Ask These 5 Questions Before You Blame Your Company's Failures On The Marketing
The opinions expressed by the entrepreneurs are their own.
When a business fails, don't be too quick to blame marketing. You need to understand that marketing is not a magic pill that will solve all your business problems. While it's true that your marketing campaign can be stretched, the real problem is likely coming from other, more core areas of the business. So before you focus on improving your marketing, ask yourself these five questions:
Do I know how to run a business?This may seem like a tough question, but one of the reasons most businesses fail is because their founders lacked business acumen. You don't need an MBA to qualify to run a business, but you do need some background.
If you don't have basic skills like budgeting, writing business models, reading income statements, cash flow management, revenue pricing, accounts payable, accounts receivable, etc. - there are resources. Consider contacting the Small Business Administration and ask about their SCORE mentoring program. You can also ask someone you know who has achieved success in business to be a mentor in an area that you are not qualified for.
Related to: Don't blame the marketing. five reasons why your business may be struggling
Do I have the right person?A business is only as good as its people. One of the most common mistakes entrepreneurs make is spending too much time with the wrong people. Recruit slowly and fire quickly.
As the CEO of a company, I have to think about all my employees, not just one person. I will take the time to ensure we train our team well and give any issues a chance to fix. But ultimately, if one person can't do their job, or worse, causes problems for the rest of the team, I'll let them go.
Sometimes you have the right person in the wrong position. I move someone from sales to fulfillment. They are great with people and our customers love them, but they don't close sales very well. This move benefits the company, its customers and employees.
Do I have a product or service that people need?Have you taken the time to test your product or service? Have you done your research to determine if what you're offering is really necessary? Ask your customers.
Products fail all the time, and sometimes studies go wrong. But in most cases, when a product or service reaches the market, it is doomed to fail. An idea might sound great when you're sitting around the coffee table with your team, but it has to be a necessary product.
Related to: Market suitability of the product. How to determine if your business meets the needs
Are we forcing?Your marketing campaign may be successful, but do you have the resources to sell your product or service? Any money spent on marketing will be wasted if your customers have a negative experience.
This was a more difficult task last year due to supply chain issues. If your product depends on shipping supplies, you need to make sure you can get the supplies you need before you start your marketing campaign.
Do I have a marketing plan?Most business owners know they need to market their business, but don't take the time to write a strategy. Instead, they use trial and error and start spending money on marketing without a plan.
I run a content marketing agency and the first question we ask our potential clients is: "Who is your target demographic?" Who are you trying to reach with your product or service? The answer should be specific. The more specifically you can reach your target demographic, the more you can spend your marketing dollars wisely. This is where a marketing agency can step in and help. They know which stores are most effective for their key target demographic.
Related: If you don't have a strategic marketing plan, you can fail
Spending money on marketing will not teach you how to run a business, hire the right people, fix a broken product, launch a product, or write a marketing plan. But with the right business model, team, product, execution and marketing plan, you will succeed.
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