Dave Mountain
Founder at Marketing and Advertising Direction.com
Website Address: http://www.marketingandadvertisingdirection.com/
Each week on “AdTastic,” our host talks to advertising and media experts across the country. This week our host speaks with Dave Mountain from Marketing and Advertising Direction.com. To learn more, check out http://www.marketingandadvertisingdirection.com/
What is the biggest change in marketing that you see coming in the next 2 years?
It’s a competition between new tech (5G, CTV), new rules (privacy, end of third-party cookies, antitrust for Big Tech) and greater societal concerns (pandemic, recovery from same, impacts of climate change). The one thing that I’d bet the house on is that the rate of change is not going to slow down.
What is one tip that you would give when it comes to digital marketing?
Embrace nuance and avoid single KPI (key performance indicator) initiatives. Solving for one problem without having visibility into other factors (simple example: higher response from ads without regard to conversion rates or lifetime value) is not the value your clients deserve.
What is something in your career that you learned from by making a mistake?
This is actually covered in a series of posts at our site, but the one that has kept with me the longest was a misprint on a blow-in postcard. It wasn’t a very big deal (a phone number was off by one digit on one of three places, we were able to acquire that number from its holder in trade), and the blame was shared by many people (several designers, many managers, the owner of the company — we all had sign off, and we all missed it).
The reason why we missed it? The back and forth on the creative had gone on too long, and people had mentally checked out from stylistic nitpickery.
The lesson? Step away from pieces that you aren’t paying enough attention to and come back to them with fresh eyes. Don’t do your QA the same way every time. And regard everything that goes out as a grenade. Check the pins. 🙂
