5 common marketing myths

The most common marketing myths explained

Marketing is considered a dark art and an activity misunderstood by many executives and business owners. The latest buzzwords and technologies haven’t really helped its cause, creating even more confusion.

It’s not uncommon for industrial companies, even those with marketing expertise to hold a few viewpoints that don’t accurately line up with the marketing process. Maintaining these types of beliefs can cause harm to your selling efforts and ultimately hurt your marketing in the long run!

We have identified 5 common marketing myths:

Marketing for industrial companies can be frustrating and time-consuming. With the right approach, you can achieve exceptional results and revenue growth. Our team has been helping industrial companies involved in diverse sectors from manufacturing, fabrication, distribution, transport, automotive, mining, defence, construction, and energy. The 5 myths or misconceptions we’d love to clear up comprise:

Myth #1 – Industrial B2B companies do not need to invest in marketing

It’s understandable why this idea exists for manufacturers of industrial products. They would not have the time or resources to devote to marketing. This does not mean that marketing should not be applied and tested. Marketing for these companies must be rolled out in a very niche way and requires more planning to ensure better use of your funds – to ultimately provide a return on investment (ROI).

It’s critical that you take the time to develop an overall marketing strategy to avoid wasting money and time. As your company grows, you’ll find that you will have more time and money to dedicate to the marketing process. It’s a long game to play, but you’ll come out a winner in the end by constantly testing and improving.

Myth #2 – B2B industrial marketing can be done by anyone

B2B industrial marketing is not easy and cannot be undertaken by anyone. This is where you will definitely waste time and money.

Marketing takes an enormous amount of dedication, creativity, and persistence. if you want to see your marketing efforts pay off you will need to invest in a professional resource. It’s easy to sign up for cheap methods of marketing to grow your business, but a successful B2B industrial marketing process is far from cheap.

Winning marketing strategies with clever execution takes a commitment that not many industrial companies are willing to make. The game-changer in this equation comes down to results. If you don’t market your brand, products, and services effectively, you may save money and time, but your audience will decrease considerably and you’ll often pay for your savings through lowered sales.

Myth #3 – Paid Advertising is the same as Marketing

Wrong! Paid and tactical advertising campaigns leveraging Google Adwords, social media channels, and online publications are not the same as marketing. Far from it, marketing involves an integrated approach utilising advertising only when needed.

Advertising helps communicate an offer to get your market’s attention, whether they are a prospect, existing, or lapsed customer. It will support your marketing efforts, but is not the same or only form of marketing.

Myth #4 – If you’ve got a sales team, you don’t need marketing

Marketing must work with sales and support all selling and business development activities. When sales and marketing work together good things will happen for industrial companies.

In order to support B2B selling efforts, marketing must share a common vision and be aligned with the sales force. When industrial leaders support and influence the vision of both sales and marketing, the customer will benefit from tailored and winning value.

Myth #5 – Marketing must deliver quick returns

Industrial companies new to marketing will discontinue after 1-3 months of investment, as their efforts don’t pay off immediately. If you aren’t seeing a quick return, surely your agency or marketing resources must be doing something wrong?

Not at all. When you are going up against your established competitors you need to adjust your expectations surrounding time accordingly. We work with our clients to establish quick wins when developing specific marketing campaigns. An example might be the delivery of sales-qualified leads that will translate into revenue. This helps bring confidence and momentum to the work.

Being reasonable with your expectations on returns will allow marketing to be tested, improved, and executed to deliver real results for your industrial company.

By better understanding these 5 myths, you can rest assured by involving the right resources, results will follow. If you’d like some help with your approach to marketing, let’s chat.

Related: Download your free Marketing Strategy Guide

Other Reading: The Quest For Customer Focus

INDUSTRIAL MARKETING STRATEGY GUIDE

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Peter Zafiris is an industrial marketer and founder of Industrial Ideas. Having built his experience in B2B marketing from the ground up, Peter understands what it takes to succeed with your marketing strategy. All client projects are personally managed by Peter to help industrials like you get the return on investment you deserve. Peter and team, work hard to become an extension of your business, to help you get the most out of your marketing efforts. Get your free 30 minute marketing consultation to learn more.