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Seven reasons your marketing plan isn’t working

At one point or another, most of us will end up with a marketing plan that falls short and doesn’t deliver. Maybe it isn’t going as well as you thought, or maybe it is DOA, and you have no idea why. Troubleshooting a marketing plan can be overwhelming. Where do you start? Here are seven common reasons marketing plans don’t lead to success.

Success depends on things you don’t do (well)

When I ask people what their companies or teams don’t do or don’t do well, one of the most common answers I hear is “not following up on leads.” And yet the success of their marketing plan depends on them being awesome at following up on leads. They set themselves up for failure before they start. Instead of basing your plan on the things you think you should do well, tie the success of your marketing plan to the things you do well today, or even better, the things you excel at. If your success absolutely requires you to do something you aren’t good at, like following up on leads or asking for referrals, then find someone to take care of that for you. Promising yourself that you’ll do better is not a good strategy.

Not defining the target audience properly

First, everyone is not your customer even if everyone has a need for your product or service category, like water. Many companies make the mistake of using generic client information as the main identifiers for their target audience. But nobody ever made a decision solely because they were a 25-35-year-old male making $35,000 a year. Sure, these things come into play as far as their available options and access to money, but if you want someone to buy or use your product, you need to identify them based on something they are trying to do; lose weight, save money, get a date, buy a car, feel sexy, etc. If you can find out what drives them and you have an answer, then you can be relevant. And relevance matters.

Not understanding the role you play

A camera is a camera. It takes pictures. Yet the role the camera plays varies depending on who is using it. If you are a photojournalist, then the camera is your ride or die in documenting the world around you. If you are a social media influencer, then the role of the camera is all about (self) promotion and marketing. For a forensic detective, its role is to provide an extra set of eyes, gather evidence, and preserve details for future review. Understanding the role your product or service plays in the life of your audience makes it possible to target the messaging to their specific needs. A forensic detective at work has no interest in posting selfies on Instagram, at least not with that camera, at that moment. The roles of the camera in her phone and the one she uses for work are totally different, yet they both just take pictures.

No emotional connection

Another question I ask my clients is why their customers (will) love them. I either get a blank look or I get answers that are totally irrelevant to their clients. A lot of people mention their company’s longevity, back-end processes, and product features they assume their clients love, but they haven’t ever really asked. I use Amazon. A lot. I don’t care how long they have been around, or how many cities they deliver to, as long as they deliver to the ones I need. I care that they can get me what I need in two days. Or one. Or in just two hours. I don’t care how they do it. I LOVE Amazon because they are convenient, and they save me time and sometimes money. And they deliver ice cream! That is just love on love.

You don’t stand out

Print ads. Billboards. TV commercials. Product placement. Ads on websites. Ads on your phone. Labels on products. The list goes on. It has been estimated that an American living in a city sees between 4,000 and 16,000 ads every day, and I’m certain that number is much higher. If you are going to stand out, you must do or say something different, unexpected, or as Seth Godin would say, remarkable. Remarkable, not gimmicky. This is going to help define your call to action. BOGO (Buy One Get One) used to be catchy. Now, it’s almost expected in some channels. Look at what your competition is doing and then do something else, something that catches attention, gets people talking, or even better, trying and buying. This is a difficult one. If it were easy, everyone would be doing it. But crack this, and you’ve got a major ingredient for your secret sauce.

Goals

Many small businesses focus on converting the potential lead to a sale with nothing in between, and that normally does not work well, if at all. Think about the pre-sales goals you have. What do you want them to do? Download a case study? Attend a webinar? Try a sample? Complete a self-assessment? Whatever it is, make sure it is designed to add value to your customer and help them experience your product or service in some way that moves them closer to saying yes. Make sure your goals are clear and reasonable and make sure you can deliver. I prefer using SMART goals.

  • S – Specific. Generic goals get mediocre results at best. More clients (a single client is more) is a lot different than 15 new clients.
  • M – Measurable. If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it, improve on it or know if it was a success.
  • A – Attainable. Do you have the finances, resources, knowledge, infrastructure, etc., to reach the goal?
  • R – Realistic. What are you willing and able to work for? Can you do it? Getting 10,000 likes on a Facebook page in a week is unrealistic for most businesses.
  • T – Time-based. When will you reach these goals?

As you make your goals, you will probably go back and forth between them, fine-tuning until all the SMART elements are focused to get you to that goal.

Undefined or unrealistic financial results

To create your financial goals, you need to know what your conversion rate is or is likely to be. You can use the SMART methodology as well for financial results. Be specific in what you expect and when. If a business is new, then I advise the initial goals to be set against the lower price points as that would be the minimum income per converted lead. Most new businesses are cash-poor and customers are usually less likely to upgrade to higher-priced offerings until they have had a good experience. If you have historical data on sales and revenues, that is a good starting point, but remember history is not reliable when moving forward.

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