Business First, Marketing Second

Originally sent out: 10/10/24

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I’m speaking to prospective clients every single day about potentially working with us and I’m finding one absolute truth in these conversations.

It should always be business first, marketing second.

Everyone always wants to jump straight into talking about Google Ads or Meta Ads, but I have to stop them in their tracks.

If the conversation starts by talking about a platform, channel or tactic you have already missed the point.

We cannot prescribe before we have diagnosed.

I see this all the time. This week I want to highlight the tell-tale signs that the person you’re talking to might not be the best person for you.

I often liken this to driving. How often do you get into your car and start driving without a destination in mind?

The same is true when it comes to your business and marketing.

We have to discuss the business and your plans for it, before we delve into your marketing and the challenges, opportunities this presents.

It’s very obvious when you think about it, and yet I find I’m repeating myself almost every day.

Just today for example I have had two prospect calls and on both occasions the person enquiring wanted to delve straight into their paid media challenges.

When I asked what they are doing, they said:

“We’re spending a couple grand a month on ads and a few hundred on management. I don’t know if it’s working, things definitely feel quieter and so I want to change”

This has warning signs all over for me, let’s break it down as it’s a very common scenario.

“spending a couple grand a month” – it’s so often the case that SMEs are spending a sum they feel comfortable with, no clue if that is the right level of investment they should be making, as they haven’t thought about the business first before the marketing.

“few hundred on management” – you get what you pay. Ask yourself how much time/resource do you think you’re getting from your agency/partner/consultant if you’re paying very little. If someone is very good and genuinely gets results, they’ll be in demand and therefore won’t be cheap.

If you’re good at something, you don’t do it for free – why would you?

“I don’t know if it’s working” – it’s so easy to delve straight into marketing, like it is to jump in your car and start driving. But if you don’t have a destination in mind, you’ll quickly find yourself driving in circles wasting time. The same is true in marketing if you don’t think about the business first.

“things feel quieter and so I want to change” – to get the most out of your agency/partner/consultant you need to give them clear instructions on what you want to see. Not doing this results in knee-jerk business decisions made in panic. Not good for anyone.

The above is so easily avoided by having the business conversation before you delve into the marketing.

I refuse to talk about Google Ads or Meta Ads until I know the 3 Ps for that business.

• The past
• The present
• The plan

Any good marketer will want to know these things in order to build a clear picture on that business.

Then you overlay the commercial targets. From there you drill down into digital and the businesses reliance on each pillar of digital marketing.

Then and only then do you start to define what a paid media strategy might look like.

If more businesses took this approach, they’d see far more significant growth.

It should always be business before marketing.

With the business stuff clear in our minds, now let’s talk marketing.

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