I recently received a review copy of The Digital Pivot: Secrets of Online Marketing by Eric Schwartzman. Too bad this guy hadn’t.
“We hate to do this, but we’re going to have to let you go. The pandemic has stalled orders and I think we simply rushed into this digital marketing process too soon.”
This is a snippet from a real conversation a community member of mine experienced about two weeks ago.
A local manufacturer was doing the most unthinkable, the “most stupidest” thing you can do when the market is stalled — laying off the one person who was setting up a digital marketing machine that would guarantee new leads and new customers on autopilot — their marketing director!
Remember that famous scene from Taxi Driver where Robert De Niro stands in front of the mirror repeating “You talkin’ to me?”
Yes — I’m talking to you, Mr. Business Owner who just put a stop to an online marketing funnel you should have built a decade ago and that will have paid for itself almost immediately once supply opened up after the pandemic.
Fair warning, my dear small business readers, this review will be written from the perspective of a marketing person who advises small business owners like you – and not executives from enterprise organizations.
Please don’t fire your marketing person or digital marketing agency, consultant, or whoever is trying to build you a marketing machine that helps you get and keep customers in today’s digital marketplace.
What Makes “The Digital Pivot” Special
If you’re a marketing expert — Schwartzman is preaching to the choir. What you’ll get out of this book are perhaps some new ways to explain digital marketing to clients or employers who don’t get it.
If you’re a small business owner, you’ll get a book that is written for you. Schwartzman doesn’t wax academic. He meets his readers where they are in their understanding of marketing; as a promotional function.
He starts by explaining the art of the pivot. I love his use of the ballet analogy because it addresses the fact that something that looks elegant and effortless actually takes insane amounts of technical skill and discipline.
Next, he dives into data-driven marketing. If you’re the kind of business owner that’s shied away from marketing because you thought it was too “fluffy” and creative — this will change your mind. Schwartzman clearly explains the power and knowledge that digital marketing data can provide that will take the guesswork out of marketing.
With this level of understanding, you’re ready to learn about stacks, automation and funnels, SEO, Email, content marketing, blogging, podcasting, and more.
It’s the closest thing to an executive-level marketing overview as you’re going to get. It will show you the power of digital marketing and you’ll definitely understand why it’s important and why, if you need to cut expenses somewhere, marketing should NOT be where you start.
A Few Words About the Marketing Process
Schwartzman covers just about everything you need to know to implement a successful digital marketing program. But, as a marketer who’s seen too many small business owners get overwhelmed, I’m going to add one thing that’s missing; a reference to the marketing process and where The Digital Pivot fits into the overall process. I think this would provide some valuable context for non-marketers.
To be fair, Schwartzman has an entire executive training program called The Digital Pivot Program dedicated to the process that he outlines here in the book The Digital Pivot.
There is a process and a framework here. And it is effective. Just know that it’s focused on pivoting your business from analog to digital marketing. This book assumes you have your marketing together and just need to shift to digital.
What small business owners need to know and understand is that there is an overall marketing process to support powerful strategic choices.
Without the support of this overall process, you won’t have the critical strategic direction you need to be successful in the digital marketing world.
Marketers know this. It’s ingrained in those of us who live the marketing process every day. We do it intuitively and it’s easy to forget that people who don’t have a marketing background don’t.
Coming back to the ballet dancer doing a pirouette example from the book — jumping into digital marketing activity such as email or SEO without doing research, selecting an ideal customer, crafting an offer, etc. is like a non-ballerina trying to do a pirouette at Carnegie Hall — very ugly.
What Makes Eric Schwarzman Qualified to Demystify Online Marketing?
Eric Schwartzman is a digital marketing consultant and entrepreneur, he has led digital marketing initiatives for Boeing, Britney Spears, Cirque du Soleil, Johnson & Johnson, North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), the Olympics Games, the US Dept. of State and dozens of small and midsize companies.
He ran promotions at a global PR agency, founded a content management SaaS platform provider with clients such as Dunkin’ Donuts, Linkedin, NVIDIA, and Verizon, and oversaw the center for digital innovation at a $1B company where he led pivots from homegrown to enterprise software and developed an online marketplace.
What Will You Do With Your Copy of The Digital Pivot?
Personally, I’m keeping my review copy of The Digital Pivot because Schwartzman does a masterful job of explaining digital marketing and all its moving parts in a way that balances technical accuracy and simplicity. I’m going to use it as a reference book for when I have to explain any aspect of digital marketing to a CEO or business owner. If you’re a professional marketer, I’d recommend you do the same.
If you’re a business consultant, you definitely want to have this book within arm’s reach. It will help you understand and explain online marketing and all its moving parts so that you can create systems, processes and operations strategies to support it.
Finally, if you’re a CEO or business owner who has been struggling with pulling the trigger on a digital marketing strategy or you’ve been questioning whether to keep investing in digital marketing, I’d recommend you read this book ASAP.
No matter your role in business, digital marketing is a necessity and The Digital Pivot will help you build your online marketing machine.
Image: amazon
This article, “Read “The Digital Pivot” Before You Fire Your Marketing Person” was first published on Small Business Trends