As human beings and entrepreneurs, we naturally want to be successful. Some know that this requires not only courage, but also discipline, perseverance, and patience. Many others look for the secret formula, for a quick solution that will allow them to reach their goal as early as tomorrow. And then what happens?
Only a few people reflect on the meaning they pursue along their path. Even fewer realize that the journey is the destination, because that is where we spend most of our time. Instead, the focus lies solely on achieving the goals themselves—until we get there and realize that we need a new goal to chase. The path toward our goals is then not derived from what we consider important and right, but exclusively from what appears necessary and expedient for achieving those goals. Often without regard for losses. Quick success may seem tempting, but it leads neither to long-term success nor to personal fulfillment.
At the same time, there are more opportunities than ever before to (digitally) market oneself, a product, or a service. For people with basic digital skills, this means that the barriers to entry are so low that practically anyone is able to do marketing. For many people of older generations, this is less the case. Here, overwhelm and resistance often arise when it comes to new digital possibilities and the changes associated with them. Understandable—especially when they are generally labeled incapable and not given the opportunity to develop new competencies.
Marketing drives business success most effectively.
The endless range of possibilities also attracts those who have nothing to offer except empty promises but have understood that marketing is the greatest growth driver of any business. And then there are, of course, the experts and gurus who help these people market their substance-free offerings—unfortunately often with great success.
And so we find ourselves in a marketing world full of possibilities, charlatans, and false assumptions, in which it is rarely about fundamentals, proven evidence, or the latest insights.
Those who suffer most are the people exposed to shallow messages and empty promises. As a result, general trust in brands declines and perception filters become even sharper. Companies also cause themselves great harm when they adopt this form of marketing—or simply stand by instead of doing better.
At the same time, more brands are emerging every day than one can imagine. The increasing degree of specialization leads to highly fragmented markets, in which ever smaller niches must be served in order to dominate a market category. The density of information is so high and the half-life of new technologies so short that many entrepreneurs are simply overwhelmed and prefer not to enter this new territory at all.
In the opaque world of modern marketing, where many have an opinion but only few have clarity, there is great confusion—and even greater activism.
This confusion can be observed, among other things, in the following circumstances:
- No marketing is done at all, or only minimal investment is made in building digital and brand-related assets.
- Isolated digital and brand-related assets exist, but their significance is not fully recognized and they are therefore not used properly. Marketing is often limited to social media and to what everyone else is already doing.
- The current brand image does not match the core of the company or the expectations of the desired customers. Employees and/or customers identify little or not at all with the brand.
- There is no clear strategy that systematically ensures the acquisition of new customers. A holistic ecosystem of service, product, and communication is missing, which becomes noticeable through inconsistencies.
- There is unsystematic experimentation and frequent switching between different tactics that usually do not build on one another. Social media often contributes to blind activism and a superficial understanding of marketing.
What about you?
⭕️ Do you know what truly matters when marketing your offerings, or do you rather feel like you are groping in the dark?
➡️ We have set ourselves the goal of bringing clarity to this issue. In the coming articles, we will therefore focus on the fundamentals and the most important interrelationships of marketing, so that you are able to block out what is irrelevant and win new ideal customers through effective—because strategic—marketing.
