Marketing is an ever changing industry. Therefore, it can only work if you are committed to change. This commitment needs to work on a number of levels. First, you must be open to the fact that you might be wrong. If industry experts or even customers give you information or feedback you disagree with, you need at least to be open to the possibility that they might be right and it’s time to change your approach.
If you can see that perhaps your current approach needs fine-tuning, the next step is to be open to doing things in new ways. This is especially true if your old ways are not producing results or are wasting your resources such as time and money. Maybe you understood marketing ten or twenty years ago when you started your business, maybe you understood marketing for a previous industry but it no longer works that way. Consumer habits and opinions change, technology changes, and it all affects marketing. You can’t apply outdated knowledge, facts, information or processes and expect your outcomes to be up to your current standards.
Finally, you need to accept that change takes time. Your commitment to patience and your ability to see the new way through will be crucial to your success. Business owners often get to this stage only to abandon ship. They might be willing to try something new, but they lacked the commitment and patience to give the new way a fair chance Having realistic expectations, (don’t expect five stars on a two star budget), updated information and knowledge, and a strong commitment to change, are the qualities that turn business owners into great marketers.