So, what's all this then?

Communication will save the world, if it doesn’t destroy it first. 

Hi, I’m Ivan, and I do comms. I do projects, I make videos, I write, and I use principles of good communication to help change things that need changing as painlessly as possible. 

I am also a bit snarky about the marketing communications industry – mostly as a way to check the natural marketer’s tendency to puff up. Sure, the bread and butter of marketing communications is thew figuring out why product A is awesome, fantastic, and different from B, C, and especially D. Differentiation is a key component of a product’s value proposition.

But.

When everyone is different and special, no one is. So, I’m going to say some unpopular things here: 

• Get the basics right. In most cases, getting the basics right is way more useful than doing the new, trendy thing. If you’re a fan of the Pareto principle, you already know that 80% of your success is likely dependent on doing the small but crucial (and likely boring) work. Do the basics right, first.    
• Marketing is about business. Creativity, when untethered from business strategy, is self-indulgent art, at best. Marketing has to deliver ROI, and no amount of engagement or likes will guarantee a positive return on investment. So, when evaluating results, remember, it’s about giving something valuable to your customer, so they’re happy to pay you for what they get. 
• There are no shortcuts. Most marketing tactics take time and consistency to work. No, paying me to write a blog post or make you a video will not let you magically triple your revenue in a month. That’s not how anything works. And, even if your content were to go viral, you probably won’t get many useful business outcomes. 
• I can’t tell you if this will work. If a marketer tells you that you have to do X, and they can guarantee you a result of Y, run. Run fast. The speed of change in online marketing and social media environments is such that there are no experts. If someone claims to be one, they’re trying to sell you something (likely snake oil) at an inflated price. The core of figuring out what works in marketing is experimentation. Your brand is unique, your value proposition is unique, and your audience niche is unique as well. Without a crystal ball, I can only make educated guesses about what might work, and that’s exactly what I will do if we work together. Crate experiments, try them out, take what works, and try to optimize it further. This is the way.