What fires do marketers put out? Clients often don’t even know about them
Marketing problems don’t appear overnight, but certain signals need to be noticed in time: rising advertising costs, a falling number of enquiries, a declining conversion rate. While such changes are easy to write off as seasonality or a tougher period, if ignored they can become the first sparks that eventually grow into far more serious challenges with a direct impact on business growth.
The earlier weak spots are noticed, the less likely it is that you will later have to put out a fire that is already blazing.
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Žygimantas Kvartūnas
CEO & CMO
- Tel. +370 686 62 078
- Email zygimantas@expertmedia.lt
When a single comment becomes a reputation problem
Probably no business can avoid negative reviews entirely, but one poor comment does not yet mean your reputation is in danger. Sometimes far more damage is done by how a company chooses to respond – going on the attack, showing too much emotion, dismissing the person’s experience, trying to prove it is right at any cost. In such a situation, it is important to first assess:
- whether it is a one-off complaint or similar comments are increasing;
- whether the response should be public, private, or both;
- what tone to choose so that the situation is resolved rather than escalated;
- what reputational risk the company’s response itself might create.
When every channel tells a different story
Not all communication problems stem from one clearly bad decision. More often they are made up of small inconsistencies: for example, when social media talks about quality and professionalism, ads emphasise the lowest price, and the sales manager highlights entirely different benefits. Inside the company this may seem logical, but if the customer keeps seeing a different message, over time it becomes hard to understand what value the business actually offers.
Different channels can have their own format, tone and purpose, but the core message must remain consistent.
More advertising doesn’t mean more results
When advertising results are poor, there is a natural urge to increase the budget, change the visuals or launch yet another campaign, but sometimes the problem lies elsewhere. For example, a company offering a specialised B2B service may receive lots of enquiries at a low cost, but if the ads are shown to too broad an audience, a large share of those interested simply won’t match the real buyer profile. In this case, it is worth first reassessing who we are selling to, where these people look for information, and whether the chosen channel truly matches the business goal.
Advertising can work well and still bring no sales
Sometimes we start by adjusting the advertising strategy, even though the real gap appears after the click. A person sees an ad, becomes interested and lands on the website – from that moment, another equally important part of their journey begins. Here, a good visual or a well-targeted audience is no longer enough. Within a few seconds, the visitor has to understand what is being offered, what the value is and what to do next.
- An unclear offer and a mismatched message. If the ad emphasises one benefit but the website presents completely different information, the person’s interest quickly fades. The same happens when the offer is described too abstractly.
- A complicated path to an enquiry. A long form, an unclear CTA, an inconvenient mobile version of the website or a few unnecessary steps can stop even someone who is already interested. The more effort it takes to get in touch, the more likely it is that some potential customers will simply leave.
- Responding too slowly after an enquiry. The problem doesn’t end the moment a person fills in a form. If the contact isn’t passed to the CRM in time, it’s unclear who should get in touch, or the reply takes too long, a well-generated enquiry can be lost at the very last stage.
A problem can be spotted before it becomes obvious
Sometimes, at first glance, everything seems to be working as usual: ads generate enquiries, the website has no shortage of visitors, and sales are stable. However, by looking not only at the results of a few days or weeks but over a longer period, you can notice the first signals. One weaker metric doesn’t yet mean that something isn’t working. Still, once you notice certain unusual changes, it’s important to monitor whether they recur and what they say about the overall situation. These include:
- a steadily rising cost per conversion;
- a declining CTR;
- a falling website conversion rate;
- decreasing audience interest;
- changing customer search habits;
- recurring negative comments;
- mismatches between advertising results and actual sales.
The best fire is the one you never have to put out
If you feel that unclear areas are emerging in your business communication as well, the Expertmedia team invites you to a strategy session where we can calmly review the current situation, assess the weak spots and work out what is worth changing first.
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