Recently, there is a lot of chatter on social media about business goals, business plans and implementing change…
If that was you in your business: now is the perfect time to check in – how’s that going?
If you started 2020 with the best of intentions and lots of gusto for implementing change but are losing steam not getting the results you hoped for or are reverting the past ways, undoubtedly you aren’t alone.
Change is tricky!
And sometimes the KPI that is most indicative of performance is internal rather than external.
In business, we like moving big levers and seeing rapid results in those external measurables. It feels good! Instant gratification, easily measurable = awesome.
But often it’s the behind the scenes things that need adjusting before pulling the big levers is possible.
Sometimes when we are busy looking for ROI in digital marketing where we would really be better served is looking FIRST is at the ROI of processes, workflow and structure. The internal stuff.
It’s a tricky place to be as business owners and it requires patience. So often it’s the leap into something bigger that shows us where our internal processes – that worked for a smaller iteration of our business – aren’t up to the demands of where we want to go.
The humbling exercise of self-examination and stretch to re-jig things internally is a challenge.
And it’s one that a reputable media buying agency will likely require you to do at some point, so don’t be surprised!
There are two ways we experience this at Martin Marketing.
- Businesses approach us because they need to expand their reach to grow more or they’ve grown to the point where doing marketing in-house isn’t feasible.
- The business has had successful marketing campaigns and the growth has revealed weak spots in processes and systems.
And it’s a tricky spot to be in because what folks EXPECT to get from media buying agencies are the big shiny results, the upward trending graph lines, the payoff.
But in order to do that, we frequently have to turn the tables back on the clients and ask for additional work before the digital ecosystem is correctly poised to deliver the results.
We have been known to ask for the following after a marketing audit looking at the whole picture:
- Define your competitive advantage
- Refine your key messaging
- Consider the customer journey, and a clear path for them to follow (maybe more than one)
Once these are in place, then an ad campaign is ready to succeed for a digital media buyer.
At that point, it becomes a case of utilizing the expertise we have to improve your marketing return on investment (ROI).
For a coach who began working with us in 2019, implementing Martin Marketing social media advertising best practices delivered a 75% decrease in cost per purchase. But we were only able to work our magic because the advertising efforts stood on a solid foundation already built.
Much like a reputable contractor will refuse to build a third story addition when they see that the foundation and structure of a home won’t be able to adequately support it, a reputable agency will let you know where your business needs some structural work to allow for the growth you desire.
So if your agency asks for more, wants to slow down and look at the bigger picture of the ads in the context of the ecosystem that they lead into before launching ads, know that they are doing so because they respect your business and want the best for it.
If you are considering re-jigging things, reach out for a free consultation.
