Asking "marketing whys" saves money and improves results

A few important truths learned while working with business leaders striving to close the marketing gap between where they are and where they want to go. 

Truth #1: Most marketing problems that hold businesses back are very similar. 

When I talk to businesses about their marketing and sales problems, they usually bring up one or more of these things.

• People don’t understand what we do after reading/seeing our stuff!

• The pitch deck we’re using isn’t closing deals!

• We’re seen as a “nice to have” not a “need to have”!

• The right people aren’t paying attention to us! 

Because people feel the “problems” have been identified, they want to fast track to “the solutions” part.

• New website! 

• Rebrand! 

• New logo!

• Explainer video! 

• Snappy leave-behinds! 

Not so fast. Jumping straight to implementation skips the very important strategy step required to actually improve the situation…actually understanding where the problems are coming from in the first place!

Very rarely do businesses truly know why things are the way they are.

• What about their current brand that isn’t landing.

• What language in their messaging is and isn’t working.

• What slides build the case, and which ones glaze eyes.

• What would actually get people to sit up and pay attention.

• What little details customers love and the stuff they think is dumb.

Truth #2: The reasons why common problems exist and persist can be quite different.

No client wants to hear this, because they want — to — solve — problems — NOW! But it’s true. 

When you don’t understand the why behind your marketing issues, the new website won’t actually fix your messaging problems. The fancy new deck still won’t land with prospects. The flashy new branding won’t really change how customers perceive you and help you sell more.

The reverse of this is also true. 

When there is little understanding or appreciation of the why behind your success, the new website you just shelled out $30-100k for might not have the elements that make your customers buy, and end up performing worse than your ugly old site. The new branding your team thinks is so cool might feel disingenuous to your loyal customers or off-putting to your market, and push audiences away.

Sadly, this is not uncommon.

Helping businesses understand the unique contributing factors behind their very common challenges has taught me what’s really needed to improve their results.

• Lesson: Presenting problems rarely tell the full story, and choosing “solutions” before understanding your problems will limit or ruin your results. 

  • Takeaway: Before implementing solutions, be patient and brave enough to ask why things are the way they are. The answers you find will reveal the objective insights you need to achieve better results.

• Lesson: Results come from connecting dots to answers and insight, not just “collecting dots” about problems and jumping straight into problem-solving mode.

  • Takeaway: Resist the urge to “solve” things straight away. It feels heroic but it’s counterproductive. Instead, have the courage to invest in and understand the reality of your situation. 

• Lesson: Results come from getting clear and specific on what is most important to improve, and having the discipline to focus on just those key issues.

  • Takeaway: To change your results, get real about what needs to change. Make choices about what must be solved right now, and make it a priority to investigate the contributing factors of your biggest problem. 

Truth #3: Results come from targeted, evidence-based change and consensus.

Most companies won’t achieve the results they are looking for with a more polished version of what they are already doing or a new interpretation of what's already known to them. I know because I’ve seen the poor results of taking that approach. 

What does help solve problems is gaining the relevant insights and new understanding that comes from asking why things are the way they are. 

Results come from finding answers to questions like this:

• How are we positioning ourselves? How do we fit in within our market?

  • Are we sending the right signals about who we are and what we’re about? 

  • Are we using the right language to explain what we do? 

• Is our driving purpose and unique value clear and compelling?

  • Is what we’re saying resonating with those who must understand?

  • Are we seen as memorable and different, or do we just think we are? 

  • Do perceptions match our passion?

• How do we come across to people unfamiliar to us? 

  • What associations do people have and what impressions do people get?

  • What messages are we sending customers and talent we want to attract?

• Who are our competitors, really? Are they who we think they are?  

  • How do we stack up against other companies that come across our prospect and customer radars?

• What do we know about our customers and what do we not know? 

  • What do our customers love? What do they hate?

  • What’s the first impression we give and the lasting impression we leave?

• What are the stories that define our company and our value? 

  • What stories do we tell when we share our vision, mission and purpose?

  • How do customers explain the impact we’ve made for them?

• Do we know what it’s like to do business with us? 

  • What is the experience people are expecting, and what are we delivering?

• We do many things well, but what do our customers appreciate most?

  • We offer many things, but what does our market value most?

  • What business are we really in?

Answering these questions generally requires doing some qualitative research and analysis. It takes time and expertise, but it provides some of the most valuable insights that a company can learn about how and where to improve.

Truth #4: Most companies need help gathering the evidence and generating the insight they need to effectively evaluate the situation and efficiently arrive at consensus for change.

Busy teams running the business don’t have the time or in-house capabilities to conduct primary marketing research or think creatively about how to solve the root challenges limiting their marketing results. But problems don't go away on their own and surface-level solutions never change things. 

What does change things is playing to win, and doing what it takes to address the things that matter most to the business. This usually means bringing on some special teams support.

Businesses don’t need to add headcount or engage with a large consulting firm for months to get this work done for them. They just need a strategy mind who can pick up the ball on their behalf and play on the team for a bit.

Someone who has ability to gather information and insight so they can:

• Determine what’s working and identify where to improve 

• Identify key stories that should be told about the impact you make

• Understand your customer types so you can communicate effectively

• Learn what customers love and hate so you can create more value

• Identify market value drivers and potential for customer delight

• Understand the competitive landscape so you can position and differentiate

• Translate your values and vision into an authentic brand with personality

• See opportunities in relevant markets that you can adopt

Adding an agile, collaborative partner to your team to do this work can be huge. This should be someone who can quickly understand your playbook, run alongside your team, and pass you the insights and guidance you need to get wins.

This should be someone that your team will enjoy working with, you can comfortably introduce to customers to conduct productive interviews, and who has real strategy and research expertise that’s relevant to your world.

Getting an expert to help with high-leverage research and problem-solving tasks can be tremendously valuable for lean teams, because it:

1. Outsources much of the hard work of “gnarly problem solving” for the business without preventing the day-to-day work of the business getting done

2. Ensures information is curated and pre-sifted so teams aren’t overwhelmed by the process

3. Ensures quality needed for assumptions to be robust and insights to be meaningful 

A strategist working on a key marketing or sales problem helps businesses get unstuck without having to slow down to do it.

I’ve seen this lean approach work really well for both start-ups and enterprise-level companies because it gives decision makers:

• The executive briefing they need to evaluate the situation from a holistic perspective.

• The valuable insights and relevant evidence they want to have focused, productive conversations that arrive at consensus.

• The clarity and understanding they must have to make key decisions with confidence.

If you’d like to learn about how we've played this role and helped companies better understand their marketing needs to improve their results, then let’s talk.

Schedule a 15-minute discovery meeting to share your goals, and we’ll discuss what might be most helpful for you.