Why does marketing feel harder than ever?

If you’re a business owner, marketing manager, or someone who dabbles in marketing as part of their job and you feel like marketing is harder than it has ever been – then you’re not alone. And you’re not making it up either.

I’m a freelance marketing manager, so I work with a range of clients to run their marketing for them; as well as running my own business and having to market that too. Before that I was a Marketing Manager for a 7-figure business, and before that I studied marketing at university. So, if anyone knows a thing or two about marketing, I’m one of them.

And I feel it too. 

The feeling that you’re suddenly lacking skills you once had, that maybe you’ve missed a huge update that everyone else got the memo for, or that maybe you’re just not cut out for this anymore.

But it’s important you don’t give in to that feeling; because the reality is that the marketing realm has changed, and it’s changed vastly in a short amount of time.

We’re living in a world that is noisier than ever. In fact, recent research suggests the average internet user in the UK is shown around 736 online ads a day* – and that’s before you even factor in TV, radio, print and outdoor advertising.

So clearly, there are more distractions than ever before, consumers have so much more choice than they did before… and when you’re a small business trying to compete with brand with deep pockets for marketing,  it feels like an impossible rat race to keep up.

Everyone tells you, you need to be everywhere; Google ads; TikTok; Instagram; LinkedIn… then don’t forget to update your website, write blogs, start an email marketing list… then keep on top of being in PR, chipping into industry-relevant conversations all while showing your face and adding in your own bit of personal branding. That is all just to win someone’s attention and get them onto your website; then you need to actually convert them!?

It's a lot and it’s overwhelming, and it often feels like you’re doing everything you’re told to and still not seeing the results.

The harsh truth? It takes a long long time, especially if you’re doing things on a budget, to get your marketing flowing and consistently delivering.

But the good news is – what you’re doing is not wasted, getting started building momentum now is moving the needle, even if it doesn’t feel like it or there is nothing to show for it.

Think about it, amongst the 736 ads someone sees a day, it is better than you’re one of them than none of them – right? And your blogs that it feels like no-one is reading, they’re gradually building your SEO in the background and positioning you as an expert in your field; so, it is better to start them now than not at all.

I had a client who I write blogs for every other week and have done for nearly 2 years – and recently we had 2 blogs skyrocket and draw a few hundred extra users to our website within 1 week, and they were published for 12 and 15 months before they took off.

The thing with marketing becoming increasingly “messy” and needing to be in as many places as you can at once means that you might not always know what it was that made that person finally make the purchase or click “enquire now” on your website. So you need to be consistently at it to stand a chance of it working.

A bit like the lottery, you need to be in it to win it. Right?

Now, if you’re anything like me that is somewhat disheartening to read. As a process-driven marketer I like to know what I’m investing time (and someone’s budget) into is driving results. So here is what I do to know the marketing I am doing is purposeful and driving results:

1. Look at who you’re marketing to:

• Either audit your current customers or think on who your ideal audience is. Look at their age, their habits, what they do for fun… then look at where they are spending their time online, what articles (if any) they are reading, what they need to hear from you to want to spend their money with you.
• This will help you check you are actually spending time in the right place, if you’ve only got the capacity to do a few pieces of marketing; make sure those channels are worthwhile.
• If it means retreating from somewhere for a bit, do it. I decided a few months ago to pause my Instagram efforts – it’s a great community builder but it takes a lot of time, and I didn’t have that; so I focussed much more on LinkedIn and writing marketing emails instead. Better to do fewer and more purposeful things than lots of pointless ones.

2. Create a clear pathway

• Also known as a customer journey; it doesn’t need to be a certain length or all fancy and automated. Make it manageable to you.
• The point of it is to guide your audience from first hearing about you, to considering buying from you, to actually buying from you. So, if you’re advertising in a local publication, how are you guiding the people reading elsewhere? Because you don’t want them to read it and then forget about you. Always consider how you can guide them further through the journey without losing them. Below is an ideal customer’s journey.

3. Measure. Everything.

• There seems to be the notion floating around on LinkedIn that marketers hate analytics? For me at least, that’s wrong. How can you know if something is working if you’re not measuring it?
• I don’t just mean ROI… but check your monthly social media stats each month – which pieces of content had a high reach? Look at your Google Analytics to see whether people are spending time on your website or just bouncing right back to the home page. Look into the time of day your marketing emails have the highest open rate.
• Knowing what is performing well and what isn’t will tell you a lot about your audience behaviour and what marketing to continue doing, what to look into next, or what to improve on.

Those 3 steps will set you in good stead for getting the ball rolling. Sure, it is an oversimplified approach to marketing, but it is the best place to start so you don’t feel overwhelmed and find yourself “thinking about it” more than actually doing it.

If this still feels daunting, or you’re not sure where to begin then I have a step-by-step guide that further breaks down each of these steps and gives you little tasks to help you know what to do and where to begin; and it is only £15, you can grab your copy on Shopify here and have it land straight into your inbox.

Or if you’ve got more questions than you started with, get in touch and we can chat through the best place to start for you.

Just remember, you’re not alone in finding it difficult – but if building a business were easy, everyone would be doing it! 

*Source cited: https://www.eskimi.com/blog/ad-exposure-research