4 Reasons Your Marketing May Not Work
We talk to people all the time who complain that their marketing isn’t working as well as they would like it to work. Every business–regardless of size, budget or industry–has likely felt this way before. Even very profitable businesses that succeed in most areas have failed at marketing before.
So here’s the question: why do we sometimes fail at marketing? What goes wrong?
Certainly, no two marketing campaigns are exactly the same. No two marketing strategies are exactly the same. There is no ‘silver bullet’ answer to the questions above. However, based on our discussions with many different companies, there are a few overarching reasons marketing strategies don’t work. Here they are:
1. Measurement #Fail
Most marketers simply don’t measure their marketing as carefully as they should. Perhaps they measure one area closely, like web traffic or conversion rates. However, they fail to effectively measure social media engagement or track phone calls. Without these metrics, marketers are flying blind. They can’t optimize. They can’t even make future decisions about that marketing channel.
Data is power. If you want to optimize your marketing you have to gather data. Most often the data that marketers ignore is related to phone calls. There is a huge amount of data available within phone calls. Are you taking advantage of that data to optimize your marketing?
3. Lack of Marketing Diversity
Don’t just to do one thing. Do many things. Some companies get so married to a certain marketing strategy that it is almost creepy. They believe that only email marketing will work. They believe that only content marketing will work. They believe that only PPC ads or SEO will work. And when presented with data that contradicts their beliefs, they ignore the information. You should never have the answers before you ask the questions. Instead, try a bunch of different stuff and then use the data to tell you what works.
Tags: Marketing
So here’s the question: why do we sometimes fail at marketing? What goes wrong?
Certainly, no two marketing campaigns are exactly the same. No two marketing strategies are exactly the same. There is no ‘silver bullet’ answer to the questions above. However, based on our discussions with many different companies, there are a few overarching reasons marketing strategies don’t work. Here they are:
1. Measurement #Fail
Most marketers simply don’t measure their marketing as carefully as they should. Perhaps they measure one area closely, like web traffic or conversion rates. However, they fail to effectively measure social media engagement or track phone calls. Without these metrics, marketers are flying blind. They can’t optimize. They can’t even make future decisions about that marketing channel.
Data is power. If you want to optimize your marketing you have to gather data. Most often the data that marketers ignore is related to phone calls. There is a huge amount of data available within phone calls. Are you taking advantage of that data to optimize your marketing?
2. Goal #Fail
When you launch a campaign, or redesign your website what is your goal? Do you want more visitors? Do you want more phone calls? Do you want people to download more content or follow you on Facebook? What are you trying to accomplish?
Sadly, very few marketers even bother to answer this question. Take, for example, redesigning a website. Most companies simply start the redesign process without actually considering what they want the redesign to actually accomplish. Marketers should really ask the following questions: How many more callers will this website generate? How many more clicks will it produce? How many more conversions and leadds will it generate each week?
Have a goal.
When you launch a campaign, or redesign your website what is your goal? Do you want more visitors? Do you want more phone calls? Do you want people to download more content or follow you on Facebook? What are you trying to accomplish?
Sadly, very few marketers even bother to answer this question. Take, for example, redesigning a website. Most companies simply start the redesign process without actually considering what they want the redesign to actually accomplish. Marketers should really ask the following questions: How many more callers will this website generate? How many more clicks will it produce? How many more conversions and leadds will it generate each week?
Have a goal.
3. Lack of Marketing Diversity
Don’t just to do one thing. Do many things. Some companies get so married to a certain marketing strategy that it is almost creepy. They believe that only email marketing will work. They believe that only content marketing will work. They believe that only PPC ads or SEO will work. And when presented with data that contradicts their beliefs, they ignore the information. You should never have the answers before you ask the questions. Instead, try a bunch of different stuff and then use the data to tell you what works.
4. No Aggressiveness
Most organizations are, frankly, not very aggressive. They ignore leads unless they are a ‘perfect’ fit. Or, they simply throw leads into a nurture email campaign and forget about them altogether.
This is bad.
Be aggressive. Call leads. Rustle some leaves and ruffle some feathers. You won’t get very far–especially in the early stages of a company–without taking some initiative and calling leads.
Now, I am not suggesting that sales reps should call every marketing qualified lead. I’m not suggesting that at all. What I am suggesting is that many leads should be called. Depending on the size of your company this number could be in the 30% to 50% range. Certainly, if you are getting thousands of leads a month this isn’t possible. But if you are getting dozens or even hundreds, it is.
Our data shows us clearly that most companies are not nearly aggressive enough. If someone calls a business and asks about pricing, most sales reps simply provide pricing and hang up. What?!? That makes no sense. Someone called you to ask about pricing on a product you sell! Do not let them get off the phone until the deal is done!
Remember this: no one prices a product for fun. If they are pricing a product, they are looking to buy.
Conclusion
Again, not every marketing failure ever can be attributed to the 4 reasons listed above…but most can. Generally failures in marketing result from one of the 4 reasons listed above. Don’t believe me? I’ll make you a bet, if you can think of a failed marketing stategy or campaign that didn’t result from one of hte 4 reasons above, I’ll give you a free LogMyCalls account for a month!
Most organizations are, frankly, not very aggressive. They ignore leads unless they are a ‘perfect’ fit. Or, they simply throw leads into a nurture email campaign and forget about them altogether.
This is bad.
Be aggressive. Call leads. Rustle some leaves and ruffle some feathers. You won’t get very far–especially in the early stages of a company–without taking some initiative and calling leads.
Now, I am not suggesting that sales reps should call every marketing qualified lead. I’m not suggesting that at all. What I am suggesting is that many leads should be called. Depending on the size of your company this number could be in the 30% to 50% range. Certainly, if you are getting thousands of leads a month this isn’t possible. But if you are getting dozens or even hundreds, it is.
Our data shows us clearly that most companies are not nearly aggressive enough. If someone calls a business and asks about pricing, most sales reps simply provide pricing and hang up. What?!? That makes no sense. Someone called you to ask about pricing on a product you sell! Do not let them get off the phone until the deal is done!
Remember this: no one prices a product for fun. If they are pricing a product, they are looking to buy.
Conclusion
Again, not every marketing failure ever can be attributed to the 4 reasons listed above…but most can. Generally failures in marketing result from one of the 4 reasons listed above. Don’t believe me? I’ll make you a bet, if you can think of a failed marketing stategy or campaign that didn’t result from one of hte 4 reasons above, I’ll give you a free LogMyCalls account for a month!
Tags: Marketing
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