Why Your Marketing Sucks and What You Can Do About It - Sophie Logan

Presented at the Nottingham City Business Club in January 2025.

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This talk, ‘Why Your Marketing Sucks and What You Can Do About It’, will address small but impactful mistakes SMB’s make when it comes to marketing their product/service and what they can do to overcome them.

Transcript

1. Why Your Marketing Sucks and What You Can Do About It Sophie Logan
2. • PPC Lead at Beauhurst • 10 years’ experience • Platinum Google Ads Expert • Conference speaker • Search Engine Land Author • Girls in Marketing Mentor
3. • 4 common SMB marketing mistakes • How to overcome them • Summary
4. 1. Getting distracted by new shiny things.
8. There is ALWAYS something new and shiny coming out. “This is THE next big thing in marketing…”
10. “They’re putting out TikTok videos, so we need to get Jerry from Sales to do a dance whilst wearing a chicken suit too…”
12. Trying something new is.…
13. Risky.
14. Not guaranteed to work.
15. Distracts us.
16. The next time the ‘next big thing’ pops up, ask yourself…
17. In 3 months time, would this still be something that I would be interested in doing?
18. How is this marketing activity/platform relevant to my business?
19. Which marketing activities are already working for my business, and how can I grow those rather than try something new?
20. Do I realistically have the time, skills and resources to be able to do a thorough job of trying this out?
21. SMBs need to make calculated, rational decisions in order for long term marketing success.
22. 2. Not knowing their audience.
24. What does your target audience look like?
25. • Male • In their late 70’s • High earner • Parent • Married
27. Demographics - Age, sex, location, marital status, employment status… Behaviour - What are their interests? What content do they like to consume? What are their pain points? What is important to them?
28. • Customer surveys • Website analytics analysis • Market research projects • CRM data analysis • Reviewing reviews to identify commonalities • Sales team interviews
29. With a deeper understanding of your target audience, you can better tailor your marketing efforts to cater to their wants and needs.
30. For example…
31. GA4 shows that our FAQ page is one of the most frequently visited pages on our site. This could mean that visitors to our site aren’t easily finding the information they need.
32. • Add a FAQ section to all product pages • Run a FAQ organic social campaign • Write blogs on each FAQ topic to expand on them in more detail • Review website content to ensure that key information is clear and concise
33. Our survey showed that 33% of our customers are active on Reddit. This suggest that our target audience may also be using the platform on a regular basis.
34. • Explore Reddit Ads as a potential platform to expand into • Create a business profile and start engaging in relevant discussions on the platform
35. Your marketing NEEDS to resonate with your target audience, so make sure that you understand them.
36. 3. Not doing the type of marketing they enjoy.
37. “The only way to do great work is to love what you do.” - Steve Jobs
41. If your heart isn’t in it, you’re not going to want to: • Dedicate time to it • Grow and develop your skills in it • Persist when things get tough • Enjoy your work
42. To work out what it is that you enjoy: • Get out a piece of paper and some pens • Write down all the marketing tasks you do • Start highlighting what you enjoy
43. If it’s something you enjoy: • Does it make business sense to expand it? • What skills do you need to work on to help you improve on this? • Are you up to date with the latest news and announcements? • Is there any courses you could take? • Are you actively involved in relevant communities?
44. If it’s not something you enjoy: • Does it make business sense to continue doing it? Is it effective? • Can you outsource the work? • Is there any changes you can make which would help you to enjoy it? • Is your lack of enjoyment because it is difficult. If so, what can you do to make it easier?
45. Find that balance.
46. 4. Setting and forgetting their marketing strategy.
47. When was the last time that you: • Analysed your marketing performance • Researched new concepts and platform • Look into marketing trends
48. • Explored industry benchmarks and realigned your KPIs • Brainstormed new ideas • Carried out competitor research • Looked for trends and seasonality issues within your performance
49. There is simply not enough time. But as a result things become stale.
50. • Platform changes • Industry progression • Competitor changes • Policy/legal/regulation changes • Changes to the wants and needs of the target audience….
51. You can’t afford to set and forget.
52. It doesn’t have to be a whole new marketing strategy. Start small.
53. • Strength • Weaknesses • Opportunities • Threats
54. If you only take away one thing from my talk, let it be this….
55. Go back and look at your marketing strategy. And when you do, make sure that you…
56. Have an honest and unbiased review of your recent marketing performance
57. Work on new campaigns/concepts/strategies and put plans in action to implement them
58. Set a reminder for 6 months time and repeat the process.
59. Don’t get left behind. Keep your marketing fresh and relevant.
60. Summary
61. Don’t give into pressure to do what your competitors are doing, unless it's right for your business.
62. Don’t give into pressure to do what your competitors are doing, unless it's right for your business. Similarly keep focusing on what brings in value for your business, not just what the latest trend is.
63. Get to know your audience on a behavioural level and implement that into your marketing activities.
64. Get to know your audience on a behavioural level and implement that into your marketing activities. Find marketing activities which you enjoy. It’s easier to make something work when you feel motivated.
65. Don’t set and forget your marketing strategy. Try to reassess on a 6 month basis.
66. Dexter, AKA PPC Pug Speaker Deck: MarketingSoph LinkedIn: Sophie Logan BlueSky: MarketingSoph