The Ugly Truth About Digital Marketing Campaigns

Just troll the pages of LinkedIn and marketing blogs around the web and you will be inundated with a lot of fancy buzzwords like Omnichannel, Customer Journey, Zero Moment of Truth, Micro Moments, GEO Fencing, programmatic, and on and on and on.

How Digital Marketing Companies Have Let You Down

Talk to just about any ad rep and they will pepper you with these newly created terms. They will insist that if you want to grow your business and make more money, then “You need to consider the customer journey.” Or “You have to engage in an omnichannel strategy.” or “Getting more engaged visitors is what’s really necessary.” Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah!!! They use these words in an effort to make you just punch drunk enough to pull the trigger and sign a yearlong marketing contract.

Now, I will be the first to tell you that those words, concepts and/or ideas may be very useful. Brand lift, engagement or the customer journey may be an important aspect of selling more goods and services for your business. But alone, they are nothing.

What your ad rep or marketing rep should be selling you is a solution to your problems, mainly, how to grow your business and make more money. Rarely if ever have I found the solution to be as simple as a buying a sponsored post on Facebook or a highly targeted Native ad campaign. Those things are easy. A trained monkey can put that together.

The fact is, most of the clients I have handled over the years wouldn’t even know what to do with more web traffic or phone calls. They usually don’t have the wherewithal to turn that traffic into dollars. They do not have an effective and efficient sales processes in place. They don’t have long-term customer development and retention systems in place either.

Google Adwords, Facebook, Programmatic Advertising, they are only tools, but it takes more than tools to build a house. You need a blueprint, a foundation, a roof, plumbing, sheetrock and a whole lot of other things before you can move in.

What needs to be considered before you begin any ad campaign is how you can leverage the effects of the campaign to grow your business. If you are suddenly receiving more phone calls will your staff be equipped to handle them? Are they properly trained on how to advance a conversation from “hello” to the point where that caller becomes an actual lead or paying customer? If not, then you are just wasting your money.

Also, is your website ready for more traffic? Do you have a generic website with all the normal bells and whistles, or do you have a lead generating monster that turns a high percentage of visitors into prospects – Do you have a message or offer that compels people into action? And do you have a system of turning prospects into instant or eventual paying customers? These are the questions that are more important than which digital platform you are going to advertise on.

A Better Way To Do Digital Marketing

Life is about the journey, that is true. But a marketing campaign must be about the outcome. How many dollars am I putting in, and how many am I going to get back in return? That is the fundamental question you should be asking. In my opinion, if you are getting less than you put in, then you have probably wasted your money.

Shiny balls and silver bullets rarely if ever work in my experience. Planning, systems, execution, and strategy are THE most important part of any marketing campaign. Trust me, when its time to drive traffic to your business, we will find a way to deliver that traffic. But turning that traffic into real dollars, that’s what separates the men from the boys or women from the girls.

I hope you consider all this before you hand over another marketing dollar to someone who is selling you the value of brand lift, omnichannel, sponsored posts or whatever the term of the day is without a way of turning it all into more business for you, because that person is simply selling you a product. Instead, listen to the person who comes with a plan, a strategy, the person who comes with a finished home, not a hammer and nails – A Solution!

If you want me to peek under the hood of your business marketing plan, just ask. I’ll do it for free. Message me. I run a digital marketing agency in CT.