A lot of small and medium-sized businesses are fighting for their spot in the attention of their audience in the digital landscape. As more businesses double down on social media and other digital marketing channels, many still fail to effectively execute their marketing strategies to their advantage.
As a digital marketing agency who have conducted hundreds of discovery calls, consultations, and portfolio companies with serious growth using digital marketing, we have found the common denominator for all.
So here are our top 5 discoveries why small and medium sized-business are failing their marketing campaigns so you can avoid it.
1. Lack of concrete marketing plan – A serious problem now
Cliche as it sounds, this is a serious problem for most. With so many businesses being seen online, most think that it’s a one size fits all approach. Without the right strategy, market and consumer understanding, budgeting, benchmarking, and documentation will seriously burn you so much cash with no direction and results at all.
Before executing any marketing campaign, you need to have a clear path on how you expect everything to be executed and monitored piece by piece. Lack of planning and a deep understanding of how marketing works is the main reason why most businesses fall short and get burned in their campaigns.
2. Shallow audience persona
Do you know what motivates your audience to buy? Do they prioritize price, value, or convenience? What does Monday morning look like and what do they potentially do on a Thursday night? What brands do they follow? How many of your audience fits the ideal marketing, available market, and addressable market?
These are only a few questions we ask our clients to know if we need to help them in going deep into the mind of their ideal customers. Don’t stop from the basic demographics like age, employment status, and location. You need to craft a buyer persona so your campaign foundation is crafted for them. They must be able to feel that the customer journey and message are really intended for their pain point.
3. Not understanding the customer journey
If you think that you are serving only 1 big market circle, we’re here to tell you that it’s not. Every potential customer goes through a series of customer journeys. Those who are aware that they have a problem, to those who are searching for options to answer their problem, and finally deciding which one best fits their needs. You don’t simply create 1 piece of content and magically convert them to paying customers.
Take it to your own personal experience. The reason why you have been loyal to a brand is that you have gone through a series of touchpoints before you finally decide to buy. So think of your consumers. What stages do they go through before they finally buy? What content do they consume during these stages and how are they finding you?
4. Not documenting marketing executions and results
Let’s say you have crafted your plan, understand your audience, and know the customer journey, the next question now is how do you document the process? Documenting the marketing execution gives you a view of what went well, what went wrong, and where you should optimize. Without these, you’re doing things blindly similar to driving a car with no map and no direction.
Data and numbers are so important in marketing. Important metrics like average order value (AOV), customer lifetime value (CLTV), Cost per Acquisition (CPA), Cost per Lead (CPL) and a lot more are very important to know the worth of your campaign.
5. Discounting competent marketing talents
If you think marketing is just an additional cost in your books, think it over again. Marketing is an investment similar to the inventory, office supplies, and even your employees. It doesn’t mean when you can hire talent within your budget, they can be a real asset to your business. It doesn’t mean you can hire a cheap marketing officer or a freelance marketer, doesn’t mean they can deliver the promised results.
Ask yourself, is the goal here to save money or to get things done the right way? Don’t discount competent marketing talents. Whether it’s going to be an in-house marketing team or hire a marketing agency for a fraction of the cost, make sure you are investing with the right and competent people.
Key Takeaways
It may look like a lot of work but if you don’t do it right the first time, you will just waste your time, effort, and resources in your business. Competition is so tough right now in the digital landscape. That is why we prioritize bringing results and performance to our clients and showing the worth of their investment.
Do you want to know how Xurge Digital Media generates 200% growth in awareness, leads, and sales for businesses? We are opening a FREE 60-minute business marketing strategy session for you. This is valued at Php 45,000 for a consulting session but since you finished this blog in the end, it’s on us – FREE.
This is an in-demand strategy session so we’re only opening a few slots. Click here for more info.
Related Posts
