Why Most Marketing Campaigns Fail

Typically the reason a business, from start-ups to fortune 500 companies, hire an outside marketing consultant is because their internal marketing campaigns are failing. And if the best-laid marketing plans have the ability to go awry, imagine just how bad it is with poorly planned marketing campaigns. Here are some mistakes to avoid/things to consider when coming up with your next campaign that will hopefully increase your chances of success.

Ending a Campaign Too Soon

Too many times company's pull the plug on a campaign before giving it a chance to perform. Things like SEO and SMM aren't things that can be turned on and off. You must continually focus on them, investing time and money, even when you are losing out in the short term in hopes of recuperating your losses and making a profit in the long run.

That's why it's so important to budget correctly. The amount of money that you have available to spend will greatly impact your strategies. With the exception of a few situations (like running a PPC campaign), you should plan your budget on a yearly basis and not quarterly. 

With proper budget management, you should be able to keep campaigns going that need time to flourish before producing a positive ROI. This leads to the next point.

Not Getting Your Marketing Campaigns to Fund Themselves

While it may not be an easy task to create a positive ROI in the short run, it is possible. The best way of doing this is by splitting your efforts into two buckets.The first being campaigns that will provide a ROI within a few months and the second being those that will provide a ROI in the long run.

Campaigns like pay-per-per click advertising or pay-per-call marketing can provide a return in the short term while SEO, social media marketing, and content marketing are campaigns that typically need a longer time period to run before being able to provide a positive ROI.

It's important to maximize profits on these shorter-term campaigns so that you can take the money and invest in long-term campaigns. This will prevent you from burning through your budget too quickly since your marketing campaigns can help to fund themselves.

Putting All Your Eggs in One Basket

Many businesses that run a marketing campaign make the mistake of spending their entire budget on one specific marketing area which is a big mistake. Spreading your marketing and advertising efforts (SEO, SMM, PPC and other methods) will help with keeping your ROI balanced.

You Didn't Follow Up with Customers

The sales team should be at the center of your marketing campaign. It's important for your sales team to maintain open communication with potential customers. It is a common marketing mistake to allow customers to fall through the cracks. Once a potential customer makes contact, it is a good business practice to stay in touch with them. If the sales team is not following up with potential customers, the marketing campaign efforts won’t matter. 

If you're making these mistakes, don't panic. You can recover from a failed marketing campaign. Just make sure to take the time to review the previous campaign, recognize errors you made, and learn from the mistakes.