They get a lot of likes on Instagram; they must be really successful. If I post every day as that other brand does, my business will grow too.
The truth is, there’s more to marketing than social media posts and followers. Watching other brands’ success can certainly make success look easy, but there’s more to marketing strategy than just having an attractive social media presence.
Today, we’re uncovering widespread marketing strategy expectations and sharing the reality behind them.
Budget Expectations
Expectation: Having a big marketing budget guarantees a successful marketing campaign.
Reality: When you hear about brands spending tens of thousands of dollars in ad money and marketing campaigns, you might be thinking that you have to do the same to have a successful marketing strategy for your business.
That couldn’t be farther from the truth. You don’t have to have thousands of dollars to spend on marketing efforts to grow your brand.
Set three goals for your business and allocate the budget you have toward marketing efforts to reach those goals. You may not be able to give $20,000 on ad spend, but you may be able to hire a social media manager to increase your social media footprint.
Expectation: Paid ads guarantee an immediate explosion in traffic and sales.
Reality: While partially true, you actually need a well-crafted offer to attract potential clients. You also need ad copy that converts readers into paying customers.
Start by researching the right digital outlets to display your ads, the types of ads your competitors are running, and how much you need to spend to get the desired audience reach.
If you’re interested in running ads to grow your business, you can hire a copywriter specializing in ad copy and a business coach to help with the overall advertising strategy.
Social Media Expectations
Expectation: Posting on social media every day will grow my business.
Reality: There’s some truth to this idea, but it’s not as simple as just posting content everywhere, every day. Create a content calendar to plan your social media posts and videos ahead of time. The content you share should tie back into your overall marketing strategy.
Think about your business goals and the types of your content that your audience engages with the most. If your social media followers engage with your videos more than photos, aim to publish more IGTV, Reels, and TikTok content.
The key is to post engaging content consistently to maintain an active presence online and stay in touch with your followers.
Revenue Expectations
Expectation: Having a blog will guarantee product sales.
Reality: Effective marketing for your blog will bring more traffic to your website.
Adding a blog is a great way to drive traffic back to your website. When managing a blog, you can do a few things to get people to read your content.
- Share your blog posts on Pinterest.
- Optimize your articles for search engines.
- Send an email to your subscribers sharing your new content
- Share your blog posts on your social media platforms
Most importantly, be consistent with your blog content. Just as you have a social media content calendar, create a blog content calendar too.
Expectations vs. reality: final thoughts
Successful marketing campaigns don’t happen overnight. They take time, consistency, and patience.
Set clear goals and create a marketing strategy that will help you meet those goals. For example, if your goal is to sell more products, you’ll want to do things that highlight your products and drive traffic to your website.
If your goal is to build a following on social media, you’ll want to focus on social media content and engagement.
