraged get stuff done. You could have the CEO of a Fortune 500 company buddying up with a street food vendor and both learning from each other how to stay motivated. Comparing notes on how to achieve exactly what they need to on a day-to-day basis.

Would love to know what you rekon? What 3 things did you get done today? How do you avoid distractions. Avoid LinedkIn posts like this haha!

Posted on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/markpbishop_what-3-things-wtt-as-an-information-worker-activity-7185961113979691008-L-ZI?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop

QR Codes

I bet as a marketer you've either had a little play with QR codes, or you've been tempted to. Here's a practical guide. Written by me (not AI), on how to use QR codes to bridge the physical and digital worlds. With no rookie mistakes.

1. Don't go crazy and create loads of these codes without a plan. They will be out in the wild. For some time.

2. Because they are usually printed on physical things, which turn up in odd places in the future - pick a URL you control. You really don't want your QR code directing to a 404 because the page no longer exists.

3. The way I do this is is simple. Have a single catch-all for your main QR code - eg www.yourdomain.com/live THEN redirect that page to your content.

4. Only then can you think about designing your QR Code. And yes you should 100% incorporate your logo - easy to do. It looks Gucci.

5. For the landing page it must be Mobile first. Obvious of course, but who designs the first draft on their phone - no one. Just test it on your phone. Always.

6. Gated or Ungated content? The choice is yours. Just reduce friction as much as possible, no-one likes arduous forms. Is your objective maximum audience reach, or lead capture? For lead capture you need to offer something of value, otherwise forget it. No-one will fill in a form to look at a brochure.

7. Think about where you can use the QR code - stickers, event stands, merch, t-shirts, coasters, tattoos, pretty endless list.

8. Never stick a QR code on your competitor's booth.... until they've left the show.

So this brings us back to points 1 & 2. Have a plan and own the URL. Because once you let them loose in the wild, and you need to own that URL and the brand experience.

Overall, QR codes are a bit of fun, and should be a part of your multi-channel approach, rather than thinking of the as a lead magnet.

Fad or fun? Love them? hate them? What do you reckon? Either way they are here to stay and part of the mix for any modern digital marketer...

Cheers and all the best

LinkedIn Post

Only Apple can make ugly a feature.

Only Apple would make a feature of the fact that the camera lens has got massive and sticks way out of the phone. My Samsung is nice and compact and not some massive chunky lens.

Things I've always observed about Apple.

• Their products are always technically inferior to others
• They sometimes promote inferior qualities as features or benefits.

All these posters were seen at King's Cross underground station.

Such rubbish marketing. Nut it works. People will lap up the iPhone 15.

Time of day

It's really whenever my mood feels right or the location presents itself. I love golden hour of course, but also bold light for strong shadows for street. Equally overcast is quite nice for BW. Good question!

— Mark (@mark_uk_photos) January 26, 2022

Cugic

I've re-energised myself with photography on twitter

 

Energy is the source of life and grasp it with all you can.

So I've started to really enjoy twitter as a platform to publish my prolific amount of content. I have several blogs now all with slightly different themes. I'm liking the fact that I'm just using twitter almost anonymously. I have a "work" profile, but I don't really want work folks to see my content creation. I'm not sure why that is. It's mainly because I don't watch TV that I get to create a load more stuff. I think they would judge me. 

So this is where it all begins:

I started taking this account seriously in Jan 2022. It was an account I did nothing with. Let's see how I get on growing it over time. Sure the numbers are big now. 

Here's some more of my thoughts on what I'm up to with twitter and why I love it.

A few morning thoughts. Really digging twitter as a creative platform right now. It has a great balance of interactivity and the journal aspect that feels more authentic than Instagram. #vlog #tuesdaymotivations pic.twitter.com/PCFSQORxdz

— Mark  January 25, 2022

The truth is all social media is kind of a vanity project. However, what I'm also looking to achieve is to document my thoughts and dreams and the journey I'm taking.  Mainly because I don't want to forget the old times. The pandemic has certainly taught me that time endlessly marches forwards and there is nothing any of us can do to turn back the clock. 

Be relentless...

It's good to be relentless right?

Relentless - continuing in a determined way without any interruption

Here's the thing. How many interruptions do we get during the day?  A phone constantly buzzing with whatsapps, emails flying in, various other self-made distractions. To be relentless is pretty challenging.

