Summary
This article answers the question – “does your boutique marketing agency guarantee results on their marketing strategies”? We’ll explore the feasibility of offering guarantees on marketing strategies and how a guarantee on results is not possible.
Internet marketing or digital marketing has many advantages. Ask anyone who has seen good results (in terms of improved traffic, more leads, and conversions) how effective digital marketing can be. But there is also the other side of the spectrum – of businesspersons who remain unsure about the effectiveness of digital marketing. Their most obvious question remains – does it work?
At Cyrusson Inc. we often hear this, “Will your marketing company guarantee results?” When such questions are asked, it is important to not get agitated. Rather any boutique marketing agency needs to understand why this is a common question. Why don’t these entrepreneus, investors, pathbreakers, and risk-takers believe in the effectiveness of digital marketing?
In our experience, business people asking for guarantees in digital marketing are either:
- Afraid: They are people who aren’t yet confident of their business plan and thus fear taking more risks. They are looking for excuses for not doing more for their business.
- Uninformed: They are people who haven’t yet understood how marketing works, especially digital marketing. Because if they knew, they would acknowledge that marketing isn’t just a subtotal of a result. It is a process – a time-consuming, data-sensitive, analytical process that must consider varying factors.
In digital or internet marketing, risks and assumptions go hand in hand.
Practical Risks
When we talk about taking risks, we don’t want you to be walking on the edge of a cliff. This isn’t a game of roulette where the fun is in betting for high returns. Entrepreneurs take risks and that we all know. But their risks are not walking blindfolded or betting on high stake games. They calculate their risks yet work instinctively. They survey the marketplace, understand the needs, assess the viability of their products or services, and develop a plan that seems most feasible.
However, even after planning to the “minutest detail”, there are no guarantees that a business or marketing plan will work. Even after estimating people’s reactions, their wants, and needs, you cannot be sure that they will receive your product or service positively. There are inherent risks in every business plan, yet entrepreneurs go ahead with their plan fully acknowledging the risks.
In most cases, business plans fail. Very few ideas take off while most don’t see the light of the day. But that’s the challenge every entrepreneur must willingly take.
Unless you don’t feel fear, you don’t feel challenged to work harder to make your dreams come true. You work hard when you are convinced of your idea. Unless you believe in your idea, no one else will. Unless you give your 100%, others won’t feel invested. Unless you are willing to take risks with digital marketing strategies, your idea won’t reach the public. So, if you aren’t convinced to not only take risks with your idea but to invest in digital marketing, it’s maybe time to rethink your idea.
Assumptions and Guarantees
It’s easy to get confused between assumptions and guarantees. Whenever a client comes looking for a guarantee, they are asking for certainty, and that’s something that no one should promise – it’s highly unethical to make a promise or guarantee when it comes to the world of marketing. What happens though in the case of any marketing campaign is that the work begins by making assumptions.
While we assume, we cannot predict or guarantee the outcome. Despite our best efforts, research on audiences is at best assumptions. By collecting data on audiences – their demography, likes and dislikes, and more, we can only assume what they want. But we must be prepared to be wrong and make adjustments to the marketing strategy.
Consumers often tend to be fickle-minded. A simple thing like an offbeat sales pitch or a different marketing pitch can push them off. Unless a marketing agency and/or an entrepreneur is willing to be flexible and bend plans when needed, it’s easy to miss opportunities.
That’s why we stress using data correctly. We also realize the importance of collecting essential data. Translating them can help us make informed assumptions, which eventually helps us develop a comprehensive campaign. Based on these assumptions, we can later add to the collected data to see how consumers responded to the messaging. Campaigns are then modified accordingly.
Closing Notes
If you are looking for guarantees in a marketing campaign, you are asking too much, too soon. If any boutique marketing company is assuring you guaranteed results, they are misleading you. Marketing simply doesn’t work that way – we can only try our best to influence consumer behavior but at the end of the day we cannot control consumer behavior. What we do have control in is ensuring that your business is represented professionally and that we keep track of other metrics that ensure the marketing strategy is indeed working (IE. Increased traffic, increased page views, upward trend of Google business Profile interactions, more phone calls or form fills, higher keyword rankings).
Your best move forward is to look at things pragmatically. Consider the risks involved, analyze your idea and its feasibility, understand how marketing can make a difference, and then move forward.
Feeling scared and anxious is okay. But they should energize you and make you confident. But if they are making you hesitant, then you need to rework your idea. If you are confident, you should take the risks. You can back a solid plan knowing that it’s just a plan and is likely to change in due time.
Trust your marketing agency. Trust Cyrusson Inc. to work the path with you, to develop a plan that works well for you. Though we cannot “guarantee” results, we can guarantee a professional representation of your business and measurable statistics to exemplify all campaigns are working. If that’s enough for you, let’s begin planning today!