6 Marketing Lessons to Take from Game of Thrones
by Remington Begg
You Can’t Plan Ahead for Everything.
In business, you never know what’s going to happen, and this is explored every episode in Game of Thrones. The good guys aren’t guaranteed to win, and the bad guys won’t necessarily die a slow and painful death. In fact, in the Game of Thrones universe, the bad guys often triumph and the good guys often have a pretty bad day. Marketing is full of twists and turns, and sometimes things don’t turn out as expected. Maybe developing your buyer personas showed you that you’ve been marketing to the wrong demographic or a social media post was not well-received by your followers. Whatever it is, be prepared to regroup and reevaluate your inbound marketing strategy whenever necessary.
Don’t Be Afraid to Kill Your Darlings.
Stannis
Baratheon sure isn’t. The front-runner for Father of the Year can
definitely teach us lessons about knowing when an idea has reached its
end. “That’s the way we’ve always done it” will destroy your brand. If
something needs to be removed from your strategy to move forward, do it.
Get People Talking About You.
Organic
conversations about your brand or services can be an inbound marketer’s
best friend. Daenerys has spent her entire life in exile, yet
celebrated warriors like Jorah Mormont and Ser Barristan leave their
lives to join her cause. Varys and Tyrion, a rival Lannister, agree to
take up her claim to the throne without ever meeting her. She has
thousands flock to follow her based on her notoriety alone. Now that is a
solid reputation any brand would love to have!
Don’t Focus Too Much on the Big Picture and Ignore Little Whispers.
Let’s
talk about the men of the Night’s Watch, shall we? Jon Snow, the
eternal good guy, spent all of season five trying to bring the Night’s
Watch and the Wildlings together as a larger force against the White
Walkers and their Wights. Viewers of the show knew he was right- the
White Walkers are a bigger, and more magical, threat. But you can’t
erase thousands of years of bad blood overnight, and the men of the
Night’s Watch just weren’t having it. Jon focused on the big picture
while ignoring the gripes and threats of his men, and it didn’t end well
for him.
Don’t ignore criticism you may see on social media networks, even if the complaints aren’t valid. Enough disgruntled customers can cause havoc on your brand, even if you’re in the right. Jon Snow may have been correct about the White Walkers, but that didn’t stop Oly from delivering the final stab to avenge his parents. (Hey, I already warned you about spoilers!)
Winter is Coming.
While
you can’t plan ahead for everything, you CAN develop a solid inbound
marketing strategy based on research and knowledge. The best brands
always innovate, stay active, and plan for the future. Being prepared
for the unexpected is essential. Embrace winter and know that it is
coming, so when it finally arrives you have your Valyrian steel ready to
fight off the Night’s King.
Don’t Get too Comfortable.
In
the five seasons Game of Thrones has been on the air, we have witnessed
three kings on the throne and several others try, and die, to get
there. Let’s just say not very many people in Westeros die of old age.
This is an exceptional lesson for companies competing for market share.
Made it to number one? Great! But you aren’t done. Your competitors
won’t stop trying to usurp your spot up top, so you can’t let go of your
marketing efforts once you’re doing well.
No one knows what next for the Game of Thrones characters and their battle to sit on King’s Landing’s most uncomfortable chair. Enjoy the break until season six while you apply the lessons you’ve learned to your inbound marketing campaign. Except, please, don’t learn anything from Ramsey.
Culled from Impulse Marketing