It's a bit like being prolific. Since it take 10,000 hours to mast anything in life, or so they say, being prolific is just as important. That's where I'm going with my numerous blogs and twitter account. I just love being a net creator, rather than just dumbly consuming content. I make my own entertainment through the content I create.

New photo workflow

I have a new photo workflow. I'm pretty pleased with it as it now means I can keep all of my workflow on the tablet or phone. Here's the thing I've realised that my main love of photography is not for creating incredible images. Sure some of my work is better than others, but I'm more about documenting the moment. This is why I have soooo many photos 20k and counting. I also have really taken to blogging. I just want to leave a mark on the planet with words, images and video. When I'm dead and burried that is all that will be left.

I've discovered a pretty cool tool for batch editing snapshots. Perfectly clear. It's exactly what I've been looking for. Here's the workflow.

1. Shoot photos
2. Delete the naff ones
3. Run through perfectly clear
4. Tweak any proper lush ones
5. Rename files
6. Upload to Flickr, Google Photos, FTP
7. Publish to blog if I feel like it

A pretty simple and slick process all in all. Frankly stuff that comes straight out of the camera these days is so good, that post-processing is a bit of a waste of time. Worth a go though.

Test

The infamous HELCH making the news

Spotted this news article this morning from the Guardian - Who is HELCH? How one graffiti artist made a lot of enemies 

A funny little article, but makes you wonder who this guy is. Most significantly he destroyed the well known work on the M25 - "GIVE PEAS A CHANCE"

I shot this pic in august 2015 (from the passenger seat). I must admit I would aways look for this and chuckle on the rare occasions I drove past. (It's not often I use that stretch of road).



I think it's pretty funny that people are getting up in arms about graffiti replacing graffiti and it's interesting how older familiar stuff can become iconic for some people

I'll be keeping an eye out for some of HELCH's stuff on my travels. I shoot a lot of graffiti and street art as I go about my life, so I'll see one of his (or her) work soon enough.

One thing that did make me giggle, was that some people don't want to remove the HELCH work because they think it might be Banksys, so would look to cash in if that ever was the case.

Be a net creator

Black Mirror, London

Since the internet came about, I've been dumbly consuming content like everyone else. On the whole though I've managed to be a net creator.

If you totalled up the time you spend contenting content vs consuming it, what's that look like?

For me I've always been a net creator. That's just the way I've been wired. I'm not saying that all of my content is worthy of accolades, I just like to be productive and create stuff. I get bored if I'm not writing, thinking, taking photos or creating digital art. Always experimenting. Way back in the day I was a moderator of a now dead minidisc forum, even then back in the day I guess that was creating - around 3k posts on that forum. I also used to trade minidisc mixes, building and curating playlists. Loved that back in the day.

Roll forward to the smartphone era, and wow am I going kinda crazy on content creation. 7k+ images on flickr, 3k+ images on instagram stories, loads of daily insta stories, blogs, Picsart, LinkedIn, youtube, tweets. LOADSA CONTENT! Where the hell does it all go and what's the point? Well mainly it goes into walled gardens that are the big internet companies, who then sell ads. I've alwasy been careful to have a back up of all of my pics and vids, so I'm not a slave to these companies.

I create content for me first, if other's happen to like it then all good.

So that's the real point. I just love creating new content. Trying new styles, apps and platforms. I'll continue to do so as I find the freedom in creativity one of the most positive things a human can do. Being a net consumer is soul destroying. Get out there, live life, look around, enjoy the moment and always be creating.

Black Mirror, Train

Why are commuters so miserable? Men in Black International

This big old advert is currently in London Waterloo. The idea is that you sit in the booth and get a picture from one of the agents. I didn't really hang around to find out. What I did observe is that most commuters we just blanking these guys like they didn't exist. Now I'm no raving MIB fan, but why not stop for a laugh.

I'm assuming people are just too busy, self conscious, or miserable.

I wish people unleashed a bit more fun in themselves and had a bit of a laugh. Commuting is soulless enough as it is!

Maslow's Heierarchy of Needs - Social Belonging

Maslow's Heierarchy of Needs

I've been thinking a bit this morning as I've woken up about Maslow's hierarchy of needs and where I am on the pyramid. I've definitely got the basics covered.

• Physiological needs
• Safety needs

Totally nailed if I'm honest. I can eat and sleep, I'm warm and I feel safe.
The next three I think is where I can work on:

• Social belonging
• Self-esteem
• Self-actualization

I don't know exactly how I would work on them or what I need to do to get to self-actualization. It's worth me pondering these over the next few days and weeks. Maybe then I can draw some conclusions on how to improve my life.

