As we prepare to fire up the grill, head to the beach or grab seats for fireworks during 4th of July weekend, I was struck by how much modern marketers can learn from America’s founding fathers and its founding doctrine, The Declaration of Independence. Take a look at our compiled list of revolutionary (see what I did there?) words of wisdom for modern marketers:
1. The Continental Congress made 86 changes to the draft.
No marketing campaign is perfect on draft one (if this happens to you, well then you have our permission to disregard the rest of this list…) and can often require those 86 changes and edits, if not more. Marketers should be flexible to change and avoid falling in love with their own work to create the best content possible.
2. “We Hold These Truths To Be Self-Evident…”
Starting every sentence with “I” is both repetitive and off-putting to your readers. Our founding fathers saw the inherent value in creating a feeling of shared experiences by using “we” language. Modern Best-in-Class marketers would do well to duplicate this personalization technique.
3. The Declaration of Independence was signed by 56 delegates to the Continental Congress.
Yes, there may have been one big signature on the Declaration of Independence, but each and every one of those delegates were important as the overall team. Don’t discount the importance of a collective team in getting all parties on the same page. Successful marketing teams are empowered by contemporary technology tools that promote and reward a more collaborative and team-oriented approach.
4. The Declaration of Independence was approved, first signed and sent to the printer for publication on July 4th, 1776 but wasn’t ready for publication until August 2nd.
Does this mean we get August 2nd off as well? No, but imagine if we went by the publication date instead of the first signature date! Modern marketing automation is a strategy game changer and 87% of Best-in-Class marketers now use automation platforms. Just think of what these patriots could achieve with a MAP!
5. The signers of the Declaration of Independence did not all sign on the same day.
The first signature was on July 4th and the last was added on November 4th of 1776. If the founding fathers were around today they would have gone bananas over Docu-sign (especially Benjamin Franklin). They didn’t have a choice in 1776- you do! Tracking marketing processes and the strategy of your customer’s journey should be a must for any modern marketer.
Happy 4th of July! You can read more interesting facts about the Declaration of Independence here.
