There are endless posts and articles telling us what we should do, but the problem is that almost all of them address the outside.We need to address the inside first.𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲?The answers to these questions form the inside:- Who am I doing this for?- What problems are they having?- How can I fix the problem?- Why am I doing this?- How do I measure success?- How do I treat people?𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝘂𝘁𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲?The tactics. The list of what is on the outside is long, but in marketing, some items include: SEO, social media, paid advertising, writing, content, messaging, design, conversion rate optimization, testing, etc.𝗧𝗵𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝗧𝗿𝘂𝘁𝗵𝘀 𝗔𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲-𝗢𝘂𝘁𝗜𝗳 𝘄𝗲 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁, 𝘄𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝘂𝘁𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁. If we are driven by the fundamentals, it will cause us to execute the tactics in a way that drives value for our users. 𝗪𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗯𝗲 𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝘂𝘁𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝗮𝗱𝗱𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲. Working from the inside will make our tactics better, but the reverse will not be true. Being great at the tactics will never answer who we are doing this for, what problems they have, and how we can fix the problem.𝗜𝘁 𝗶𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝘃𝘀. 𝗼𝘂𝘁𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲; 𝘄𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝗼𝘁𝗵. Sometimes the relationship between inside and outside is presented as one or the other, but they are not at odds, inside drives outside. 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗱𝗼 𝘄𝗲 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗶𝗳 𝘄𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲-𝗼𝘂𝘁?Below are three indicators that you are working from the inside-out.𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘁𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗰𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗱𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗯𝘆 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 - Do we implement tactics in response to the way we answered the inside questions, or are we simply chasing metrics? If we are driven by the inside, we will know our audience and utilize tactics to help them with their challenges.𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗱𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗰𝘀 - If you are working from the inside, you will want to go beyond just tactics and begin to learn more about your users and engage with them. What does that look like? It could be listening to sales and customer support calls, looking at customer feedback surveys, participating in events and communities or something as simple as commenting on LinkedIn.𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘁𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗰𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 - If you are driven by the inside, your tactics (and metrics) will improve. If you are producing value, users should engage with you, give you feedback, and want to do business with you.
