Think marketing is wasteful? Rethink your strategy.
The short answer: It's not. You're just not doing it right because you don't know what you're doing.
That's a pretty blunt statement, and it's not meant to bring you down – just to snap you into reality. If you find yourself a bit skeptical about your ever increasing marketing budget with little to no measurable return on investment, you're not alone. In fact, you might as well take that money and give it away. You'd probably get a better return on investment.
So, why am I writing about marketing being a waste of money? Well, I'm not. What I'm really saying is marketing without strategy is wasteful. And, when I say strategy, I don't mean the old business strategy of spending more on current initiatives that aren't working such as trying to build brand awareness among current customers. (They know who you are; that's why they're current customers.) What marketing strategy means is consistently looking at every mode of communication you put out there and measuring how it's performing and then adjusting your marketing efforts accordingly.
Working at an Indianapolis strategic marketing firm, I get the opportunity to hear from a lot of clients who are skeptical about spending more money on marketing especially when they already spend more than they think it's worth each year. It's a hard thing to sell to someone who's jaded by the whole thing, but it's not about spending more. It's about spending wisely. We're all for our clients not spending any more than they do currently if they don't need to. However, we want our clients to understand how those marketing dollars are being spent strategically. Knowing where and why are fundamental questions to ensuring you're not wasting marketing dollars.
In the end, marketing can suck, but it doesn't have to. It just needs strategy behind it not just dollars. Make sure you know where and why your marketing dollars are being spent. They'll be a lot less grumbling when you sign-off on your annual marketing budget.
