CEO of iResearch Services, a global thought leadership agency that focuses on evidence-based research to power thought leadership campaigns.
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When you hear the term “queen’s gambit,” what do you think of? If you’re a chess aficionado, you likely picture the ever-popular opening chess move that’s been around for centuries. However, if you’re a frequent Netflix user, then your mind likely goes to the popular Netflix miniseries by the same title.
The show premiered in October 2020 and has been a hot topic ever since, especially among the marketing community. Why? Because the short, seven-episode series teaches quite a few lessons that marketing teams in all industries could benefit from.
Here are eight surprising lessons from the show that you can implement into your marketing strategy:
1. Always have a plan, but remain as agile as possible.
If you expect to see success in your marketing strategy, you need to have a plan. However, even the best-laid plans can be upheaved by the unexpected. That’s why marketing teams need to be agile, as well.
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Let’s face it, rarely do things ever go 100% according to plan. If your team can think quickly on its feet and take action as changes happen, then you’d be surprised at just how quickly you can adjust your marketing plan as needed. This is especially important in volatile times. Take the Covid-19 pandemic — agile marketing teams were able to jump on trends and address issues immediately, while those that weren’t agile enough were left floundering.
2. Be confident in your abilities.
As a marketing professional, you never want to doubt your knowledge, skills or abilities. You know you are more than capable of developing a strong strategy, creating high-quality content and impacting your audience. Put those skills to work!
3. Do not be afraid to disrupt the status quo.
A significant part of a successful marketing strategy is identifying change and finding ways to address it effectively. In most cases, that means coming up with new solutions that your audience can benefit from and doing so long before your competition does.
To do that, however, you need to stay on top of your game! Always be conducting research and/or holding discussions with your audience and others within your industry. That way, you’ll never fall behind when it comes to the latest and greatest. Remember, the goal should be to never fit in but stand out. You want to think outside the box and bring innovative solutions to your audience.
4. Invest in innovation.
Speaking of innovation, you want to make sure you are thinking outside the box when it comes to solutions for your audience and investing in innovative solutions to help your team.
This can come in the form of new technology to help improve your marketing practices or to help you streamline your daily workflows. Innovation will set you apart from your competitors, so make sure you are making smart moves.
5. Presentation is everything.
While presentation in “The Queens Gambit” had more to do with how the female lead presented herself to her competition, in marketing, your presentation comes in the form of content — at least for the most part. Content, whether oral, visual or written, is vital to your marketing strategy for several reasons, including:
• Building brand awareness
• Building relationships with your audience
• Establishing yourself as a thought leader
However, the presentation of your content also helps set you apart from your competitors. You want to ensure you are only putting out the best content possible to ensure that others see you as the go-to for information to meet their needs. On top of that, you need to ensure you are sharing it in the right places at the right time so that it will reach your ideal audience when they need it the most.
6. Never stop learning.
You can’t be the best if you’re stuck in the past. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t learn from it. Another powerful lesson taught to marketers by the show was to never stop learning. In order to be the best, you need to be constantly conducting research, studying the outcomes and applying it to your game plan.
You should continuously conduct customer, competitor and industry research to ensure that you are meeting your current audience’s needs and identifying gaps that your competition isn’t fulfilling and/or any changes in consumer behaviors or upcoming trends in your industry.
7. Take your time to consider your moves carefully.
You already know that to succeed, you need to have a plan. However, not just any plan will do. Your team needs to take adequate time to detail every little aspect you can before you start taking steps forward in marketing.
That means you must start with goal setting, then work backward to help identify each step you need to take to make that goal a reality.
8. Success is not final, and failure is not fatal.
Finally, one of the most notable lessons taught in Netflix’s “The Queen’s Gambit” was that success is not final, and failure is not fatal.
No matter how many times you fall, you must get right back up and try again. Just as vital is the concept that one success doesn’t mean it will be repeatable. That’s why researching, polling, conversations and testing are so crucial.
Not only then can you test the waters before risking it all on a single campaign, but you can use both your successes and your failures to help you design better, more successful campaigns for the future. Never settle for what’s working now — always strive to do better!
Marketing really is one giant game of chess.
Oddly enough, if Netflix’s “The Queen’s Gambit” taught marketers anything, it was that marketing is just one never-ending game of chess.
You have to remain ever vigilant and always calculate your next move — otherwise, you risk falling behind.
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Author: Yogesh Shah, Forbes Councils Member
