It Depends.

I always tell clients and prospects “There are no dumb marketing questions.”

They still hesitate because it’s human nature… they don’t want to look dumb or sound uninformed. When they do chime in with questions, this is what I commonly hear:

“What’s the best advertising channel in 2024?”

“My competitors are super shady. Should I do comparative advertising?”

“Should I spend more money on Facebook advertising? What about TicToc?”

“Should I invest in influencer marketing?”

“I heard ‘content is king.’ Is that true? What does that even mean?”

“I need a new website… should I change to a different platform like WordPress?

Quite frankly, I have the same answer for every marketing question… It Depends!

“It Depends” is not a cop-out answer. If a marketer genuinely cares about doing what’s best for her client’s business instead of her own, she’ll answer honestly with “it depends.”

There is no stock answer to your marketing questions.  No single solution for every business.

Anyone who’s selling one, and only one, quick fix silver bullet marketing method is working for his own best interests, not his client’s.

In an effort to “scale up quickly and kill it” they pigeon-hole every client into the same tactical “strategy.” That’s the definition of self-serving. Those guys with a plug & play mentality give everyone in marketing a bad name.

Full disclosure… This post was inspired by a book about learning in the golf instruction world. The title: It Depends.

Every golf instructor approaches the game and the golf swing differently. And every golfer deserves a different approach… one that’s uniquely customized to each student’s particular needs. The variables are endless.

It’s exactly the same for marketing. Every marketer has her own unique approach, and every client deserves a bespoke solution that produces long-term results. Not a cookie-cutter quick fix.

Just look at three ideas I highlighted from that golf book… The parallels with marketing are uncanny. The answer to those golf questions can be applied directly to the marketing questions I commonly get.

Use the right words and a golfer can level up quickly. Use the wrong words and they’ll be stuck in a merry-go round of experimentation. Sound familiar?

A lazy choice of words for a headline can sabotage an otherwise great piece of content and leave you thinking the whole idea was no good. Semantics, and the creative arrangement of words, can mean the difference between success and failure.

The right words paired with carefully selected images can create the emotional connection that every business owner dreams of.

Marketing certainly fits the bill of “complex tasks.” Some attempts will fail like a shank in the wrong direction. Others will only produce cumulative, long-term brand awareness boosts. And some will be great shots that cause unforeseen operational issues.

The secret is to stick with it. Accept the misses as part of the game, learn every time, and keep on swinging.

That old saying from Confucius applies to marketing as well as golf instruction. In either case, you have to find ways to get prospects/students emotionally involved. They have feel something!

Everything depends on that.

If you’d like answers to your specific marketing questions, contact me here.  (I promise, “it depends” is not the last word;-)  Or reach out on LinkedIn.