Marketing

Harmful Gary V

Doubling down on content doesn’t translate to more business

A business owner in Bengaluru suggested that they should double down on online content. He cited Gary V. All D2C and online businesses should shun Gary’s advice about marketing.

Gary suggests three marketing best practices. One, advertise on big events such as Super Bowl (IPL finals in India). Two, use Facebook ads. Three, work with Instagram influencers. Marketing expert Marc Ritson called it wrong. Spending the entire money on tactical campaigns means using bottom of the funnel tools (sales) for the top of the funnel objective (awareness).

Marc Ritson wrote in Marketing Week, “If Vaynerchuk’s advice were correct we would see a slew of effectiveness awards for campaigns just featuring Facebook and Instagram. We don’t. We see a lot of awards for campaigns that use Facebook and Instagram but also integrate those channels with TV, outdoor, radio and others.”

Instead of focusing on one or two channels, businesses should use multiple channels. Even Facebook recommends using Facebook ads along with traditional channels such as TV. Even today more than 70% of video happens on TV. Facebook, Amazon and Apple have doubled their adspend on traditional advertising. Let’s take a cue from the digital brands.

Worth your time: How Gary V built his biz empire Link