That may seem controversial to see from a marketing “guru” but unless your marketing efforts result in sales, it is a complete waste.
Your focus is always on sales. Not marketing.
Forget about likes, links, opens, shares, reach, visibility, views, and engagement. Every one of them can be faked.
Websites like Fiverr, Legiit, Freelancer and Blackhatworld have services for everything from fake social media followers to running programs to click on your competitors ads, draining their ad spend.
I am not sharing this information so you can order these services. I am sharing it to give you a new mental model.
Most marketing is smoke and mirrors. What is hard to fake is actual sales.
New metrics are smoke and mirrors. Likes, views, viral; engagement, re-tweets, minutes of views.
These metrics are not a result in and of themselves. If it is not profitable, it’s not a result.
Can it prove it created sales? If not, cut it out of your marketing strategy.
Every marketing investment should be held accountable in dollars. Statistics without sales results are just smoke and mirrors.
The minute you focus everything on this single and only way, you begin converting every marketing investment into profit.
There is no such thing as “good” or “bad” marketing investments. There are situationally profitable and unprofitable investments in marketing .
Money wasted on smoke and mirrors marketing does not stop with the dollars lost. It does much further harm in terms of “lost opportunity cost.”
There are a lot of big lies in marketing…
You’ll be told that a new marketing channel requires new or different strategies, tactics, and messaging.
This is often how marketing “experts” sell themselves while evading accountability. It is mysticism.
They may argue new rules and new metrics, but there is only one metric you’re allowed to count: return on investment.
There are essentials for all ad messages that never change regardless of the media involved.
Don’t advertise just because…
There is a new marketing channel.
You think you should.
Others are doing it.
Never advertise defensively in reaction to competitors, randomly, or against sales slumps.
Advertise to support a complete framework of goals and objectives. One that delivers you the highest return on your marketing investment.
Most businesses believe they have to advertise in many different kinds of media to promote image, brand, and presence.
Most companies fail in their first few years. So why would you want to copy the marketing done by the majority when the facts show it fails them?
Many corporations have all sorts of reasons for the way they advertise and market that have nothing to do with getting a customer or making sales.
Corporation Marketing
▷ Appease its board of directors.
▷ Look good to Wall Street.
▷ Branding.
▷ Win advertising awards.
▷ Starve out competitors.
▷ Sell something.
Your Marketing
▷ Sell something. Right now.
Corporations often use “mass advertising” practices that have them losing money.
Many businesses will copy this system, thinking that “if it works for them, it’s got to work for us.”
Never jump into a type of marketing because everyone else is using it.
The more productive answer is to develop a marketing system that grows sales in an organized way.
A system that gives you reliable and predictable results so you finally know when you invest X dollars, you can expect Y number of sales.
A marketing system that enables you to better target the most valuable customers for your business, so you’re not wasting resources chasing “would-be” customers who in fact will “never-be.”
A marketing system you can comprehend and control.
With this new way of thinking…
Never run marketing campaigns in an effort to grow your social media following. Social media followers are not customers and the majority of them could very well be fake accounts.
Instead, run campaigns focused on driving sales and increasing your return on investment. Then scale those campaigns accordingly.
A percentage of those you’re marketing too will overflow and follow your social media channels. A nice bonus to your profit driven marketing.
Never focus on non-targeted traffic. You only want to run ads to people most likely to purchase your products or services. Everything else is a complete waste of money and time.
A single website visitor that makes a purchase is more valuable than a million website visitors that don’t. The million visitors are worth nothing. Whatever was paid for them is a loss.
Never permit any advertising, marketing or selling investments to be made without directing accurate tracking, measurement and accountability.