 Social Belonging : According to Maslow, humans need to feel a sense of belonging and acceptance among social groups, regardless of whether these groups are large or small.

I guess I do have that covered. I also guess that social media covered that for me a lot in the past. I used to be a social media fiend. I would post multiple times a day to Instagram stories. Sharing all sorts of mundane stuff, then check the views. What was the point in that. "Oh wow, my life is so amazing look at me" Fuck that, those days are over. I'm actually becoming more insular I rekon. I'm actually starting to care less about the wider world. I care less about social belonging on social media. I care less about Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Flickr. I really don't feel the need to share much more beyond this little blog here. But it's good to share and I'm relishing a bit of anonymity. Being online and in the spotlight of the world suddenly feels a bit creepy to me.

So how am I going to improve this area of my life? What practical things can I do to feel a belonging? Firstly I think it needs to start with my wife. She's the single most important person in my life, so if I start anywhere it should be there. Maybe I'll start a bit of a gratitude journal or something that will just improve how I think of our relationship. Maybe I'll come up with new ideas on how to improve this area of my life going forward

Marketing is difficult

Dear friends, I read this recently: Marketing is the only field I know where once a new strategy has been tried and is found to work, it completely stops working.  Absolutely nailed it. This is the single reason marketing is tough. Marketing is all about using channels, techniques and messaging in unique and creative ways that stand out from the crowd to get you mindshare for whatever it is you are promoting. As soon as you find the winning formula everyone knows about it and copy it, so so it's longer effective. That's what makes us marketers a little bit bonkers. We have to keep trying new things. Doing the same thing as you did before means you are effectively going backwards. Did you ever meet a successful marketer that wasn't trying new things, a bit of a risk taker? Pushing things forward to try brand new ideas can lead to challenging conversations in a business. How does a marketer build a business case that  demonstrates ROI for a brand new marketing strategy or programme? It's not easy and involves some guesswork and intuition. Two words that most CFOs seem to hate. Nothing in marketing is predictable. It sounds unbelievable, but I've been in a meeting where someone has suggested we "create a viral marketing campaign". Yeah, like that's something you can just roll-out. That said, the challenge of constantly trying to find a winning strategy is is what makes it a such an interesting career choice. Cheers and all the best - just another of my 100 days of writing challenge

The art of solitude

When was the last time you were alone? Truly alone?

I'm rarely alone. I'm always filling the void with other people's thoughts.

It all started with my first iPod. Music would fill any spare time I was alone. Other people's thoughts.

This is is even more the case today,

- Music
- Podcasts
- Email
- Books
- News
- Social media
- TV
- Gaming

I'm like most people. If I queue for a second I whip out my phone.

Solitude is becoming increasingly difficult in today's world. So what, who cares and why does that matter?

It matters because at what other time do you get reflect on things and think creatively without any outside influence? It matters because without it I'm forming the habit of relying on external things to provide me happiness. Solitude is not loneliness.

> “Being solitary is being alone well: being alone luxuriously immersed in doings of your own choice, aware of the fullness of your own presence rather than of the absence of others. Because solitude is an achievement.” Alice Koller

For most people, the only time they have solitude is in the shower. I bet some of your best ideas have been in the shower or whilst cleaning your teeth.

I'm lucky, I was born before the internet. I understand the benefits of solitude, I've just got to find the time and the place to practise it. It's tougher for young people. There's a lot of research that shows that the rising levels of anxiety amongst the iGeneration (born 1994+) can be partly attributed to the fact that these young minds never find solitude. Boredom is not a bad thing.

If that's the case, why not extend these periods of solitude? It doesn't need to be in a remote cabin in the woods, anywhere will do. I plan to re-learn the art of solitude again. It's not that scary to be alone with your thoughts. It's liberating. I'll keep you posted on how this goes.

So stop reading this, put down your phone and rediscover the art of solitude.

Cheers and all the best.

Time to reboot SMART goals

Dear friends,

I'm sure you all know about SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-Bound).... Yawn, soooo BORING and so late 2000's management speak. Time for a reboot.

