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How to Deal with a Myopic Marketer

by Jennifer Beever

Forest for the Trees Are you dealing with a myopic marketer? Someone who can’t see the forest for the trees? Here are some ways to manage this marketing personality type.

In a previous blog post, Three Marketing Personalities You Need to Manage, I wrote that in the course of my marketing consulting I have encountered some challenging marketing personalities. Three that I identified are 1. The Myopic Marketer; 2. The Marketing Micromanager; and 3. The Bright-Shiny-Object Marketer. This blog post defines the myopic marketers and suggests ways to manage this marketing personality type.

What are the signs of a Myopic Marketer?

Myopia is defined as an inability to see beyond what’s right in front of you, in other words, an inability to see the forest for the trees.

my·o·pi·a  (mp)n.

1. A visual defect in which distant objects appear blurred because their images are focused in front of the retina rather than on it; nearsightedness. Also called short sight.

2. Lack of discernment or long-range perspective in thinking or planning. (from TheFreeDictionary.com)

The myopic marketer may say things like, “We’ve always done it this way,” or, “I can’t see how that will work.” They don’t want to try new things because they don’t know how they work or what results they will get.

How do you deal with a myopic marketer?

You might introduce a new marketing strategy or tactic to the myopic marketer by treating it as an experiment or something to test before committing to it as a regular course of action.

Rather than have the myopic marketer involved in the new “thing,” which they very well could sabotage or drag their feet on, consider bringing in an outside expert who can manage the project, execute and show results.

If you are having trouble getting the myopic marketer to buy into a new project, show them how your competitors are getting results with a new strategy or tactic. If the myopic marketer has any pride in their job whatsoever, hopefully the fear of being bested by a competitor could help them take action.

When you can show results from a new marketing activity, sometimes the myopic marketer, who could not see beyond existing marketing tactics that he or she is already doing, becomes the biggest champion of a new activity or way of doing things. They not only see the forest (or at least more marketing “trees” than are right in front of them), they embrace it!

 

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