In IT marketing departments and businesses around the world, the fear of failure is endemic. Nobody wants to have to explain why something didn’t work … let alone carry the stigma of an unsuccessful attempt. This phobia, unfortunately, is costing companies ROI. As we mentioned yesterday, if you’re doing everything right, you’re really doing everything wrong. You should be stretching for bigger results. Take the risk, and you may trade a few unsuccessful for campaigns for a much higher overall marketing ROI.

The best parallel out there can be found in the venture capital industry. VCs plan for a certain degree of failure in their portfolios. The goal is for the winners to be so big that hey compensate for the losers and still deliver outsized returns overall. The risks are high – but measured. In fact, steps are taken to balance the risk in a VC portfolio to ensure (to the extent possible) a positive outcome.

The point is that VCs don’t believe that every investment has to be successful: they look at the net outcome. IT marketing departments could benefit from a similar, though less extreme, approach. Plan for a certain number of marketing programs to fall flat, and measure success by the net outcome of all your programs. Don’t be afraid to try something new. Plan thoroughly and execute well, and you’ll be surprised by the impact to your top line.

Previous articles in this series:

Swing for the fences: Introduction >>

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