“It’s always the right time”

As the world continues to revert back to in-person events and tradeshows, we’ve had the privilege to reconnect with a lot of sales and marketing leaders from a variety of companies and industries. A common refrain that we hear today is something like this -

“I know we need to invest in marketing, but our team can’t keep up.”

“We’re out of stock for the next six (6) months.”

“Our team can’t handle the volume of leads we currently have.”

“When things start to cool off, let’s talk.”

“Now is not the time to invest in marketing.”

Sounds familiar?

Let’s dissect this statement in more detail from a marketer’s perspective. Clearly, these statements indicate a recognition about marketing and its importance to the business. However, there is a lack of realization of the multi-faceted nature of marketing — especially in markets with long, complicated, and interdependent sales journeys.

So how should we think about this? Let’s go back to marketing fundamentals and revisit the proverbial marketing funnel. You’ve probably heard of this or seen this concept before, but let’s ground ourselves with its definition -

“A marketing funnel describes your customer’s journey with you from the initial stages when someone learns about your business to the purchasing stage.” — Sproutsocial.com

So what does this entail? At its core, the funnel is a process that involves multiple steps. Typically, these steps include -

• Awareness
• Consideration
• Trial
• Repeat
• Loyalty

Any consumer goes through some or all of the steps when interacting with a specific brand. Depending on the category, the consumer’s media consumption habits, and distribution channels, the marketing tactics that can be deployed at each step can vary. However, every customer must start their interaction with a brand at the “top” — which is becoming aware of the brand. Depending on the brand, the quality of its marketing campaigns, and the consumer’s desire to purchase that brand, s/he goes through each step, with some going onto the next step in the funnel. Ultimately, the goal is to get the consumer to purchase and be a loyal user of the brand.

Since this model is predicated on getting consumers to, first, become aware of the brand, this model is, at its core, a math problem. Put it another way, you need a bunch of consumers to become aware of your brand. Of that pool, some of them drop out, while the rest start to consider it. Again, some of them will drop out, while the rest will actually try the brand. Some of them will drop out, while the rest will purchase the brand again (i.e. repeat). Some of them drop out, and what you are left with is a pool of consumers who are brand loyal.

So think about it — if folks aren’t aware of your brand, how can they consider it? If they haven’t tried the brand, how can they become loyal consumers?

Let’s go back to the original comments that we’ve heard — “we can’t do marketing because of XYZ issues.” If you evaluate the comment in the context of the marketing funnel, ask yourself the following questions -

• Awareness — Are 100% of your target audience aware of the brand? What does that look like on an aided basis? Unaided basis? Is your brand top of mind?
• Consideration — Are 100% of those who are aware of your brand considering it for their next purchase?
• Trial — If everyone that’s considering your brand actually trying it (i.e. purchased the brand at least once in the past 12 months)?
• Repeat — Of those who tried your brand, are 100% of them repeating those purchases?
• Loyalty — Of those who’ve purchased your brand multiple times in the past 12 months, are 100% of them now loyal to your brand?

I think it’s a safe bet to say that the answer to each of these questions is NO.

So, given these dynamics, you have the opportunity to alter your marketing objectives and the tactics & messaging that support them to adjust to business realities on the ground. For example, if you’re supply constrained, then pivot your marketing to focus on driving brand awareness (aka brand building). If you need to drive more short-term sales, focus your efforts on driving trial or repeat.

So how do you act? Well, you have to do your research. A brand tracking study can help you understand where your brand is at on brand funnel metrics. It can also help you understand how it stacks up against category purchase drivers. Additionally, you can compare your brand against key competitors. With these foundational insights, you can augment this with additional market research to understand the target audience’s barriers to trial, repeat, etc.

With these insights, you can optimize your messaging and campaigns for each step of the funnel. Depending on business conditions, you can increase or decrease the weights behind each campaign, so marketing can become part of the solution, as opposed to being viewed as part of the problem or an afterthought (at best).

So there you have it. The next time someone says, “no it’s not the right time to invest in marketing”, you now have the insights to respectfully push back and say,

“No, it’s always the right time (to invest in marketing).”

If we can help you navigating a specific marketing challenge, please let us know. We’re here to help.