A target board illustrating hitting your target marketing strategy

Do you ever get the sense that your marketing attempts are falling on deaf ears? While it may be an uncomfortable pill to swallow, the truth is it’s not them, it’s you.

Most people don’t take the time to really flesh out their marketing strategy. They put together one-dimensional concepts that are more of an attempt to “cover all bases” than a directed strategy.

It’s not your fault. Most small businesses or startups don’t have the budget for a large marketing team. There’s usually just one or maybe two people who are responsible for all marketing efforts. Often these people have more than one role in the business. Or maybe you’re an entrepreneur trying to handle every aspect of your business while it gets off the ground. Whatever your situation, you feel like you’re getting nowhere. It’s as if everyone is paying attention to everyone except you.

If this hits uncomfortably close to home, here are some painful truths about your marketing strategy that you need to face. The good news? Every one of them is fixable.

Contents

1. Your target market aim is way off

Do you know who you are trying to target? If you haven’t identified your target market within your marketing strategy, you’re essentially trying to throw darts at the board blindfolded. People are searching for answers to their challenges. So this means that you need to answer these questions and show how your product or service provides solutions to their problems. To do this, you need to have a thorough understanding of who your target audience is. It’s not enough to just put content up around the internet.

When you try to talk to everyone, you connect with no one. Vague, general messaging slides straight past people because it doesn’t feel like it’s for them. The fix is to get specific: know exactly who you’re for, what keeps them up at night, and the words they use to describe their own problems. The narrower and clearer your aim, the more your marketing actually lands.

2. You have a value problem

Why do you choose to follow the brands and the businesses that you follow? You perceive that they, over other brands and businesses, provide the greatest value. If your marketing strategy isn’t taking into account the value you can provide to your audience, you’re entirely missing the point of marketing.

Content that revolves around singing your company’s praises (“we’re the best in the business”) is overly promotional and this approach will not fly. Quite simply, it’s not believable. Like the dodgy milk bar in a small country town which proclaims its pies are the best in Australia, your claims are unsubstantiated. Beyond not actually highlighting any real value, it will breed a lack of trust. Think value, value, value.

Flip the lens from “what do I want to say about us” to “what does my audience actually need”. Teach them something, solve a small problem for free, make them smarter or save them time. Lead with value consistently and the sale tends to take care of itself, because you’ve already proven you’re worth listening to. This is a big part of why people choose you over the competition.

3. You’re not marketing where your audience hangs out

There is zero point in hopping onto a marketing channel if your target audience isn’t on there. If you’re a B2B business, TikTok probably isn’t the best place for you to attract new clients. If you’re a B2C business, you’re wasting your time on LinkedIn. Consider where you can make yourself visible that will give you the greatest return on your investment.

This is where point one pays off. Once you really know your audience, where they spend their time becomes obvious. It’s far better to be brilliant on one or two channels your people actually use than to spread yourself thin across five they don’t. Pick where you can show up consistently and with value, then go deep rather than wide.

4. You’re confusing “strategies” for “methods”

Posting on Instagram every day is not a marketing strategy. Neither is writing a blog every week. These are the vehicles you use to apply your strategy. What are you trying to achieve? What’s your mission? These are the bigger picture things that shape your strategy. Draw on points one and two (who your audience is and what they value) to shape your strategy.

Think of it like this: your strategy is the destination and the route, your methods are the vehicles. Posting, emailing and blogging are all just vehicles, and a vehicle with no destination is just driving around burning fuel. Get clear on the goal first, then choose the methods that get you there. Without that, you’ll stay busy but go nowhere.

5. You’re too inconsistent

Consistency leads to trust. When customers trust you, they will buy from you. Following through with what you say you’re going to do is incredibly important. Providing value-laden content every single day and sticking to that shows that you’re dedicated and passionate. Remember, there is a difference between switching tactics when something isn’t working and abandoning your efforts entirely. Whether what you’re doing is working or not, the most important thing is showing up. Consistency should be key to your overall marketing strategy.

There’s a psychological reason this works. The more often people see you showing up with value, the more familiar, credible and trustworthy you become, a quirk of human nature known as the mere exposure effect. Sporadic bursts of effort followed by silence undo that trust. Slow and steady really wins here. Pick a rhythm you can actually sustain and stick to it.

The 5 truths at a glance

The whole article in one quick reference:

The uncomfortable truth What it’s costing you The fix
Your targeting is off You talk to everyone and connect with no one. Get crystal clear on your ideal audience and the problems they’re trying to solve.
You have a value problem Self-promotional content breeds distrust. Lead with value every time, not “we’re the best in the business”.
You’re on the wrong channels Effort wasted where your audience isn’t. Go deep on the one or two channels your audience actually uses.
You confuse strategy with methods Lots of activity, no direction. Define the goal and mission first, then pick the vehicles to get there.
You’re too inconsistent Trust never gets the chance to build. Show up at a sustainable rhythm. Switch tactics, not your commitment.

If your marketing keeps falling flat, the root cause is often a brand that isn’t clear enough underneath it. A free brand audit is a good place to start, and our guide to the marketing mistakes you can’t afford to make is worth a read too.

Similar reading: The 3 key differences between branding and marketing

Leave your mark.

FAQs

Why is my marketing not working?

Usually it comes down to one or more of five things: you’re aiming at the wrong audience, your content is all about you instead of the value you offer, you’re on channels your audience doesn’t use, you’re mistaking tactics for an actual strategy, or you’re too inconsistent to build trust. The uncomfortable truth is that it’s rarely the audience’s fault. The good news is that each of these is fixable once you know what to look for.

What’s the difference between a marketing strategy and marketing methods?

Your strategy is the destination and the route: what you’re trying to achieve, who you’re trying to reach and what they value. Your methods are the vehicles: posting on Instagram, sending emails, writing a blog. People often confuse a list of activities for a strategy, but posting every day isn’t a strategy if there’s no goal behind it. Nail the strategy first, then choose the methods that actually serve it.

How do I know which marketing channels to use?

Start with your audience, not the channel. Once you really understand who you’re for, where they spend their time becomes obvious. A B2B business will usually get more from LinkedIn than TikTok; a B2C brand is often the reverse. Rather than spreading yourself thin trying to be everywhere, pick the one or two channels your audience actually uses and show up there consistently and with value.

Why does consistency matter so much in marketing?

Because consistency builds trust, and trust is what makes people buy. There’s even a psychological principle behind it called the mere exposure effect: the more often people see you showing up with value, the more familiar and trustworthy you become. Sporadic bursts followed by silence quietly undo that. It’s far better to pick a rhythm you can sustain and stick to it than to go hard for a month and then disappear.

Is my problem really branding rather than marketing?

Often, yes. Marketing struggles to work when the brand underneath it isn’t clear. If you’re not sure who you’re for, what you stand for or why people should choose you, no amount of posting will fix that. Branding sets the foundation (your audience, your value, your positioning) and marketing promotes it. If your marketing keeps falling flat, it’s worth checking whether the real gap is in your brand strategy.