Thanks to all who provided feedback on yesterday’s post on how “Web Marketing Is Like Cooking,” especially Jennifer Laycock’s nice post at Search Engine Guide. I noticed Seth Godin posted today on “Layering,” which is a nice name for experimental marketing.
Seth’s “Layering” sounds an awful lot like “Do It Wrong Quickly,” which is great, because we sure need a name for it. I know what I am trying to say when I say “do it wrong quickly,” but no name has really caught on.
Should it be “adaptive marketing”? How about “Marketing 2.0”? “Experimental marketing?” Geez, “layering” sounds as good as anything.
I guess more important than the name is whether people know what to do. Will they start to give things a try? I know that it goes against every fiber in your beings (some of you), but we need to start. We need to remember that those old neurons are firing because of where we’ve been, not where we’re going.
We’ve learned that marketing is hard to start, costs a lot, and carries huge risk. But the Internet changes it all. None of those things are still true, but we’re caught up in our impulses formed from years of old-style marketing. And most of us work in corporate cultures that vilify errors.
So, if thinking about marketing as cooking does it for you, great. If “fail fast” gets you moving, cool. If “layering” gives you the metaphor you need, excellent. It doesn’t really matter what you need to tell yourself. Just get started and don’t stop.
