7 Reasons Your Marketing Isn’t Working
When you’re trying to increase your revenue, it seems logical to increase your marketing efforts. But if you feel like you’re doing all the marketing things and nothing is working, it may be time to look at other parts of the revenue equation.
The revenue equation has 3 parts:
- What you sell (your product/service/offer)
- How much you charge
- How many you sell
Marketing efforts are usually entirely focused on increasing “how many you sell”. But if there are issues with what you sell or how much you charge, marketing can’t do its job.
Here are 7 Possible Reasons Your Marketing Isn’t Working:
1. People are confused about who your offer is for
It may make logical sense that if you cast a broad net by marketing to everyone you increase your chances of getting a sale. But in reality, the reverse is true. There is so much noise out there and most markets are so crowded that people won’t listen unless they feel you are speaking directly to them. Your message has to resonate clearly with a defined group of people who have a specific problem.
2. Your product or service doesn’t solve a big enough problem
People buy things to solve problems. If your product or service doesn’t solve a problem for your ideal customer, they won’t buy it. Additionally, people are pretty content doing nothing about a whole lot of problems, so the closer your problem is to “poison ivy“, the better chance you have of making a sale.
3. The outcome of your offer isn’t compelling
If you design websites for high-end restaurants designed to increase the number of reservations, say that. If you have a 6 week program that helps people get to sleep faster say that. If people don’t know what you’re selling or why they should buy it, they won’t bother to find out.
4. You don’t know where to find your customer
If your ideal customer is a 20 year-old you probably have a better shot at finding them on TikTok then on Facebook. If they are a 40-year-old male software developer, Pinterest may not be your best bet.
5. Your funnel is too fast
If you’re an entrepreneur, consultant or coach and you’re trying to sell a $2500 product to a group of people who downloaded your free PDF, you may be asking them to to get married when what they’re looking for is a first date. That is a really tough job for even the best marketing and sales people in the world. You may need to develop some in-between products at more accessible price points.
6. Your CTA is intimidating
If you’re trying to sell a $25 product and you’re asking someone to book a call, they may decide the juice isn’t worth the squeeze. Make sure that whatever you’re putting between your customer and their credit card isn’t stopping the sale.
7. Your delivery system is overwhelming
It’s been confirmed in multiple studies that we’re addicted to instant gratification. If you’re trying to teach someone to write a 5 email welcome series and your course has 27 modules and they can find someone else who can do it in a 45 minute workshop — what do you think they’re going to do? And the person that’s offering the fill in the blank templates that they can just download and do? That product is going to win every time.
Action Plan for When Your Marketing Isn’t Working
The good news is that all of these issues are fixable and can help you evolve your offer into something that sells. The best place to start the fix is to talk to your customers or the people you want to be your customers.
Marketing is just one piece of the puzzle when it comes to getting people to buy from you. But your product or service (and your pricing) are equally as important. If your marketing isn’t working, you can use these 7 issues as a checklist to evaluate and concentrate on the “what” and “how much” parts of the revenue equation. When you’re done, turn the marketing system back on. I’m willing to bet you’ll see different results.
If you’re looking to create (or revive) an offer, check out my Ultimate Offer Creation Guide: 6 rinse and repeat steps to create any offer.
