Written by: Stacey Danhesier, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
Everyone has an opinion on how to do marketing. Trying to navigate the millions of related articles and books can be overwhelming, confusing, and downright frustrating. It might seem like a good idea to choose a marketing approach that happens to work for another company, but if you don't put in the preliminary research and experimentation, this could result in you wasting your budget and investing a significant amount of time into something that doesn't pay off. Where do you start? First, learn a set of marketing myths to avoid.
In working with 40+ scaling and well-known brands, I've discovered some common marketing misconceptions to avoid for success in removing roadblocks and building exponential growth strategies.
Marketing Myth 1: There's A Silver Bullet In Marketing
It would be nice if there really was a silver bullet in marketing. If there were one perfect tactic that you could employ to solve every single one of your marketing challenges, you would be meeting all your goals and succeeding beyond your wildest dreams. Don't try to find the silver bullet. There is no one-size-fits-all marketing tactic. That's the most common of marketing myths. Your marketing success is going to depend on many steps that work together. For instance, you need to set realistic goals, conduct market research, and develop your strategy before you do any execution.
Marketing teams often take a vague idea and run with it. Maybe your idea had some merit, but most likely it needed to be studied and researched before it could be implemented effectively. If you skip the preliminary work and jump straight to execution, you will end up with a marketing team that is spending too much time, effort, and money on something that is not very strategic. Instead of running with the next bright marketing idea, slow down and remember that an idea that worked for one company might not work for yours. You need to be deliberate about your research and preliminary experimentation.
Does this mean you might invest time and money in marketing efforts that you may eventually decide are not worthwhile? Yes. But that is a better risk than assuming someone else's idea will work for you.
Marketing Myth 2: 'Yes' People Are Enough For Business Growth
There is an assumption out there that if you hire enough "Yes" people, you will eventually succeed. You know who I'm talking about. Junior marketers and order-takers who will jump to do your bidding. However, we are seeing a shift in skillsets, especially as new AI tools roll out. Instead of order-takers, businesses are finding it more helpful to hire people with great communication and strategic thinking skills.
In marketing, you need someone who understands the customer buying journey and how to move someone from stranger to customer to loyal advocate. This involves deeper thinking skills. If you are still thinking of your marketing department as "promotional" only, then you're leaving money on the table. Marketing needs to be a strategic function of your business.
Marketing Myth 3: Marketing Is A Short-Term Solution
Common among marketing myths is the misunderstanding that marketing is for immediate sales only. This is not true. Look at Fortune 500 companies. Were any of them built overnight? No, of course not. They used marketing strategies to build their brand over the long-term. Your business needs to balance short-term sales goals with long-term brand building if you want to survive.
Loyal, raving fans don't become loyal because of one sale. You only get loyal fans if you have a clear vision and purpose, and your goals are aligned correctly.
Marketing Myth 4: Marketing Can Be Turned On And Off At Will
No. 4 on our list of marketing myths says that marketing investments can be made inconsistently without consequences. In reality, every time you turn marketing off, you lose momentum. When this happens, you don't start where you left off. You start back at ground zero. Many companies think of marketing as a department that costs them money instead of a department that gains them profits. When you have this false mindset, it's easy to see why marketing gets cut out of the budget during economic downturns.
However, this article from LinkedIn shows that in a recession, the best returns tend to come for people who zoom out and take a long-term view of the market. As we noticed in Myth 3, marketing is not a short-term solution. If your marketing strategies are aimed at long-term success, then they are strong enough to survive an economic recession. In fact, they may be the reason your business pulls through the recession instead of going under.
Marketing Myth 5: Every Marketing Effort Must Be Measured
Let's take a closer look at the myth that calculating ROI for each marketing tactic is necessary and effective. You can go crazy trying to measure every event or tactic separately. As Gartner points out, buying groups for B2B solutions typically include multiple decision makers, and trying to work everything out to make one purchase can be very complex. Seventy-seven percent of B2B buyers say their last purchase was difficult to make. How can you avoid becoming overwhelmed by an excessive amount of data? You must ensure your marketing message is solidly grounded in your brand.
Instead of measuring each individual tactic, think of marketing as an investment into a relationship, not a transaction. It's like dating before marriage. There isn't ONE date that sealed the deal. The marriage came about because of every date that came before the proposal. In terms of marketing, focus on customer lifetime value and acquisition cost. This is much more helpful than sweating over every little tactic you used in the past year, and you'll end up with a clearer message.
Marketing Myth 6: Authenticity And Integrity Are Optional in Branding
Do you believe your short-term sales tactics and gimmicks have no lasting impact on your brand's reputation? If so, you are forgetting what the nature of a brand is. It's fragile. One false move, and you can break trust with your customers. When branding, you need to be authentic and stay authentic. Short-term promos and gimmicks may seem to work at the outset. You may see a spike in sales. However, if these marketing strategies are not grounded in who you are as a company, they will harm your brand's reputation and integrity in the long run.
Marketing Myth 7: Sales Owns The Buyer's Journey
Buying behavior is evolving. Gartner found that buyers only spend 17% of their time talking to salespeople. This means the role of sales is subsiding, and the role of marketing is growing. There will always be sales reps, but the sales department has to work with numerous other departments to be most effective.
To succeed in business, marketing has a key role in the engagement of customers and facilitating decision-making. More customers are now self-learners, which means your messaging, content, and digital relationship are critical to creating a positive and consistent experience. Marketing and sales MUST work together and put the customer/ buyer at the heart of their decisions.
Effective Marketing Strategies Are Key To Business Success
I told you seven marketing myths that you want to avoid. Let me list their flip sides. Here are seven marketing beliefs that you should embrace:
Your marketing success depends on all the research, experimentation, and strategizing you do before you execute a marketing tactic.
You need strategic thinkers on your marketing team.
Effective marketing strategies build brand over the long term.
Consistent, long-term marketing strategies yield results, even in economic recessions.
Marketing is an investment.
Staying authentic in your marketing helps build trust and integrity.
Marketing and sales need to work together.
If you follow these marketing strategies and don't let yourself get caught up in common marketing myths, then you are well on your way to success and consistent growth.
Has your marketing strategy grown and evolved to embrace the changes of our digital society? To find out, take our free marketing scorecard. You'll learn how to build a strong, nuanced B2B marketing strategy that will help your business grow.
Stacey Danhesier, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Stacey Danheiser is a seasoned marketing executive, go-to-market strategist, and B2B growth advisor. With experience spanning over 40 brands, from Inc 5000 to Fortune 100 companies, Stacey's A3 method—alignment, accountability, and acceleration—brings simple sophistication to organizations seeking exponential growth. Stacey is a best-selling author and runs a sought-after mentorship program, Ascend B2B Marketing Leadership Accelerator to empower customer-focused, high-performing marketing teams. Sign up for her https://confirmsubscription.com/h/t/EC1B4E45A6B17BCB newsletter to get actionable marketing resources and advice to grow your business.
