4 key lessons from 20 years of marketing and digital management

Tue 23 Apr 2019
By John Nayler

The hundreds of projects which we have undertaken over 20 years in websites and digital  have enlightened us so much, about the nature of effective marketing.

Throughout those 20 years we have come to appreciate the key barriers that we see time and time again restricting businesses from achieving their full potential. With a passion for helping small business grow sustainably…..we want to share with you some of the key failings of clients that have not succeeded in growing their business and why?

Pursuit of competitive pricing
So often we have clients asking us to help them promote a "super special" in pursuit of a low price competitor. This is despite the fact that we have helped them position into a superior market position with a great reputation and online presence to support it.  

When you think about it, if someone offered you a brand new Mercedes at a Hyundai price, you would be suspicious right?

"Voici la différence!" we cry - if you have a superior position than ask a price that matches market position. You deserve it.

Reliance on the Advertising Gamble rather than Investing in Marketing
Google and Facebook control some 60% of the world's advertising budget. Yes the WORLD's! Once you have pondered the incredible size of the annual revenue they garner, I want you to come to realise that Google and Facebook Ads have become the world's largest casino.

Back in the day you could bet 9 cents for keywords clicks, which by 2010 had become gold coin bets... and now at the start of 2019 the fight to be at the top of search ads in key categories has become a $7-$10 cost PER CLICK with no guarantee of a new client.

At eCentral we have formulated Queensland's Best Marketing Program. Based upon 15 core marketing and digital methods, we can show that each method is an investment for the business, demonstrate that each method works to compound their benefit over time.


Overpriced, under-utilised and disconnected marketing technology
We look into business often and part of our assessment reveals the use of marketing technologies and software that are either:
1. Overpriced: Incredibly, we find some business have over-committed and are under-contract to use a marketing platform running into thousands per month. Our clients receive a bundle of software which is included as part of our marketing service.
2. Under-utilised: Again we find clients with expensive client relationship management systems and they have originated some data however, the data is incomplete and often has not been used.
3. Disconnected: One of the specific points of difference at eCentral is our Jetstream platform. Combining a Customer Database, blogging and content release, social media scheduling and newsletters into one interface, which gives our clients massive productivity and consistency advantages. The beneficial outcome is that regardless of who views the content, they are going to see the same messages about the business. As far as we have been able to investigate, we are unique in having this software platform and ability to serve our clients in this way.

Following the "apparent" leader
All too often we have clients insisting on following the methods of a competing business which they believe is a leader. So often we find that (potential) clients are not in a market or mindset position to be a competitor to the market leader. Furthermore, they insist that they want to do things identical. Nowhere is the "me too" more apparent than in Google search positioning (SEO) and Social Media Strategy.

We have blown apart the industry wide notion that top of search requires lots of (spurious) "backlinks" to target websites. Our leading long term clients have virtually NO links and secure some very enviable search positions.

On social media, we have so many clients coming to us seeking Facebook Likes and go to great lengths to try and obtain them. We show them with a simple process that Facebook "Likes" and general social media are mostly irrelevant to traditional business... but O!, how easy are people seduced into joining the masses.

Lack of delegation
In most instances, managers and owners don't give us enough rope to do what we have proven and know to be successful marketing and digital methods... Whether it's budget allocation, focus, design or UX, we have countless examples where clients have insisted on something formulated by the basis of feelings, personal tastes rather than research, absolute truths or logic.

At eCentral, one of the key things we ask of our small business clients to do, is to think of us as their marketing department. "Please take the marketing department out of your head and create a marketing role in your business.... And give us the job!"

Yes, this will require a change in mindset and business structure. However, the benefits to the results and the bottom line we are most certainly sure of obtaining.

Placed into this close-quarters marketing role we are nothing like the alternative  "marketing graduates"; spending thousands on Ads and pursuing unproven marketing avenues.

eCentral takes action on its core marketing and digital methods to build a marketing investment that will work for any business over and over again throughout time.

For help elevating your business to new heights of success become one of Queensland's Best and contact eCentral on 0407 15 13 11.

Related Links:
   Queensland's Best Marketing Program