Digital Marketing Lessons from the 2016 Summer Olympics

Now that the 2016 Summer Olympics are officially over, it’s time to reflect on the key takeaways. More specifically, what can we learn from the Olympics that will help us improve our marketing for the rest of 2016?

That might sound crazy, but there are actually some important marketing lessons you may have missed while watching your favorite athletes this summer in Rio.

In this article, I’ll address the 3 most important lessons and how to apply them in your business…

#1: Scoreboards, Metrics, & Records Everywhere

When you watch the Olympics on TV you are bombarded with data. The announcers give every detail from the current temperature and wind speed to each athlete’s personal bests to the Olympic records.

In other words, there’s a team of analysts tracking EVERYTHING at the Olympics! And there are scoreboards EVERYWHERE! It’s impossible to miss which athlete won a particular event or which country is in the lead for medals. In fact, you didn’t even have to watch the event to get this information because it was plastered on social media.

Why is this important and how does it affect your marketing?

Take a page from the Olympic analysts and start tracking and posting your key marketing metrics. Here are some questions you must be able to answer if you want to be successful with digital marketing:

Are you tracking all the key metrics for all of your marketing channels? If not, then you’ll never know which channels are driving sales and which are simply wasting your marketing dollars.
Are the key metrics visible for your entire marketing team? It’s not enough to track your key metrics. Your entire marketing team needs to know “the score” at all times to make necessary adjustments.
Are you setting goals and keeping track of records based on the key metrics every month, quarter, and year? Your monthly, quarterly, and yearly goals need to be set based on previous records.

Don’t worry, most businesses can not answer yes to all 3 of those questions. There’s still plenty of time left in 2016 to set up proper tracking and reporting, and to revise your goals.

OK, that’s enough about data, let’s move on to the second lesson..

#2: The Team Mentality

Even the Olympic athletes competing in individual sports like track and field have a team mentality. They are all focused on doing their best personally to bring home a medal for their country (the team).

Also, when you watch the background stories of these Olympians you see just how many people were involved on their path to Rio. Not a single athlete did it alone. It required a team.

Every athlete had a coach to learn from, a physical therapist to rehab aches, pains, and injuries, and support from friends and family to keep them mentally focused. Without the team, none of those athletes would have become Olympians.

With digital marketing, you also need a team.

There’s not a single person that can do everything you need to do to be successful. In fact, earlier this year I published an article about how It Takes a Village To Raise a Website’s Rankings. In that article I walked through all the key roles that make up an effective SEO team. You’ll see that one person couldn’t possibly do everything.

So the key question is do you have your marketing dream team? Do you have all the key roles either in-house or outsourced to an agency or consultant? If not, then make that a priority in the remaining months of 2016. Trying to do everything yourself or relying on just one person is simply not going to get you to the elite level I’m sure you’re aiming for.

While we’re on the topic of teams, let’s transition to the 3rd lesson…

#3: Every Olympian Has a Great Coach

In sports, we all intuitively know you need a coach if you want to be the best you can possibly be in your sport. You can have the drive, the determination, and the ability to be an Olympian, but if you don’t have a great coach then you will likely fail to reach your potential.

I know this is true from personal experience. Now I’m not saying I could be an Olympian, but I know for a fact that I’m not running at the level I’m capable of because I don’t have a coach.

Sure, there’s plenty of free information online about what to eat, what to drink, what to wear, how to train, when to race, and of course how to prevent and recover from injuries.

But not all of that information is relevant for me and my current situation. What may work well for a 30 year old Olympic marathon woman might not be the best option for a man in his mid thirties training for his 5th marathon. Age, athleticism, endurance levels, current health, and minor injuries should all factor into the equation to find the ideal program.

The same is true with digital marketing…

There is a ton of free information about SEO, advertising, email marketing, social media, and other online marketing tactics. But what is best for your situation?

Well, it depends.

And that’s where a coach comes into play. A coach will steer you in the right direction based on his experience and the knowledge gained from working with other businesses in your similar situation. There’s really no substitute for a solid mentor.

If you don’t currently have a marketing coach or agency or consultant, then I recommend our Main Street Inner Circle program..