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5 Reasons Why Your Marketing Strategy Just Isn’t Working

5 Reasons Why Your Marketing Strategy Just Isn’t Working

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According to research from Microsoft, the human attention span has significantly decreased in the last 15 years. In 2000, it was 12 seconds. Today, it’s shrunk to less than 8.25 seconds.

Whether you believe attention span has an impact on marketing effectiveness or not doesn’t pertain to today’s blog post. Nonetheless, it poses an interesting question– why are marketers growing increasingly frustrated in their efforts to reach the average consumer?

Is it their attention span? Can it be a lack of balance between quantity and quality? Maybe emerging technologies have an impact?

Our take on the matter– businesses aren’t investing enough time, energy, or finances into their marketing efforts. Plain and simple.

Here are 5 reasons your marketing efforts aren’t working and how you might be able to address the problem:

1. You Don’t Have A Plan

“Nearly half of marketers have active digital marketing programs, but no defined strategy at all. The other half is divided between those who have a stand-alone digital strategy (17%), and those who have integrated it into a more general marketing plan (34%). This is the way it should be, for more advanced marketers, for whom digital marketing has become ‘business as usual’.”

     – Jeff Bullas, Keynote Speaker and Bestselling Author

Nobody said marketing was easy- it’s quite complicated if you think about it. But without a strategy in place to keep yourself in check, you’ll quickly realize that your opportunities are limited.

Set yourself up for success and develop a solid marketing strategy. That means (at the very least) understanding your business vision, value proposition, and target customer. Kickstarting your marketing efforts without a baseline understanding of these three elements is a recipe for disaster.

2. You Aren’t Targeting the Right Audience

So, let’s say you have a plan in place, and you’ve crossed your T’s and dotted your I’s– but you’re not getting the results you hoped for. Chances are that you’re missing key information from your audience.

Take Walmart for example– they aren’t marketing to luxury customers. If they did, they would lose business. Their slogan “Save money. Live better.” is a clear identifier that they know their target audience.

Take the time to define your audience and potential customers for your product or service. What are their unique demographic characteristics? Why should they do business with you? Why do you want to business with them? Answering these kinds of questions will help set yourself apart from the competition.

3. You’re Trying to Take the Easy Route

There’s no such thing as cutting corners in marketing. Sure, there’s a little bit of luck involved but for the most part, it’s a calculated effort. Marketers need to take conscious steps to connect with consumers, not deceive them.

Take Subway’s “$5 Footlong” promotion (and controversy) as an example of a company that cut corners. If you’re going to market a footlong sandwich to consumers, it better live up to those expectations– the ENTIRE 12 inches– not 8, not 10, and especially not 11.75 inches.

Consumers want their expectations to be met and as a business, it is your responsibility to meet and exceed those expectations. If you’re going to market a product with a promised list of features, follow through with your promise.

4. You Aren’t Investing Enough Money

Money doesn’t always solve your marketing efforts, but it can support it. Simply put, you get what you pay for. If you want real results, you need to spend enough money to make a difference.

According to WebStrategies.com, businesses spend between 6-14% of their total revenue on marketing efforts. Surprising right? It shouldn’t be. Marketing is a necessity for your business, whether you agree with it or not.

Now, does simply throwing more money at content generate results? Not necessarily. Consider spending more on a good content marketer than on content marketing tactics. A well-versed marketer will know how and where to spend your money to maximize your return on investment.

5. You Expect Results Instantly

Marketing takes time, it doesn’t happen overnight. People need time to digest what you’re marketing to them before they are ready to business with you. The problem is your impatient¬– you think it should come easy because X company did the same thing as you.

In 1885, Thomas Smith released “Successful Advertising,” a book that covered the best marketing tactics at the time. Smith coined “The Rule of 20” framework which says that consumers must experience your marketing attempts at least 20 times before they’re ready to buy a product or service from you. This framework is as follows:

“The 1st time people look at ad, they don’t see it.
The 2nd time, they don’t notice it.
The 3rd time, they are aware that it is there.
The 4th time, they have a fleeting sense that they’ve seen it before.
The 5th time, they actually read the ad.
The 6th time, they thumb their nose at it.
The 7th time, they get a little irritated with it.
The 8th time, they think, “Here’s that confounded ad again.”
The 9th time, they wonder if they’re missing out on something.
The 10th time, they ask their friends or neighbors if they’ve tried it.
The 11th time, they wonder how the company is paying for all these ads.
The 12th time, they start to think that it must be a good product.
The 13th time, they start to feel the product has value.
The 14th time, they start to feel like they’ve wanted a product like this for a long time.
The 15th time, they start to yearn for it because they can’t afford to buy it.
The 16th time, they accept the fact that they will buy it sometime in the future.
The 17th time, they make a commitment to buy the product.
The 18th time, they curse their poverty because they can’t buy this terrific product.
The 19th time, they count their money very carefully.
The 20th time prospects see the ad, they buy what it is offering.”

Conclusion

If you’re marketing efforts aren’t working, that’s okay! Not all hope is lost. However, your business is going to be put in a vulnerable position. The key is recognizing the ugly truth of marketing– it doesn’t come easy. Identifying the problem is the first step to finding a solution, so you’re on the right track if you read this far!

Need help marketing your business? Prophase Marketing offers a one-stop-shop for all of your digital and printed advertising & marketing needs. Click here to get in contact with us. We look forward to hearing from you!

