13
2014
Nov

Playing Chess to Improve Your AdWords Team

Chess BoardIn the SMS office we play team chess. I have to admit it is fun but it also has a very real business purpose. Online marketing and chess have a lot more in common than you would think. First and foremost is that chess teaches strategy. Playing it in team form creates an environment that the team has to share and communicate the strategy. This is how a marketing team should operate.

We started out in our office playing chess one on one and that helped some but when we shifted to the game in teams it became more fun and more effective for the business. Our teams have to communicate complex strategies to each other and that is what they need to do with the AdWords accounts as well. In team play you have to explain to your team what your goals and tactics are and then reach compromises to move the game forward.

For those without a good grasp of the game it has 6 types of pieces and each has its strengths and weaknesses.  In marketing we have different tools we can bring to the mission and each of them has its strengths and weaknesses. With just 16 pieces that have 6 types of moves the estimated number of moves is 1043 and that is probably much smaller than all the possible moves in a business marketing plan. I think it is fair to say that the variables are big.

If you think about the pieces as being the different types of campaigns you can quickly see the parallels between the two games.  They also support each other much like SEO and PPC can support each other. In chess strategies the players are always looking for multiple coverage on a single position, positions that create positive exchanges, and split positions. Certainly getting your horse in a position where the king and queen are one space apart is almost always a good move. It is watching for and leveraging these patterns that create advantage in the game.

Marketing people need to think in strategic teams and they have to think through complex questions with clear answers. Playing chess might be fun but it also helps you think in multiple steps and with multiple campaigns and you certainly have to think several steps into the future.