5 Common Reasons Why Your Marketing isn’t Working (And How to Fix It)
David Lee-Schneider MarketingSome common reasons why your marketing isn’t working are probably less obvious than you might think. Marketing, when not done right, can easily fail to produce the desired results. Many times, I have seen business owners sit down to come up with their own marketing strategy, only to end up with great disappointment. However, this is all part of being in business. When we fail, we pick ourselves up and go again.
Nevertheless, I have identified a few common mistakes when it comes to marketing and outlined some strategies for how to fix these problems.
Here are 5 common reasons why your marketing isn’t working
1. Trying to be everything to everyone
Many businesses fail to send out a clear message that is targeted at their ideal customer (Avatar). Instead they try to keep their message as broad as possible. This approach results in generic messaging that doesn’t work. Instead, be very clear about your purpose, what your product or service is about and who exactly it is for. Identify who your ideal customers are and craft copy that speaks directly to them. The clearer your message and targeting, the better your sales will be.
2. Competing on price
One approach many businesses take when competition moves in is to lower their price. In some industries, this has led to a war on price between competitors leaving little to none for anyone. Rather than lowering your prices, try to find ways to add more value to your customers. This won’t just leave you better off financially, but also position you as the expert amongst your competitors. Ever seen Apple run a sale?
3. Limiting Marketing to Just One Platform
Businesses have to consider more than one marketing platform. Digital marketing offers countless tools to increase brand awareness, drive traffic to your campaigns and proactively increase your sales when you choose to. Social media is just one platform. Email marketing is another. Traditional forms of marketing are also worth testing, especially when targeting customers who are yet to embrace the digital era. Muti-channel marketing also allows you to identify where your best customers are coming from and where to spend most of your budget in order to get the best return.
4. Lack of Strategy
Without a strategy, marketing fails. This is one of the most common reasons why your marketing isn’t working. In marketing, strategy is everything. In fact, the right strategy produces stunning, hitherto unimagined results. Develop a marketing plan and stick to it. Test what’s working, repeat what does, discard what doesn’t. Numbers don’t lie.
5. Dead Techniques
Dead marketing techniques kill businesses faster than ever before. Don’t get stuck in the old ways. If it’s not working, change it. Replace it with something that works. Tweak it if necessary. There’s no need of staying loyal to ideas that cost a lot of money yet have nothing to show for all that investment. Even if it once was your best strategy.
Do you currently have a strategy that allows you to get new customers “on tap”? If not, I might be able to help. As an independent marketing consultant, I help business owners in the retail and hospitality industries to design and implement automated marketing strategies that take their business to a whole new level. When you’re ready, let’s have a chat about your business.
David is a digital marketing consultant based in Brisbane, Australia. With a focus on automating tedious manual processes and making marketing easy, he’s helped hundreds of businesses across Australia transform their marketing. Learn more about the 90-Day Marketing Transformation
Photo by Jenny Ueberberg
David Lee-Schneider Marketing
Willingness to adapt to new changes and the drive to invest in your business are also two key components which should not be ignored. If a business owner is not ready to adapt to change or is not willing to invest in their business, chances are their business is set to doom soon.
Point No. 3 looks great and promising. Limiting your marketing strategy to just one platform is the wrong approach. In any case, it is not wise to put all your eggs in one basket!
Do you offer free consultation to business owners or do you charge for the initial consultation also?
Can you please give examples of dead marketing techniques? Newspaper advertising seems to be a dead marketing technique, but it works wonders in some cases, especially if you have a non-profit. It can become expensive, but it can surely bring a return.
Having a strategy in place is the key to success. Without a plan, you are doomed to fail. Sticking to the plan is also very important and then evaluating your performance over time is also extremely necessary.
The second point seems totally valid. Competing on price actually gives out the wrong message that we do not value the worth of our service or product and that’s why we are offering it for dirt cheap. This will only lead you to losses and a bad reputation in the market.
The first point mentioned here is very valid, but how will one ensure that the message reaches the exact intended audience?