I gave myself 10 minutes to think of a better set of words for the acronym SMART goals:

* Simple
* Memorable
* Aspirational
* Rewarding
* True

Here's why this SMART acronym is bang on for goal setting:

Simple

A goal doesn't need to be complicated. The more simple the goal, the more powerful. Goals are the end result, not the tactics on the 'how' to do stuff. Here's some simple goal examples.  "Grow revenue by 5%", "Run 5k in less than 30 mins", "Generate more pipeline for sales", "Write every day for 100 days". Simple goals may be less specific, but I really believe goals have to be at a macro level. Not everyone will agree with me - but when simple goals are combined with the following four points, they become very powerful.

Memorable

Simple and memorable go together in perfect harmony. The point is this - why have a goal, if you can't remember it? A goal is usually a longer term commitment. Something you need to work at everyday. If you don't live the goal you will fail. You need it etched in your brain, not on a spreadsheet or HR system that you need to look-up. Forgotten goals are a complete waste of time. Make your goals memorable.

Aspirational

Generally we all have daily wins. We are all growing and achieving better things each day. That's capitalism and growth at work, things bubble along nicely and we if we ride the current on the whole we will succeed. But, that's not a goal, that's just the norm. A goal should be a disrupter, that's what I aspire to. I'm not settling for a goal that doesn't push me - no one should. Equally, we rarely, if ever acheive goals on our own. An aspirational goal is something that a team will get behind too.

Rewarding

What's the point in setting a goal if there is no reward. A reward doesn't need to me monetary by the way, it could be in the form of recognition, fitness, more time, love, gratitude,, winning awards. Money helps though, it can be a motivator for sure, but not always. The reward should be personal. So many times, I've seen SMART goals, that just don't reward success. "It's your job" is not exactly a reward for hitting goals, especially aspirational ones. A compelling reward is fundamental to success.

True

True goals, are things that we really honestly want in life or work, and we are prepared to do whatever it takes to achieve them. It often takes a huge amount of self sacrifice and single mindedness, but if you truly want something in your life, then you have to do what it takes to get there. If you develop goals that aren't true, you are just setting yourself up to fail.

So there you have it a few more thoughts for my 100 days of writing.

Cheers and all the best.

Powerpointing should be a verb and require a license

Dear friends,

As a conservative estimate I am exposed to around 2 hours of Powerpoint a week. This varies from weeks where I see zero Powerpoint, to conferences or meetings with up to 8 hours of Powerpoint a day. So during my career I reckon I have watched around 1680 hours of powerpoint. That's a lot of slides. You need 10,000 hours of something before you become an expert. So I'm about 16% expert on watching Powerpoint. Oh the joy!

How has this not become a verb? A bit like *"Googling"* which is of course a term we all use for searching the web. *"Powerpointing"* should be the verb for presenting slides. *"Good luck with your Powerpointing today..."* or, *"Did you see Mark's Powerpointing today, it was awesome..."*.You get the idea. I might try using this and see if it catches on. You heard it here first.

Another thing, with probably billions of hours and dollars wasted in employees sitting through mind numbing Powerpoints. There should be a license to Powerpoint. All Powerpointers should obtain a Class B license to be able to present internally, say in groups of up to 10 people. Class A licenses are required for public Powerpointing or groups of 10+ people.

A final thought, Microsoft are missing a trick. With all this Powerpointing going on in pretty much every business on the planet, can you imagine how much a cheeky little banner ad would be worth?

Cheers and all the best,

More musings for day five of my writing challenge. Hopefully, this injected a bit of humour into your day. You can now proceed to your nearest Powerepointing room for your next meeting.

Muting Whatsapp tells me it's a social media platform not an IM app

Dear friends,

Most people think Whatsapp is a messaging app. It's not. It's a social media platform.

When I first used Whatsapp (I'm guessing around 2011) here's how I used it:

Whatsapp was a free replacement for texting with some cool multimedia options. I messaged a small network of friends and family when I needed to. A neat instant messenger. 

Now it's a fully embedded part of my social fabric. I use it every single day. I use it on my phone and on my laptop, it's always there. It's the first app I install on any new device. It's slowly creeped up to being one of those technologies I can't live without.

But what about it makes it a social media platform and not an instant message app? Ask your self this - if it's not a social media platform, why do I have to keep using the mute feature?

Here's Wikipedia's definition of a social media:

Social media are interactive computer-mediated technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, career interests and other forms of expression via virtual communities and networks.

Yep, I guess Whatsapp ticks those boxes. More so that I'm now in a few larger community groups. People share all sorts of content. Exactly the same type of content they'd share on facebook or instagram (and in some cases content they wouldn't!)

