Categories: Articles

Instead Of "What?" Ask "Why?"

Whether it’s in meetings for client work, business development opportunities, speaking to a group of people, or doing some kind of community work, I’m being asked very similar questions, like: "should we be Podcasting?", "what could we do with twitter?", "what do you think about Facebook?" and "how do you use YouTube as a Marketing channel?" You can take out the channel and replace it with whichever online social network is popular these days, or change the word "Podcasting" to Blogs… you get the idea.

But the biggest and most important questions never get asked. Everyone is so busy getting excited about the channels (and tactics) that they completely put aside the strategy and the brand.

Instead of "what" ask "why."

When you really understand the "why", you’ll know:

– Why people love you.

– Why people buy from you.

– Why they tell other people about how great you are.

– Why people are loyal to you.

– Why the world needs more of whatever it is you do.

– Why they would never leave you for a cheaper price.

"What" is just the tactics. It’s deciding between a Blog and a Podcast. It’s choosing YouTube and Facebook over MySpace and Second Life. It’s about the things you can do because you already know where your consumers are, what they’re saying about you, and how you can add value to the online environments that they’re currently occupying.

But, without a strategy and and deep respect for being a guardian of the brand, everything else is just a tactic. And, if you’re into sports, war games, or any other form of competition, you’ll know that tactics don’t win anything, the strategy does.

Mitch Joel

Mitch Joel lives at the intersection of technology, business transformation and consumer culture. He is the Executive Director of Next Era Institute, a strategic intelligence platform helping leaders understand the forces reshaping business, technology, culture and society. The Institute identifies which shifts matter, explores their wider significance and translates them into strategic direction and momentum. Mitch is also a globally recognized keynote speaker. He has delivered thousands of presentations across both B2B and B2C industries to organizations including Google, Walmart, LEGO, Shopify, Microsoft, Procter & Gamble and Unilever. Strategy Magazine has called him “one of North America’s leading visionaries.” Mitch built his career by working directly inside the waves of change that reshaped modern business. He founded and built a digital marketing agency that worked with some of the world’s largest brands and was later acquired by WPP, where he served as President of a firm operating in 25 countries with almost 3,000 employees. Mitch is the bestselling author of Six Pixels of Separation and CTRL ALT Delete, and the host of Thinking With Mitch Joel, one of the longest-running business podcasts in the world. His writing and commentary appear in outlets including Harvard Business Review, Fast Company and Inc. Magazine. He is a member of Dr. Marshall Goldsmith’s 100 Coaches and was named to the Thinkers50 Radar. Mitch also hosts Groove – The No Treble Podcast, documenting the oral history of electric bass players. Mitch is also Co-Founder of ThinkersOne, a platform that enables companies to bring personalized thought leadership from world-class experts into meetings, events and off-sites in focused 15-minute bursts.