If you’re still struggling to gain traction with your marketing program, even after spending thousands of dollars on SEO/AEO/GEO, Digital Marketing, Social Media, and other tactics, this may be the most important article you read all year. If I just described your company, chances are that you’re looking in the wrong place and making the wrong changes. If you want to end the frustration, read on (or set up a 15-minute complimentary consultation).
This is a very common pattern among small and medium-sized businesses. And the people you are working with, such as your website developer or marketing agency, whom be able to fix the issue really are not. They can try – and they do – but their focus is on implementing specific marketing tactics and campaigns. No matter how strategic they are about those implementations, the issues I typically find exist outside of those tactics.
Before I go into it further, let’s make sure I’m respecting your time. Here are a few of the other characteristics of organizations making this mistake that is commonly seen.
- They have added new marketing tactics (e.g., social media, digital advertising)
- They have rebuilt their website
- They have revisited their value proposition and strengthened their UVP/USP statement
- They may even have changed marketing agencies
- They have increased their marketing budget – maybe more than once, and sometimes to an amount that was higher than they were comfortable spending
Did your company do one or more of the above activities? If so, read on, and let me assure you that your company is far from the only one that did.
Most business leaders are told that marketing starts by defining their target market, determining their Unique Value Proposition and creating an elevator pitch that will draw attention. After that, they are presented with a menu of options for getting the word out to the market. Among the typical suggestions for this are: networking, Social Media, their website, a blog, and email. There may be only one suggestion, or more than listed here.
They are told that the only goal of marketing is to “attract leads,” and that “having the right messaging and branding” will generate those leads. While none of this is incorrect, it is incomplete. There is a foundational layer that needs to be constructed and in place to be able to optimize the successes those activities generate. Without that foundational layer, companies experience sporadic successes but do not close anywhere near as many sales as they need to.
In response, when asked, colleagues and marketing agencies may tell you “Marketing takes time to generate traction.” Again, this is not incorrect, but the foundational layer is what makes the value clear to the prospective customer and helps them see the benefits of moving forward.
What’s in that foundational layer? Your vision, enticing offerings, comprehensive pricing strategy, market targeting, strategy to achieve the desired market share, revenue growth plan and growth staging plan. None of these are in the wheelhouse of a typical marketing agency. This is some of the work Foresight Performance does, and our offerings are built around these. Get better results from your marketing. You deserve at least that! Set up a complimentary 15-minute conversation and experience the difference Foresight Performance – and the Marketing Medic® – can make.
