Chaos theory represents the unknown, the unpredictable and the non-linear. It’s the science of uncertainty. Chaos, typically, has two definitions. One refers to complete disorder and confusion. The other, ‘the property of a complex system whose behaviour is so unpredictable as to appear random, owing to great sensitivity to small changes in conditions.’
Let’s focus on the latter
The butterfly effect. Analysis of cause and effect. If a butterfly chances to flap his wings in Beijing in March, then, by August, hurricane patterns in the Atlantic will be completely different. A major outcome can be traced back to a very minor action. It sounds far-fetched. It sounds completely irrational. It is. That’s the nature of the science of chaos. Things don’t always happen as we may predict.
The unpredictable
3 years ago I won a significant piece of work. At the time, on paper, it was a consultancy project with a London client. It was signed off as a one day piece of work. Upon completion, we shook hands, agreed we should certainly say in touch and then connected on Linkedin & Twitter.
4 months later, I received a call. My client wanted me to return to speak with their sales department. This time, due to the size of the organisation, the work took place over 5 days. Again, upon completion, we thanked each other and off we went.
2 months later, I received another call. I’d been referred to a good friend of my initial client. He ran a retail business in a completely separate industry, but they agreed that my approach applied to his business too. Another piece of work.
The butterfly effect continues…
Today, I have a meeting with a leader within their industry. If I was to sketch a family tree, this relationship would be the great great grandson of my original client. Word spread. Word spread significantly through the right channels. In total, around 20 projects have developed off of the back of that one single initial consultancy project. Business is non-linear.
The cause
I have a thirst for understanding. I monitor traffic to certain pages within my website. Key data. I’m one of those that clicks upon the links within the profile (with obvious exception!) of my Twitter followers. I like to know who I’m connecting to and with. It helps assure me that the guidance I’m providing is of relevance to my audience.
The client who contacted me in the first instance found me through a Google search. At the time I was running a small experiment with Google Adwords. A total spend of £50 on a particular keyword with a particular landing page. Nothing more than an experiment. It just so happened that the experiment took place at the right time. The time when my client was seeking help. He viewed one single page. He emailed ‘I’d like to chat with you about the service you offer….regards.’ He didn’t use my trackable contact form. He copied and pasted my email address into Outlook…
Within Analytics, this one click wouldn’t attribute the level and volume of projects I’ve been involved with on the back of that single click. No associated ROI. In isolation, a 100% bounce rate, less than 1 minute on site doesn’t look too appealing. Analytics would tell me this was a bad match.
My point
Sometimes things just happen. Sometimes you can put a significant level of time and investment into a marketing campaign with little to no response. You can analyse data, evaluate response and level judgement through your findings.
As long as you’re ‘creating’ and ‘doing’ then things will happen. Correction, as long as you have a belief in what you’re creating and doing, things will happen. The landing page I referred to earlier, I wrote that specifically with a particular industry in mind. I knew the struggles they faced. I believed in the solution I offered. I just wanted to realign the way leaders within that industry perceived how they market. I had an idea that I believed in and wanted to put it into action.
You
If you’re sat struggling to demonstrate a business value behind your organisation’s blog articles. Re-read them, do you believe in what you’re writing? Are you offering enough opinion, enough insight, to make people contact you?
The Adwords campaign that concerns you. You’re looking to answer the question ‘Are you justifying your spend?’ Do you believe you’re targeting the right set of people with the right message? Enough to make them contact you?
That belief doesn’t need to be backed up with 100s of enquiries to justify your actions. It may just require one quick response, outside of the measurement of your Analytics tools, that provides you with a wealth of new opportunity.
When you have that belief, that confidence, it will allow you to persevere and deliver the message that you know resonates with your target audience.
Remember, the butterfly will flap it’s wings. Just be prepared.
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