GoKawiilOpinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Listen to this post
Key Takeaways The “vending machine” mindset — put a dollar into marketing, and get leads out — is an easy way to waste a marketing budget.
A better analogy is an investment account. Some investments produce an immediate return, while others gradually increase the likelihood that customers will remember, trust and choose you when the time is right.
Understand that customers aren’t always ready to buy, find the problem you want to own, create pull instead of always pushing, and talk to customers, prospects and people who considered your product but bought something else.
Put a dollar into marketing, and get leads out. Put in more dollars, and get more leads. If the leads stop coming, change the campaign, increase the budget or try another channel.
This is how many companies expect marketing to work. I call it the “vending machine” mindset. It is also an easy way to waste a marketing budget.
That mindset is particularly damaging in B2B SaaS, where buying decisions can take months, involve multiple people and depend on circumstances outside a marketer’s control. Yet companies continue to evaluate marketing as though every campaign should produce an immediate transaction.
A better analogy is an investment account.
You make deliberate investments over time. Some produce an immediate return, while others gradually increase the likelihood that customers will remember, trust and choose you when the timing is right. If you invest consistently in the right things, those effects compound.
... continue reading