The Silo Effect – Chance of Failure – off the Richter Scale

As we move into 2023 and many are working on their business and marketing strategies, I wanted to share some insights into the current marketing landscape and dispel a few myths.

The most common three sentences we hear year in and year out, from new clients are:

  1. I spent a fortune on marketing but it gave me nothing
  2. All I need are leads
  3. Word of mouth has gotten me this far, I know I need this digital marketing “stuff” but does it work and where do I start?

Generally after these sentences come these comments and questions:

“I was told I had to pay for SEO to rank on page 1 of Google or I’ll miss out but I haven’t gotten any new clients” – How do I know this is working?

“I boost posts but no extra sales” – Facebook is a waste of money!

“Leads are coming through the door but not buying” – They must be the wrong customers!

“I’m paying a fortune on AdWords and paying for clicks, but no new leads” – AdWords is a waste of money!

“I have all these random people connecting with me on LinkedIn, what for?” – LinkedIn is a waste of my time!

“I’ve spent a fortune on my new website and no new business is coming” – what a waste of money

Have you ever seen, heard or perhaps said, any of these phrases yourself?

 

Firstly, here’s some examples of WHY your marketing might NOT be working for you:  

Relating to SEO, Google AdWords or Facebook ads  – your supplier can do the best job ever but if the targeting is wrong or the website user experience is flawed and as a result you are losing people, it’s never going to be a success.

Relating to leads – some home truths, it takes 5-30 touch points with a customer before they are ready to buy. It takes at least 5 times follow up with them, if not more. Are you really clear on who your ideal client is and what outcomes they desire and are your salespeople aware of how to close the sale?

Relating to your website – is your messaging clear as to who you are talking to and how you can help them? You have 3-7 seconds to attract their attention.

Re LinkedIn or any other social media channels – these are designed to connect with potential clients the goal then is to take them off social media via a lead magnet (ie checklist, website article, download, case study etc) and then nurture them. How are you utilising these channels?

The other reason why your marketing mau not be working is because of this sentence “I had this guy do graphic design, this other one did the Facebook ads, this one is doing the website, and this one SEO” and we ask, “Are any of them coordinating what they are doing with the other ones?” The answer is generally NO and that’s why nothing works.

Unfortunately, the plain fact is that NO tools in isolation will create the effective results you desire.

It doesn’t matter if you are B2B or B2C, if you want to thrive, not just survive, here’s the minimum requirements for any business.

The Basic Must Haves of the Marketing/ Communications department

  1. You need to have an aligned PLAN incorporating your Business, Branding, Marketing/ Communication and Sales strategies!
  2. You must be across your financials so you understand what products and services you will need to promote to provide the most profitable return.
  3. You need to know your ideal clients or avatars or client personas, intimately.
  4. You must have your analytics set up so you are tracking and measuring the effectiveness and spend on all of your communication strategies.
  5. If you want more customers, you have to capture potential clients with educative content whilst they are in the “I have a niggling problem but don’t know there is a solution” part of the buying cycle.
  6. You must add a personal touch to your communication strategies – people want to deal with people!!

Must Haves related to your Channels or Pipelines

  1. You cannot Be a success if you are a SECRET!
  2. Your business must be able to be found on Google my Business.
  3. Be consistent on at least 2 social media channels, 3 or 4, even better – depending on your client base.
  4. If you are paying for SEO, check it is effective by reviewing the calls and leads coming in. If not, you can raise your ranking organically by utilising Google’s keywords and hashtags, or both.
  5. A CRM and email marketing system that keeps in touch with your clients regularly, is a must.
  6. A website that makes it easy for your client to buy or get in contact with you.
  7. If somewhere along the chain your marketing is not providing the same message it doesn’t matter what you do, you will NOT convert your customers. Work through your customer journey and make sure it’s all aligned.
  8. You are continuously running campaigns to increase your brand awareness and customer base.
  9. Adding traditional marketing strategies to the mix can make your brand stand out as people have moved away from them.

Where’s the proof I need all this stuff?

Trust me, as a business owner and having grown up old school, I fought the introduction of the digital marketing world. You see at the end of the day, marketing and communicating with our customers hasn’t changed, we still need to create relationships, provide great service, develop loyalty and continue to innovate – we simply now need to utilise different vehicles to get the message out there AND remain at the forefront of our client’s minds (most importantly).

Here are the massive changes just between 2018-2021 as to what happens in one internet minute!!! 2022 saw even more changes!! Frightening really, however an indication as to why we must review and adapt what we are doing on an ongoing basis.

 

Some interesting facts

  1. An office worker will check their email inbox 30 times every hour.
  2. An average person picks up their phone more than 1500 times a week – spending an average of 3 hours, 16 minutes a day on it in total – are you on yours now?
  3. 94% of people looking for a product or service will ask a friend or colleague first and then google the company to back up the recommendation.
  4. Users will often leave a web page within 10-20 seconds if you haven’t caught their attention.
  5. 90% of people are on Facebook.
  6. 80% of buying decisions in a household are made by Women.
  7. The amount of times a client needs to see you used to be 4 (touch points), 10 – 15 years ago, then it went to 5-12 touch points. It now sits between 18 and 30 touch points – it’s really busy out there!! Are you giving up too early?
  8. You need to follow up/ contact people at least 5 times when they have decided you are a prospect to buy from.

But here’s the clincher with ALL OF THIS and where I see people struggling the most… You can’t do any of this if you aren’t CRYSTAL CLEAR on who your IDEAL CLIENT is and what they need from you. Then you must ALIGN this with:

  • Your Brand positioning strategy AND
  • Your Marketing/Communication Strategy AND
  • Your Sales Strategy

If all this does not align, if it all doesn’t flow into each other then you simply won’t receive the results you are looking for.

Cutting through all of this plus implementing it, is our team’s specialty and what we love doing for businesses. Last year when most businesses were struggling, our clients had their best year ever, including us!! If you feel like you are currently wasting your Marketing $$$ on things that don’t give you the results you desire, then drop me an email at michelle@ohmarketing.com.au and we’ll arrange a call. Without fail I will be able to tell you at least 2 reasons why your marketing is not currently hitting the spot.