Marketing Campaigns Alone Are Not A Cure All

I am writing this as a reminder to myself more than anything else. As the owner and director of a marketing agency that utilizes digital tools and digital advertising to drive sales and revenue for our clients, I am constantly confronted with expectations that are unrealistic and uninformed. This is not really the fault the client because there is a lot of hype and hyperbole out there as it pertains to marketing, more specifically, digital marketing.

Everyday, we are hit with a deluge of claims that this form of marketing or that will be your key to instantaneous riches or fame or fortune.

“Just invest in more Instagram or more content marketing or more location based marketing or more data crunching, or more Google and all your problems will be solved.”

Nothing can be further from the truth. In order for those things to work, it is imperative that your message, your offer, your positioning, your value proposition (whatever you want to call it) and the product or service you are selling is strong and compelling.

In order for marketing to work, you must have the proper systems in place to convert any traffic into real dollars. In the past, I’ve had  clients who received a steady flow of leads, phone calls, inquires etc and did not know what to do with them. They had no sales system, no systematic way of converting prospects into customers or their websites were not designed to convert. The result is the campaign is considered a failure and the client moved on to the next “shiny ball” in hopes that it will perform better — It won’t until and unless the fundamentals of sales and marketing are in place.

Which leads me to my original thought –

There Are No Silver Bullets When It Comes To Marketing.

There is much thought, hard work and diligence needed before during and after your marketing campaign. Digital Marketing Platforms Are Just Tools — They are effective tools, and if used correctly they can have an incredible impact on your business. In fact, they can have a greater impact on your business than any other form of advertising ever invented — IF, YOU HAVE ALL YOUR DUCKS IN A ROW.

As I said earlier, I am guilty of this too — I fall victim to the hype as much as anyone else. So it’s always good to remind myself that the principles of good business have not changed and never will. At the end of the day, it still comes down to the following:

• Great (Outstanding) Product Or Service
• Great Product Positioning
• Compelling Offer
• Outstanding Customer Service or Customer Experience
• Value
• Efficient and Effective Sales And Marketing Systems

When you have the above taken care of, then your digital marketing campaigns wont be a silver bullet, but a silver cannon.