After countless hours and investment, you launched your campaign and it failed. Maybe it was just a little flameout or maybe it was a complete dumpster fire. What now? Look for a new job? Absolutely not.
Failure is a reality of life and marketing. If marketing were an exact science, you wouldn’t need art, creativity, humor, or ingenuity to entice potential customers to buy from you. Marketing isn’t the only reason campaigns fail either! For instance—a great campaign to launch a new cruise route may flop in the face of a worldwide pandemic.
If only marketing were like a faucet. Turn it on and sales would flow to you in direct proportion. However, we know that’s not the case. The funniest or most creative ads in the world sometimes flop. Why?
I argue it’s because, holistically, we forget who we’re advertising to. Humans.
Humans are illogical and we make emotional decisions. Neuroscientist, Antonio Damasio said, “We are not thinking machines that feel – we are feeling machines that think.”
So how do you tap into those feelings and reduce the risk of marketing failure? Start by avoiding these top three common reasons marketing campaigns fail:
Did you do your research about your ideal customers? Like any good comedian, marketing is all about knowing your audience and adapting to them! You have to read the crowd (link to stand up comedy blog).
Do you know your customer journey? This is the path they typically take before buying your product or service. Are you an impulse buy, or will they take months to research?
Your audience, clients, and potential clients have a problem they want solved. If you don’t address how you’d solve their problem, you’re irrelevant to them.
Knowing your audience helps you understand what people care about—and what content might relate to them. You may have the coolest idea for a social media contest, but if your core consumer doesn’t care about the prize, you’ve missed the mark.
Here’s an incredible blog from Hubspot for more info: “https://blog.hubspot.com/service/know-your-audience”
Boomers don’t speak like millennials. Heck, as a millennial, I’m constantly Googling what common Gen Z phrases mean. I have no drip. This blog slaps.
Here are 4 questions to help you identify if the message was right:
Are you proposing marriage after the first date? Trying to jump in bed after you just learned their first name will get you arrested!
The latter may be popular in the nightlife scene, but that’s not how human connection is built.
In his book Intimate Behavior: A Zoologist’s Classic Study of Human Intimacy, author Desmond Morris explains the steps humans take from checking out someone’s body, to making eye contact, holding hands, and all the way to the private stuff. Human connection is built through a sequence, not hopscotching over key parts because you want to close a deal!
The same is true for businesses as they talk to potential customers. I’m not ready to sign a contract, or even hear about your cabinet brands, if I’m just starting to entertain the idea of a kitchen remodel. I want to know I’ll smile walking into my new space. Different things are important and each phase of the customers’ journey to doing business with you.
Bad marketing forgets we’re human. Whether you’re B2B, B2C, D2C or any other business model , always remember you’re marketing to H2H first.
So you had a failed campaign? Welcome to the club. Shake it off, do your research, and try again.