Marketing
Adam's Marketing Insights
I’ve created a new social post with a tailored landing page targeted at specific demographics, it is getting liked and shared organically, and appearing at the top of Google and I’m seeing a lot of leads roll in from my website. So what? Where are the conversions to sales? This is where most marketers, especially the new digital centric marketers, get stumped.
Today, marketing seems to be all about digital, SEO, making videos, TikToks, with the main self imposed KPIs something as basic web traffic or likes and shares of a post.
I want to flip that on it’s head, and look at what is really important in the world of marketing.
Why do we do marketing or communications for our business or organisation?
The answer is sales. More customers. Or if we are a government body, people acting on what we have to say, and not just liking and sharing.
A like on Facebook does not equal business. Sure enough a like or share on a digital platform can result in a sale when the right person responds to your promotion but why should likes alone be a valid KPI (Key Performance Indicator)?
I was talking to a member of the communications team of a local government council in South Australia a while ago and they were proud of some photos of a Harmony Day event they’d taken. Apparently one of them had over 30 organic likes on Facebook and 4 shares. Would any business owner in the right mind think that likes and shares of photos of their sales team is a good ROI (return on investment) for what they are paying a Generation Y or Generation Z marketer to do?
Sure enough, new marketers (and even well established business operators) think that being up with the latest shiny digital platforms is where they need to be, but I think they are missing so many strategic aspects of marketing that can help them do so much better, and deliver quantifiable results for their business/employer.
Can you be a marketer without a marketing degree? That’s not the real question. The academic in me wants to spring up a debate, so please comment below. I was reading a news story recently about a former Air Canada pilot accused of flying thousands of passengers over a 17-year...
Walk down any supermarket aisle and you will see the same battle playing out again and again. Parents are searching for healthier snack options. Kids are searching for excitement, sugar, colour and familiarity. Most products fail because they lean too far in one direction. They become either too healthy for...
Foooooood, glorious Foooodland: when brand codes matter more than logos. On the way home from the city last Friday night, I saw a billboard that would make some marketers break out in hives. Big yellow background. Huge red letters. And a word that read not Foodland… but Foooooooodland. The logo,...
Walking down the supermarket aisle last week, I picked up a box of Mother Earth Baked Oaty Slices and, a shelf or two away, Arnott’s Snack Right + Fibre Oaty Bites. Different companies. Different products. Yet on shelf they looked like twins: bright green packs, “oaty” language, similar chunky type,...
If you’ve spent any time in marketing, strategy, or leadership, you’ve heard it before: “We don’t need market research.” It’s said casually, confidently… and almost always incorrectly. The reality is simple: every business needs market research. Whether you’re a one-person startup or a national brand, research is the difference between...
Graphic design, web design, video, photography – these aren’t decorative extras in a business. They are the primary language a brand uses to communicate. Before a customer reads a word, compares a feature, or speaks to anyone, they process what they see. The visual and sensory experience becomes their first...
Let’s talk about the great exposure scam, and how how influencers exploit small businesses. You can bake a pizza and someone will buy it. You can build a brand around it and keep doing so for decades. But will there always be demand for someone making a video about your...
The strongest move in marketing and sales has never been about the product itself — it’s about the feeling it creates. People don’t buy sausages, sneakers, or smartphones. They buy how those things make them feel — confident, nostalgic, excited, indulgent, safe. The best brands know this and design every...