Not only had the the group aspect blown up. It's now also used as workplace messaging tool. I'm getting work files sent via Whatsapp and seeing people use it used as a substitute for email. Equally, its now a family hub to share holiday snaps and videos.

I'm starting to realise the power of Zucks grand plans and his huge focus on messenger(s). Whatsapp could turn out to be the most lucrative acquisition of the past decade. It's becoming so embedded into the way society communicates, it is the new telecommunications infrastructure of the digital age. Work life, Private Life, Public Life - all communicated through the little green app with the friendly name.

So what?

It's a good thing and it's free. It's encrypted (if you believe facebook) so your messages are private. All Zuck can harvest is the metadata - [which is actually a pretty bad deal for privacy](https://surfshark.com/blog/what-is-metadata-and-why-you-should-start-caring-about-it). It's not a problem now, but perhaps tying the way humanity communicates publicly and privately into a centralised, US based tech monopoly with a history of dodgy business practises may not be a great idea in the long run.

I'll keep on using Whatsapp, because it's a great app, and I can connect with 1.5billion users on it. It will be interesting to observe how this social media platform continues to evolve in the future.

Cheers and all the best,

Tempted to by a Kindle Paperwhite, so why so much internal debate?

I've been struggling on with my old Kindle for ages. It's a beaten up old Kindle wifi. It works a treat though so why upgrade? I must have spent hundreds of hours with this device. Good and fulfilling hours too, not like my phone.

I want to upgrade as I want a backlight so I can read a kindle in bed rather than using my phone (which I use now for either for the kindle app, or just pissing around on the web).

I've seen some Kindle Paperwhites on ebay for around £40. That's pretty reasonable when you think about it for something that can store as much reading material as anyone could read in a lifetime. Has inSaNe battery life and can fit (nearly) in your pocket. I've always ranked the kindle as my all time favourite device man created.

What's holding me back?

1. I'm a tight bugger and hate spending cash on anything
2. I've got a perfectly functional device and I hate wasting things
3. I procrastinate about all decisions
4. Where the hell did I put that Kindle attachable light thing I had - that would be a solution.

Why wait? I want to fill my life with meaningful information rather than the same old internet shit that I have binged on in the past (instagram was my biggest vice - creating not consuming I might add). A kindle Paperwhite can mean I will have meaningful information in bed. So why not treat myself to this device?

I should wait because I can't just give into every little whim that I have to buy a new gadget. Man, this is an internal termoil I often have going on for the stupidest purchases. Also the research piece. Is a Paperwhite 3 better than a Paperwhite 2 and worth the extra ten quid? Next ensures the review searching, youtube watching 2 hours of wasted time. Totally pointless.

But what about just buying the top of the range model? It's only £120. I earn a very decent wage so why not just get something that is clearly going to perform better than a Paperwhite 2 second hand at £40. Bloody choices. Bloody brain for adding yet another option. What is it about modern times and having so many options on what to buy.

This is why I need to unplug more. This exact scenario. How has the web got me spending a few hours deciding what bloody kindle to buy. I need to be more impulsive or just appreciate what I've got.

My attention span is awful, how's yours?

My attention span is awful and I think it's getting worse.

I'd say the technology is fuelling this and I'd cautiously say technology may have changed your attention span too. That said, technology isn't the cause it's just the enabler. Technology has enabled the "attention economy" to prosper.

The attention economy is the monetisation of my attention, your attention, our collective attention, converted to real world cash dollar. So it's hardly surprising that our attention is being diverted - everyone wants to monetise it. Every new hot silicon valley tech start-up wants a piece of your attention. When people pay attention, marketers calls it engagement, but the goal is behaviour modification that makes advertising more valuable.

Equally, there is the human condition of curiosity. Evolution developed this so we could discover new hunting grounds or pastures to graze, new medicines or drugs. That feeling of curiosity to find something new is now being satisfied (and monetised) by the mundane such as instagram stories.

What's new, what's interesting? That's what we strive for. Have you ever considered why the need to keep reinventing flight safety videos (comedy is this decade's theme) is it because we've all seen them so many times already, or is it because we are so easily distracted?

What's the ultimate distraction? Well, Ben Shneiderman invented the hyperlink which has to be the ultimate attention grabber. There would be no clickbait without Ben's invention, now there's a thought.

Here's a link: go on click on it, you know you want to

Did you read this far? Happy days! You have a pretty decent attention span,  you read (283 words) It's better than mine I was barely able to finish typing th