Critical marketing insights for CEOs.
In the second part of the series, we further break down marketing into it's base components.
Look, marketing can feel like a battlefield. You're constantly bombarded with new tactics, strategies, and "must-have" tools.
Your team is telling you one thing, while your peers are doing another. Every week there seems to be some new marketing strategy, hack, or 'latest trend'.
But what if I told you there are only two fundamental constants that truly matter?
Forget the fluff and the fleeting trends; let me help you get back to basics.
The Two Types of Marketing (and Why It Matters)
Before diving into the constants, it's crucial to understand the two core types of marketing:
- Awareness Marketing: Think billboards, brand campaigns, and social media engagement. It's about getting your name out there and building recognition.
- Direct Response Marketing: This focuses on immediate action. Think targeted ads, sales funnels, and calls to action. It's about driving conversions and generating leads.
At different stages of your business, I believe you should be prioritizing one type over the other. This is entirely obvious, but, hey, maybe I'm wrong (It's happened before).
The Engine Analogy: Revving Up Your Business
If you're building your business "properly" then you should think of your business as an engine. You put in the fuel, it does the work, and then the output is revenue (and hopefully profits).
Your marketing is the fuel. And like everything else, fuel is damned expensive. And very limited.
Funny, just reminded me of my favorite movie, Mad Max. Business is a LOT like that.
Sometimes business just feels like a life and death struggle. That's why it is so important to have an understanding of the basics so you don't have to waste all that precious fuel.
We talked about there are really only 2 TYPES of marketing, and within, or underneath the types are the constants. If you haven't seen the video the link is:
https://youtu.be/tNRPXMvOgEQ
At the end of the day, all marketing boils down to 2 constants...
- Traffic: It's people. Where you go to deliver your 'right message' to the 'right person'. The more focused or larger the pool the better.
- Conversions: This is what is most often missed. It is the mechanism by which you simultaneously attract the 'right person' while repelling 'the wrong person'.
Everyone I talk with about marketing is obsessed with traffic, and a good majority of the time, don't even have a conversion mechanism.
Diagnosing Your Marketing Machine
The beauty of this framework is its diagnostic power.
Starting from the top, what type of marketing are you investing in?
And then, for each strategy you are employing, can you specifically identify both the traffic channels and the conversion mechanisms?
Are each performing to KPI?
Just keep chunking down your investments into smaller and smaller parts until you find the piece that isn't working as you need it to. This is the idea of a marketing audit, which I'm going to work on next.
Key Takeaways for CEOs
I want you to cut through the marketing clutter and get back to fundamentals. By understanding the two types of marketing and the two critical constants, you can:
- Diagnose your current marketing performance.
- Identify areas for improvement.
- Build a high-converting marketing machine.
- Drive sustainable business growth.
So, ditch the marketing fads and focus on what truly matters: traffic and conversions.
It's time to "stop the insanity and start getting some real ROI on your marketing investments.