How to know when your marketing sucks, or they just don’t want the product!
Have you ever been looking at the results from a campaign and just couldn’t figure out why the results are just not as good as they usually are?
- Sifting through heaps of data to try and spot the weakness…
- Maybe my creative was not eye catching enough?
- Maybe the headline was too weak?
- Did we miss a trick on our sales funnel?
The questions are endless. Such is the nature of social marketing. Everything is a test. There is no 100% science. But after a while you get a feel for how well a campaign should do… right?
The above are all valid aspects of a campaign and it’s success. But sometimes we as marketers tend to forget what is at the campaign’s core. We have been spoilt with amazing tools to laser target consumers. Together with tracking every interaction, we are blowing traditional media out of the water. But one thing is still the same… The product.
Setting the record straight
The one thing that has not changed is the subject we are marketing. Be it an offer, a product or a service, that has stayed the same. We expect miracles from our marketing tools and platforms. Sometimes the market just does not want the product. The results are telling us that our audience does not want what we are trying to sell. This is not always the case, but we must be willing to listen to the results. Even when it is not what we want to hear.
At the end of the day, the market decides what the product is worth. You can think you have the best product since sliced bread, but if the market does not respond, it does not matter.
Forgetting business fundamentals, we start thinking targeted marketing can get results no matter what. Your offering needs to be strong and add real value to the customer. No matter how good or targeted your marketing is, if the offering is weak, so will be your results.
We need to go back to basics.
- Add value
- Solving problems
- Hit the audience’s “hot buttons”
- Know your audience
- Does the market want your product/service?
Good marketing cannot make up for the market not wanting what you are trying to sell.
Clients and marketers often blame bad results on bad marketing. We have to include the product and the market in this equation, otherwise we will never be able to add real value. Figuring out that the market is not ready for your product through a failed marketing campaign holds massive value.
Learn to listen to the results, whatever they may be.
Lets look at some questions to ask about our offer:
- Who is it for?
- What problem does it solve?
- Does it add value to the customer?
- Is the customer aware of the problem that the offer can solve?
- Can the market meet my price point?
These are just some questions to ask when assessing an offer. If the answer to some of these questions is no, then perhaps we need to take a step back. For example, if we find that the customer is not aware of the problem, we need to first educate them. Go back a step in your marketing strategy.
It may be difficult for entrepreneurs or product managers to go back to the drawing board for their product. All too often a massive amount of time is spent trying to squeeze grape juice out of a raisin. You can spend a year trying to squeeze what little juice their is out of that raisin. But in most cases that year would be better spent on rethinking some product strategies or on other opportunities.
This is by no means an excuse for whenever a campaign is not successful. I wrote about reporting on what matters and how it adds real value to the client, even when they might not want to hear it. Give it a read and let me know your thoughts in the comments.
How do you know when a marketing strategy is not working or if the market just does not want the product?
- Adapt your marketing strategy over a 12–24 month period. Make changes on how you educate and present the product to the market. If it is still not working, chances are the market does not want your product.
- Look at lifetime value of a customer and repeat business. Retention and acquisition will be a key indicators of the product or service success.
Have you had any instances where the product or offer was just too weak? Leave a comment with your opinion below. Do you think some products are just not good enough?
If you have any questions about digital and social marketing leave a comment or connect with me on twitter @charlpr3torius. Check out Kri8it here.
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