There’s nothing quite like the humiliation of assuring people that something will be great only to have it fall flat. This can be painful, specifically for marketers. You’ve followed the trends, done the research, know your strategy and positioning, and then got everyone on board.
Then it does f*ck all, and you’re wondering if there’s a major holiday you missed or something.
In these horrible instances, the usual culprits are present: no brand voice, a watered-down campaign, a lack of understanding of the audience, bad timing, or not enough money to create momentum.
But there are some other potential reasons why your marketing isn’t working, so when you have to face the stakeholders whose trust you hard-earned before disappointing them, at least go back with some key learnings.
🍋 Your customers are LIARS. It might sound unfair, but the truth is that everyone is a liar. If you’re building your product, events, or marketing based on what your target SAYS they will do, then you will fail. Money and action talk…talking doesn’t…talk. Any event planner will tell you this because people will swear up and down they will attend an event. Still, in reality, only 30% of people actually follow through.
🍋 You’re taking advice from an expert or your competition. We should always be keeping our finger on the pulse of what’s happening but the truth is we get diminishing returns when copying someone else. Their audience is primed differently, with distinct expectations and needs. Make sure whatever you’re putting out is your own.
🍋 It’s too complicated or not high enough value. People check out immediately with either of these things. I remember putting on a speaker series—it was a series of speakers in one afternoon—but no one really knew what it was, and no matter how hard we tried to educate or dig deeper, people checked out. The core of what I was offering was a little complex.
🍋 What worked before likely won’t work again. Remember how much Instagram Lives were shoved down our throats? Things are changing so fast. Find something you feel is really in your lane and do it your way—YouTube, IG, TikTok, whatever—and don’t make it too dependent on trends if you’re not able to keep up with them.
And listen. Sometimes, things fail to launch, and there is no good reason. Try tweaking before starting from scratch because you might be closer than you think.