One of the reasons we see campaigns fail is because of underestimating the amount of time and commitment digital marketing can take. CEO’s, Managers and Small Business Owners think we’re going to come in, flick a switch and fill your pipeline . . . . if that was the case I wouldn’t be writing this blog post, I’d be busy flicking switches!
Below are 3 types of positions we regularly see marketing campaigns fail because of limited time or knowledge
Intern
An intern doesn’t understand your business well enough to communicate your messages or even decide who you should be targeting. Make sure there is a mentor to ensure they understand the goals and target the right people with the right messages, preferably someone internal. Interns rarely have the soft skills needed to drive a project, more than likely they will have limited real world experience and may be overwhelmed by certain tasks.
CEO
Having the CEO involved in your marketing is great as the direction, energy and influence the campaign gets undoubtedly boosts results. However CEO’s rarely have the time to put enough energy into the project and if key players of your marketing team rely on the CEO for a marketing campaign to be successful, you can be sure it will fail as CEO’s always get distracted by projects and fire fighting.
Sales
Sales are busy closing the deal, they’re in a different mind set and are always on the road. They are tough to get a hold of and when we do get to ask questions they are answered in quick fire rounds with very limited information as they want to get back to selling.
When we start with a new client we need to learn about your business, industry and customers as fast as possible, otherwise it’s not going to work. My best advice for anyone thinking of starting to do their own digital marketing is to either have the team behind you or else the time to pull off the campaign. More than likely one if not all of the 3 above will be involved in your marketing campaign but from our experience the people above either don’t have the skills or the time to execute a campaign.