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Since the inception of marketing, teams have been regularly distracted from solid strategic work to investigate whether to “use” [insert new shiny thing]. ”
In the late 2000s, social media was often the shiny object. Before that, it was the web. If you go back far enough, television was the shining object. Lately, “Go-to-Market” and “RevOps” have become buzzwords.
While all of these tactics and channels have their place, doing something isn’t necessarily the best course of action for a company because it’s new and trendy.
Anyone can become a victim of shiny object syndrome. In fact, at some point in our lives we are almost all guilty of it.
However, in the context of B2B organizations, it is most damaging when senior team members are the culprits.
Marketing isn’t the only department under such pressure, but since marketing can and should generate revenue for a company, Shiny Objects Syndrome can seriously undermine company goals, leading to team frustration, budget cuts and even layoffs can.
A common shiny object syndrome scenario
Your CEO goes to a conference with a marketing track. The manager is not satisfied with the results of the current marketing team or is simply interested in the company growing more rapidly. He or she hears a case study of how the “shiny new marketing platform” increased company revenue by X%.
After the conference, the marketing manager receives an email from the CEO: “I just got back from a conference. ‘New shiny marketing platform’ seems interesting. What are we going to do with it?”
Panic spreads. The marketing manager goes into fire drill mode to determine how the “new brilliant marketing platform” is to be implemented without first asking the CEO for the reason.
The most important thing is to find out why the shiny object is being requested. It is important to understand the underlying reason for the request. The manager may have legitimate concerns about the results, but another solution may be more appropriate.
Is the shiny object really for you?
Ask yourself the following questions:
- Does the shiny object help our strategy?
- Is our industry dealing with this shiny object?
- Will this shiny object help or harm our team goals?
- How hard is it to implement and maintain this shiny object? What are the costs and benefits?
- Do we have the right team to support the shiny object?
- Can we afford to do this properly?
How to stop panic marketing for shiny object syndrome
If you can ask yourself the questions above and make the case for the shiny object, then be sure to integrate the new tactic into your overall strategic plan. Marketing can and should be agile. But even if you think it’s an interesting idea, you need to determine how to implement it and how to measure it.
Whenever you come across a shiny object and are wondering if you should implement it, use this flowchart as a guide.
If you’re asking yourself the right questions and you don’t like the answers, you need to explain to leadership why the shiny object is not right for the company. You need to build a case to either continue the current path or adjust the path without the shiny object.
Your answer to anyone who asks about a shiny object that doesn’t make sense should include:
- A reminder of your current goals and a confirmation that they are still correct
- An assessment of the current strategy and its effectiveness (If your current strategy is not producing the results you expected, it doesn’t mean a shiny object is fixing the problem. Find the real problem and work to fix it!)
- An assessment of what the shiny object is and why it doesn’t fit well (e.g. cost barriers, lack of specialist knowledge, not relevant to your target group).
As long as your marketing team members ask why they should implement the Shiny Object, they have a solid strategy that aligns with the business goals, and they can measure the effectiveness of their production, Shiny Object Syndrome should be an easy hurdle to overcome is .
Next: Avoid the Pitfalls of Reactive Marketing
Missed Part 1? Read it here.
More resources on Marketing Strategy and Shiny Object Syndrome
Don’t Give Up Marketing FOMO: Four Steps to Resisting Shiny Object Syndrome
The next shiny thing
The price of chasing the next shiny toy
