By Interactive Strategies
Dec 17, 2013

Three Digital Marketing Lessons Learned from "The Holiday"

Can we really learn digital marketing lessons from a holiday romantic comedy film? I unabashedly say that The Holiday, starring Jude Law, Kate Winslet, Cameron Diaz, and Jack Black, does indeed have digital marketing lessons to consider this holiday season and throughout the year.

Lesson 1: Get Out of Bad Relationships (aka Dump Under-Performing Marketing Efforts.)

Amanda Woods (Cameron Diaz) and Iris Simpkins (Kate Winslet) both have trouble with the men in their live's due to their infidelity. Amanda kicks her live-in boyfriend to the curb right away. When you are faced with making decisions on what to do with your marketing budgets, take Amanda's advice and kick those under-performing efforts to the curb. Properly optimized, some keywords in your paid search campaign may still never convert the way you need them to in order to be profitable. If your last media buy could not be tracked to your satisfaction, stop spending your money in those channels until your demands for improved tracking are heeded.

Lesson 2: Try New Things (aka Explore New Marketing Channels)

Just like Amanda and Iris take a chance on swapping houses for the first time, they also take a chance on new relationships when they aren't entirely sure they're ready for them. In a world where Facebook and Twitter get all of the attention, you would be remiss not to have been watching and exploring how you could be building a presence on Google+, Tumblr, Pinterest, or Instagram. Not all marketing channels will suit your brand and marketing goals, but letting the fear of new things prevent you from building a profile may be giving your competitors a chance to gain ground.

Lesson 3: Hear Your Inner Voice (aka Trust Your Experience, but Listen to the Data)

We hear Amanda listen to the inner voice that narrates moments of her life, but we also see her shake the voice away to be in the moment. When you have been marketing for a while, you begin to have your own "gut" and inner voice that tells you a marketing tactic is (or isn't) going to work. While it is valuable to trust your experiences that have led to such "gut" feelings, remember to listen to the hard data and analytics. You can stop your inner voice from coming out and being a limiting factor in your marketing success.

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