I’ve been a marketer for over 30 years, and I have found that the most effective marketing strategies are the ones that have been planned out well in advance. This is not to say that you need to do all of your marketing yourself, but it does mean that you should take an active role in ensuring your campaign is successful. Hold on to your seat, as the next paragraph is shocking but not surprising.
Do You Know Who’s Doing Your Marketing?
Don’t trust your marketing to just anyone. According to an independent study called “Media Transparency Issues In The U.S. Advertising Industry” by K2 Intelligence, on behalf of the ANA, many legacy media companies take between 30 and 90% in fees and participate in non-transparent business practices, including cash rebates to media agencies, which were found to be rampant in the U.S. media ad-buying ecosystem. This means some agencies use 10 cents of your dollar to market your business.
There were systemic elements to some of the non-transparent behavior. Specifically, senior executives across the agency ecosystem were aware of and mandated some non-transparent business practices. Also, there were many non-transparent practices across a wide range of media, including digital, print, out-of-home, and television.
Great! What do we do if these are hidden in the price they charge you? First, you need to know what to ask and properly vet out these companies—that’s where Action CMO comes in.
Below are three factors that can cause even the best marketing efforts to fail:
Lack Of A Plan
A marketing plan is essential for any company looking to succeed. In fact, it’s the first step in any professional marketing campaign. A good plan will outline all the elements of your campaign—from target audience selection and message development to budgeting, scheduling, and evaluation. Also, let the agency know what the expectations are for the campaign.
It should include:
- Your objective for the campaign (i.e., what you want to achieve)
- Who your target audience is (the people you need to reach)
- What mediums will be used (print ads, online ads, etc.) – be sure not to overspend on one particular medium (like TV) while neglecting others that are just as effective but less costly; if you do this then all you’ll do is bankrupt yourself before even beginning!
Lack of Follow Through
Follow-through is the final step in the marketing process. It’s what happens after you make a sale or gain a new customer, client, or patient, and it can make all the difference between success and failure. If you don’t follow through correctly —or worse, they have to follow up with you—you’re going to lose them. They won’t be inclined to buy from you again, especially if other vendors are offering better deals or services.
Not Adapting to Changes in Consumer Needs
The goal of marketing is to get people to buy your product or service. But what if the consumer isn’t interested in buying your product or service? It doesn’t matter how good or well-marketed it is; if there’s no demand for it, you’re out of luck.
Let’s use an example: say that you sell cars and you’ve been selling them pretty well for years—but then one day, someone comes up with a new invention that proves standard gasoline-powered cars are not only out of date but environmentally unfriendly. Obviously, if this happens, your marketing strategy will need some adaptation!
If your marketing agency isn’t in touch with your vision, values, and mission statement, then the marketing is boilerplate messaging with no differentiation factors. So the consumer can only make a decision between you and the competition on price alone. This is the worst way to compete. This is the standard for legacy media marketing agencies that use outdated tactics with little to no strategy in their spray-and-pray mentality. This seems to be the norm for legacy media executives who aren’t transparent and want to separate you from your hard-earned cash.
Want to find more ways to increase your business without using a marketing agency? Download ActionCMO’s marketing leverage sheet here: https://actioncmo.com/lp1/
