The #1 obstacle to good marketing isn’t a lack of options. For some companies there are too many options. This is just one of the marketing roadblocks business owners face.
In this blog post, I share comments I’ve heard about B2B marketing challenges. I also share potential solutions and the rationale for why you can overcome them.
My solutions are based on front line experience working with business owners on the best way to market their business. Think of these as actionable marketing insights you can implement to grow your business.
MARKETING ROADBLOCK: “There are so many options. I have no idea which marketing tactics work.”
SOLUTION: There is a sea of marketing options out there. That makes selecting the right ones an overwhelming task. A great starting point in determining your promotional mix is to understand where your customers spend time. Get to know how and where they consume marketing information.
You can do this several ways. Listen to your customer service representatives. Their direct customer interaction provides them with a good deal of market intelligence.
Company leadership should visit customers at their location. Ask them in a face-to-face meeting how and where they get their information.
Brief customer surveys are another way to get feedback needed to make informed marketing decisions. In today’s digital age, business owners can reach customers economically. But keep them brief or your participation rate will disappoint.
MARKETING ROADBLOCK: ”We tried that and it didn’t work.”
SOLUTION: This is one of the most common marketing roadblocks. The first place to look for reasons why marketing failed is the process. Marketing only works if it’s part of an integrated system. Imagine the sales funnel. Marketing brings qualified leads to the top of the funnel. From there, the leads must be followed up on and nurtured. They either continue all the way through each subsequent stage of the funnel to closing or discarded.
Another common cause is lack of repetition. Marketing needs time to take hold. That happens with repetition and monitoring.
MARKETING ROADBLOCK: ”We don’t have the marketing expertise.”
SOLUTION: Access only the amount of marketing assistance you need by “renting” a marketing expert. We facilitate the creation of a marketing plan and then provide the horsepower needed to implement the plan. It’s an economical alternative to hiring a full time employee or an expensive project-based ad agency.
MARKETING ROADBLOCK: “It costs too much.”
SOLUTION: Marketing is an investment. Therefore, monitor it periodically. Determine what return it brings to the organization (ROI). The good news is that many of today’s most effective digital marketing tactics are measurable.
MARKETING ROADBLOCK: “Marketing is confusing, there’s too much jargon. Take the hassle out of it for me.”
SOLUTION: There is a lot of marketing jargon, which makes marketing a hassle for some business owners. Terms like “CTR” (Click-Through Rate), “SEO” (Search Engine Optimization), or phrases such as “driving engagement through omnichannel activation” can feel like a foreign language if you’re not in marketing every day.
For a business owner focused on running operations, jargon like this can come across as unnecessary complexity—or worse, a smokescreen that agencies use to justify costs without providing clarity. That frustration is understandable. At the end of the day, the core principle of marketing communications is the same as it has always been: clearly communicate your company’s value to its target market and nurture lasting customer relationships.
CONCLUSION
You don’t need more jargon, you need results. At Affinity Strategic Marketing, we help business owners cut through the noise, simplify their strategy, and see traction. Reach out today to start removing the roadblocks between you and your growth.
