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Why Marketing Doesn’t Work 5 common problems and “quick” fixes

Have you ever done a promotional mailing and been really disappointed with the response? Have

you been to a trade show, worked hard all day, had great conversations, sent out loads of quotes

and were sure you were on to a winner – and it just flopped? Are you doing lots of “marketing” and

still struggling to bring in new business and close sales?

When this happens most people are baffled. After all you’ve got a great range of products, offer

great deals and have spent ages working on your marketing, so how come you’re not getting the

results. You know that effective marketing is at the heart of most successful companies – after all

that’s the business you’re in. You advise your customers where to spend some of their marketing

monies….and yet you can’t seem to get it right for yourself!

Here are a few common marketing problems and simple ways to fix them - you’ll soon get your

business buzzing:

Problem #1. We’ve got a great range of products…..but we’re not getting the results.

You know your market well – you’ve done your research, know the best suppliers, can spot the

latest trends, offer competitive prices and deliver great service. So what’s going wrong?

Quick Fix: The key is to switch your focus to your customer. Don’t swamp them with a catalogue of

fantastic products or baffle them with 20 variations of jotter pads. Instead pinpoint that one

product that will really work for them. Explain how it will grab their customers’ attention, how it

will make their customers feel when they get one. Show them how they’ll increase their brand

awareness and get their customers talking. Your customers don’t want to know how great you are,

they want to know how they great you can make them. Spell out the benefit to THEM.

Problem #2. It’s a BIG market – we just seem to keep missing it.

Merchandising is BIG business – an estimated £750m a year. But it’s all too easy to fall into the

trap of trying to be everything to everyone. Not only is that ineffective, but costly too.

Quick Fix: Find your niche, focus on that narrow segment of the market – that gap that only you

can fill. Concentrate your effort to be one in a million, not one of a million. Identify your ideal

customer, aim at them and you’ll soon achieve success – a scatter-gun approach will only get a few

customers by chance. Remember the Chinese saying, “If you chase two rabbits, both will escape.”

Problem #3. Our marketing looks and sounds like everyone else.

Is your website a catalogue of promotional items, categorised by product type? Do you promise

lowest prices, quick-fast quotes, guaranteed delivery dates, personalised service? Maybe you have

got something different, an edge over your competitors - but your marketing doesn’t communicate

that, and you sound like all the others.

Quick Fix: Look for a benefit that only you provide, or a problem only you can solve. Focus on your

ideal customer – what are the biggest problems that you can solve for them? How can you show

them or demonstrate your expertise? The more you focus on that, the more it will sink in. Don’t

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try and confuse them with everything about your business, your product range or your service.

Focus their attention on what is important to them.

Problem #4. We’re really busy ….but it doesn’t produce results.

You’re doing lots of marketing all the time – website, brochures, mailings, trade shows, Facebook

and Twitter, email marketing and so on – but nothing is producing results. It’s costing a lot of time

and money and you really wonder if it’s worthwhile.

Quick Fix: Being busy is not enough – your activity needs to be purposeful and productive. All

successful marketers have a plan; they don’t just do something because it ‘sounds like a good idea’

or they were ‘offered a great deal’. If you plan your marketing then you know who you are

targeting, what you are going to say to them and can establish the best way to connect with them.

By following your plan, your marketing will be more focused, more cost-effective and will produce

the results you want.

Problem #5. We don’t know what works and what doesn’t.

You’ve done lots of activity and something somewhere is working, but you just don’t know what.

You don’t measure or evaluate any of your marketing activity, so you just can’t tell.

Quick Fix: Marketing is about generating profitable income, so it is a serious business. All

marketing activity should be accountable and monitoring and measuring techniques should be part

of the planning of any activity. Keep track of the responses you get from your exhibitions, email

blasts, direct mail shots, telephone enquiries, social media activity…...every part of your marketing

activity can be measured. Undertake formal and informal research to establish what your

customers think about you, where they have heard about you, why they respond to one type of

communication against another. Use this information to plan your future campaigns and focus your

activity even more tightly.

Marketing does work and can produce exceptional results for your business. Remember things take

time, don’t expect overnight success with just one email campaign and a few tweets. Plan your

activity, get to know your customers, focus your attention on what is important to them and you

will see the results. Don’t give up – just reassess what you are doing and try again.

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