As a full-service agency, we’ve heard it all. While we are here to listen and build solutions based on your specific needs, we’re also here to help guide you through the madness of today’s marketing landscape by relying on the experience, data, and expertise that we’ve built over the past 15 years. To start, we want to clear the air of misconceptions and bring light to the marketing myths that have haunted the industry year after year.
1. “Having a good website is good enough.”
Building a web presence is complicated. It’s not a “one and done” kind of job. First of all, it needs to be regularly updated and synced with a content strategy that links to your social media pages. Building a good website is only the first phase of creating a digital presence. Once the platform is active you have to ask questions like: How are consumers going to find my website? Why should people want to come back? What is going to entice them to buy? An effective digital strategy requires lots of love and attention. It’s important to figure out who is going to provide that attention.
2. “My website doesn’t have to be mobile.”
We hate to burst your bubble, but check out some stats below.
According to Smart Insights:
1. 48% of all mobile consumers start mobile research with a search engine.
2. 33% of all mobile consumers start mobile research with a branded website.
Mobile has transformed far beyond sending text messages and catching up on some daily news. For most, it’s the first place we turn for information of any type. Furthermore, Google (being the search engine king that it is) is much more likely to provide a higher organic search ranking to sites that are responsive. The big guys are calling the shots. We’re just here to deliver the message and help ensure that your customers are receiving a high-quality brand experience.
3. “We have to be on all social media sites.”
The key to social media is useful content delivered to a relevant audience. Pick the platform that makes sense for your business. For many B2B models, Instagram doesn’t make sense. For many consumer packaged goods, LinkedIn doesn’t make sense. You have to strategically choose spaces in which your ideal customer is likely to be listening. Investing time and money into managing every social media channel that is available is likely to be more harmful than beneficial. It’s a waste of resources that could be redirected to the spaces with the most impact.
4. “Marketing is for large businesses with large budgets.”
Marketing is for businesses of all shapes and sizes. Without marketing efforts, company growth and sales move at a glacial pace. Marketing isn’t just about expensive TV spots, catchy jingles, and superstar endorsements. We’ve left the Mad Men era behind. In today’s business environment, marketing spans from big data insights and high end technology to Facebook posts and brochures. There are millions of ways to find spaces to fit into the story even with limited resources.
5. “My target audience is everyone.”
Ideally, it would be great if everyone needed or wanted all products. However, this isn’t reality and we don’t want to see you waste marketing dollars talking to people who aren’t receptive to your message. A large part of our job is helping clients figure out exactly who they should be talking to. It starts with asking the right questions and gathering relevant data. We guarantee you’ll see a trend that will help you pin down the right demographics.
6. “Social media is free.”
This one hits us right in the feels. Sure, creating a social media account is free. You’re free to post what you like, but when it comes down to social media for business, there’s so much work that goes into creating an effective social media presence. Design, research, daily management, copywriting, analytics, and brand management are critical components of a social strategy. All of these pieces require a degree of expertise, but even more importantly, they require time and money. With ever-changing algorithms in the social media landscape, paid and promoted content is now a reality for brands.