The Client

EggCetera Café is two local restaurants in Mokena, Illinois, which is just outside of Chicago. They specialize in breakfast fare that is homemade and served with a friendly attitude.

The Challenge

The client needed more consistent and higher-level content that would draw in new customers and engage with the local community.

The Solution

We focused on creating a uniform look of content that would be shared three times a week across Facebook, Instagram, and X. To expand their reach, we boosted two posts a month to catch people as they traveled through Mokena and enticed locals to eat at their restaurants.

The Result
  • 298 new followers in the last year.
  • They reached 270,780 users in a year.
  • Received 5,187 reactions in the past year.
  • Received 301 comments.
The Client

Mankato Brewery is a small craft brewer in south-central Minnesota. They run events and concerts in addition to brewing beer.

The Challenge

The client needed more content and consistent posting. They were previously posting events and beer releases as they came up, which limits their reach and engagement.

The Solution

We focused on creating regular content with three posts a week. Then, to increase their engagement and reach, we boost two posts a month.

The Result
  • 741 new followers in the last year.
  • 1,698,228 users were reached in the last year.
  • Received 17,253 reactions in the past year.
  • Received 1,103 comments.
The Client

SkyStem is an account reconciliation software that improves internal controls and makes the financial close process.

The Challenge

The client wants to increase their brand awareness with the ultimate goal of gathering leads and turning them into clients.

The Solution

We decided that organic and paid social media was the best course of action. With the organic content, we post three times a week across Facebook, LinkedIn, X, and Instagram. We focus on LinkedIn to connect with businesses and increase leads by boosting one post a week to director-level and accounting professionals.

The Result
  • LinkedIn saw a 188-follower increase in the last year.
  • Overall new followers increased by 5x in the last year.
  • Overall reach increased by 46%.
The Client
Take Me Fishing is an organization committed to spreading the joy of fishing and boating to all ages, genders, and cultures while increasing awareness and appreciation of the protection, conservation, and restoration of America’s aquatic nation resources.
The Challenge

The client wanted to uniquely celebrate and educate anglers and boaters of every experience on all things American waterways. Their goal was to share resources, especially their blog, with as many like-minded people as possible.

The Solution

We focused on creating daily posts directed to a recent blog article to engage current followers. In order to reach new people, we boosted two to four posts every week, plus additional video posts produced by the client.

The Result
  • Since May 2022, we helped the client increase their following by over 31,000 people on Instagram, over 247,000 followers on Facebook, and over 63,000 followers on X.
  • The client’s total engagement increased by 138.3% across all platforms.
The Client
Meat Asia BBQ is a growing and developing Brooklyn-based food company specializing in Asian skewers and so much more. They want to build brand awareness and pivot social media content to reflect a more Asian, modern, pop and graffiti style.
The Challenge
Meat Asia is event-based and does not currently have a website. They want to pivot their content to a more eye-catching and graphic style. Overall, the challenge is to create great content that will connect with people and gets them to order their food and attend their events without external information, like a website.
The Solution

We’ve focused on developing the style of the images with a mix of Asian and New York flair. It has included adding their logo to very dynamic art and photography, making memes with manga, and editing “urban” photography with their branding. It’s all about being fun and creative.

The Result
  • Overall, we increased their following by 14% in 21 days
  • On Facebook, we increased their following by 20% in 21 days
  • On Instagram, we increased their following by 14% in 21 days
  • On Instagram, we increased total engagement by nearly 80% in 21 days
The Testimonial

Our Sales Team received a voicemail complimenting their Social Media Specialist on how happy they are with how services are going so far. They reiterated this sentiment with “OMG, you nailed it!” on recent feedback on new content.

The Client
Hail Shelter Car Covers are the only covers on the market today that truly protect against hailstorms. Many claim to protect against hail, but they just fall short. Until now, the idea of a versatile car cover that protects against hail did not exist. Their covers are engineered with unmatched Multi-Layer designs consisting of three patented, industry-leading, protective materials. The High Impact Absorption Materials are engineered to protect your investment from Hard Impact. They tested well up to Pool Ball (2″) Size Hail.
The Challenge

There is a large market for car covers of all kinds, but our duty was to help this company differentiate itself against competitors. Additionally, they don’t have a physical store – meaning we needed to convince those to purchase something without ever feeling it or seeing it with their own eyes.

The Solution
We’ve focused our social strategy on making known what makes this car cover so great compared to others. We’ve mixed social mediums – graphics, videos, and a contest. We wanted to highlight the emotion between a person and their vehicle and why it’s important to offer their car protection.
The Result
  • Sales have increased, resulting in this company needing a larger manufacturing facility.
  • Instagram & Facebook reach and profile visits have down exponentially from the start.
The Testimonial

“We have been working with ProPhase marketing for almost a year now. We tried to manage all our social media in-house, but it took too much time and was not as efficient. We needed professional help, so I did a lot of research and decided on ProPhase marketing because of their flexible plans. I was immediately impressed with their quality of their product and service. They are extremely professional, courteous, and very knowledgeable in their field. We get many compliments on our posts. The feedback is that the posts are professional, simple so as not to confuse, and consistent. I work closely with my account manager, Paige, and she is awesome! I could not be happier with ProPhase marketing. I’m so happy we found them!”