​Silver bullet solutions. In marketing, we see it all the time. Agencies promising to deliver the world; thousands of followers, mind blowing ROI and knock-your-socks-off revenue outcomes. Essentially these snake oil peddlers promise the world and then deliver very little, claiming intangible outcomes such as ‘brand awareness’ for your finite marketing spend. With the massive interest in accessing the world’s largest market of 1.38 billion people in China, the snake oil peddlers are rife. 
 
Creating a successful campaign for the China market goes beyond finding a service provider who can facilitate access into Chinese marketing channels. The challenges are significant including language, geography, technology and beyond. Many agencies offer to take care of your creative and marketing channels, however many omit the critical elements of the marketing process. They get so caught up drinking their own champagne they forget that marketing in China must still honour the principles of the profession; targeting, relevance, integration and trust.  
 
The common mistakes we are seeing China Marketing include:

Marketing has its own unique set of vocab (not to mention hundreds of acronyms!). Like an Amway consultant chasing diamond status, Marketers are hungry for learning and are passionate about using the latest methodologies to provide competitive advantage.
 
Assess how ‘across it’ you are by seeing how many of these terms you can accurately describe:

1. Pivot
2. Delta 
3. Unicorn 
4. Pokémon effect 
5. Cohort 
6. Lens 
7. Optics 
8. Tech Stack  
9. Funnel  
10. Ecosystem  
11. Social Proof 
12. Inbound Marketing 

​Preface: no gender bias is intended. Coined in the 1950s and popularised by the disastrously loveable Bridget Jones, the euphemism ‘big-girl pants’ relates to need for successful marketers to be realists.

​Here I examine why the best Marketers (male/female/otherwise) have the maturity to see it like it is, are honest about their performance, and have a laser-like focus on the tasks that actually turn consumers into customers.

1. The best Marketers ask the tough questions

How do you know if something has been successful if you don’t have absolute clarity on what you set out to achieve?