When it comes to starting, building, and growing a wildly profitable, fun, helpful and value providing business nothing is more important than marketing.
I know that’s a bold statement, but it’s the truth…
Marketing is the single most important element in business success, and a solid strategy should always, always form the foundation of any marketing campaign, tactic, or idea.
The reason marketing’s so important is because it doesn’t matter how good your product or service is if nobody knows you exist.
So why then do so many businesses neglect, ignore, or completely write off marketing as a waste of time and money?
Well the reason this absolutely terrible business decision happens usually comes down to mistakenly believing 1 of 3 things.
- It’s too expensive
- It doesn’t work
- It’s too complicated
So let’s cover quickly cover those 3 myths here so we can solve this problem once and for all.
Marketing Myth #1: It’s Too Expensive
Bad marketing is an expense.
Good marketing is an investment that pays you back with a powerful return-on-investment, increased market share, improved brand perception, and better, and happier customers.
Many online advertising options are also currently 99% cheaper than traditional methods like TV and allow you to reach the same number of people, or even more!
And many forms of marketing are even less expensive than that…
Or even free.
The beauty is that you get to decide which resource you have more of to invest: time or money.
If you’re a new bootstrapped startup you can choose less expensive marketing options and choose to spend more of your own time making them work.
If you’re an established company with consistent incoming revenue than you can choose throw a little gas on the fire and invest more money in your marketing, and save yourself the time.
Effectiveness should take precedence over price, but you can still get started today for absolutely free.
Marketing Myth #2: It Doesn’t Work
- Bad marketing doesn’t work.
- Poorly planned marketing doesn’t work.
- Marketing without a strategy or system doesn’t work.
- And just throwing some money out there and seeing what works… usually doesn’t.
But good marketing?
Good marketing works, and it works great!
Good marketing connects business to customers, and customers to businesses.
Good marketing answers the question: Does everyone who could buy from you know you exist?
Because if they don’t, you need marketing.
And if they do and they still aren’t buying, then you need better marketing.
At the end of the day it’s not marketing that doesn’t work (that’s like saying accounting doesn’t work) but rather the individual tactics or tools that didn’t deliver the results you were hoping for.
The key to avoid this, and to create a winning marketing campaign is to focus on strategy first, tactics second.
Marketing Myth #3: It’s Too Complicated
Like most things, marketing can be made to seem overly complicated.
This is largely in part by internet marketing people like myself (sorry!) who get excited by the latest email marketing automation software, social media advertising algorithm change, or cool new webinar system we can study and drool over.
But it doesn’t need to be this way!
The reality is that a simple and strategic plan performed consistently over time will deliver incredible results.
Simple can work, but the key is in those two important words, strategic and consistent.
A simple and strategic plan executed regularly will beat a poorly planned or inconsistently executed strategy all day, every day.
Any Other Ideas?
So now I turn it over to you…
Are you currently using a consistent marketing strategy in your business?
If so, what have you found works well? If no, why not?
Leave your thoughts in the comments section below now.
