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I think most people will look at the title of this article and scratch their head. So, let me clarify my statement.
In general, digital marketing is a very lucrative industry. Close to 120 billion was spent in 2020. So how could the internet have possibly destroyed the subject of marketing.
Did you know that Fortune 500 companies spent approximately 75% of that 120 Billion. Leaving around 30 Billion for the rest of the 32.5 million companies in the United States. If you average that out per company, it is less than $1000 per company.
When going through the internet you see Fortune 500 hundred companies dominating. They own almost all top paid and organic spots in the search engine results pages.
The Fortune 500 companies rule social media for their industries and pretty much any other form of digital marketing you can find.
Small businesses fail and they fail at alarming rates. 20% in the first year, 30% in the second year and by the fifth year that number is 50%. And the number 1 reason for failure “Not using marketing”.
When you look on the internet and social media there are success stories at every turn of how “Joe Blow” from nowhere turned his small business into a million dollar going concern overnight; and every business can do the same thing.
Granted there have been some businesses that have probably accomplished exactly what they have promoted. That number is approximately 1%.
The other 99% spent years working to make a successful business, and some of that 99% are just pretending to be successful businesses to make a buck off whoever will listen.
Small businesses owners all over the country try to be that 1% and 99% of them fail.
It isn’t for lack of trying. Small business owners are the hardest working people on earth. The vast majority of them give their heart and soul to their clients and their employees.
20 years ago, unless you were a Fortune 500 company, and could pay for TV ads, Radio Ads, Print Ads and national campaigns, all you had to worry about was the newspaper and if your advertisement was closer to the front than your competitors.
Now small businesses have to worry about a business 3 states over that can be found on the search engine result pages ahead of them. When their business is just down the street.
Business owners have been misled. Marketing takes work, it is not instant success. It is built up over time through consistent work that spans the entire company. Years, not weeks or months.
The average lifespan of a Director of Marketing in a business is 6 months. The average time a business owner gives a marketing company is 3 months.
So instead of business owners understanding that marketing is a long term investment based on consistent actions that bring about exact results over a long period of time, they expect miraculous results in 3 months and they believe this is possible because they can find it all over the internet.
The internet is a marvelous tool and every marketer’s dream come true, but it is also their worst nightmare. It is a double edged sword.
The internet needs to stop misleading business owners. More marketers need to come out and explain the truth. Content needs to be made everywhere. Online courses need to start teaching the axioms of marketing and not the next new craze.
Marketing companies shouldn’t be more worried about the next client they signed up and how big the plan is; than they are of the results they delivered to their client.
Marketers should be the trusted advisor, the people business owners turn to, to help them expand their businesses and make the well thought of. Marketing companies should be helping businesses increase sales, not lose profit because they paid too much for something they can’t even understand.
