Tactics Won’t Solve A Fundamentals Problem

Tactics Won’t Solve A Fundamentals Problem

You've tried the new website, the ads, the email campaign. Maybe you've even hired an agency or an in-house Marketing Manager. You're busy spending money and you're still asking, Why isn't my marketing working? Most B2B business owners don't have a marketing tactics or a lead generation problem. They think they do. They have a problem with the fundamentals. Today's episode is about why piling on more tactics won't fix what's broken and what you can do instead to fix it.

Hi, I am Tim Fitzpatrick with Rialto Marketing, where we believe marketing shouldn't be difficult and it definitely shouldn't be guesswork. Thank you so much for taking the time to tune in. I am excited to dig into this with you. I hope you find this helpful.

Why Tactics Feel So Tempting

First off, let's just talk about why tactics feel so tempting. So many people just jump right in the tactics. They feel productive. You can launch something quickly and just check a box off. The marketing world sells tactics so aggressively. You need ads, you need AI tools, you need this SEO hack, you need social media to try this social media tip. We sell tactics so aggressively. But when growth stalls, this pressure kicks in. You feel responsible to do something. And so that also helps push people into tactics when they really shouldn't be. But there's this hidden cost. Every new tactic just adds noise. It adds complexity and distraction when there's no clear strategy underneath. I talk about this all the time. The strategy is the fuel for the engine. But when we just jump into tactics, what we're doing is we're assembling this engine, but there's no fuel for it. It's just not going to work. And when we've got all these random tactics just piling on top of one another, you're just stuck in the marketing mix. You're spinning your wheels and you're getting nowhere fast. It's not that you're lazy or that you're a bad marketer. You're just reacting to symptoms instead of fixing the root cause issue. But that's why it's so easy to jump into tactics. So many people are in this boat. You are not alone if you are in this boat.

What a Fundamental Problem Actually Looks Like

So what is a fundamental problem actually look like? Let me break this down a little bit. A fundamentals problem typically looks like it has some of these characteristics.

There's unclear targeting. You're trying to speak to everyone. But when you do that, nobody really listens because the message isn't specific enough. One of my mentors said, Specificity sells. The more specific and narrow we can make our message, the higher likelihood that it's going to resonate with those that you want to attract.

Which leads to the next point, which is weak or generic messaging is a fundamentals problem. That's what fundamentals problem looks like. Your message is broad, and when it's broad, it's weak, it's generic. It sounds like every other person that you're competing against. So there's You lack differentiation.

Another one is there's no clear plan. You're throwing stuff up against a wall hoping something sticks. You've just got this list of ideas and half finished initiatives.

Another one is that there's no ownership or leadership. Marketing is everyone's job, which means that it's really nobody's job. Nobody owns marketing.

Another thing is results feel random. Leads might trickle in and then disappear, but there's just no consistency.

All of these are signs that there are fundamental challenges that are the root cause of the symptoms you're experiencing with your marketing. Again, this goes I love to think about marketing systems as an engine. We need to build an engine. Strategy is the fuel. If it's missing or it's a low quality, there's not enough octane, the engine is not going to run or it's going to sputter. Planning is where you're picking the parts and assembling the engine. What marketing channels and tactics are you going to leverage? Random parts don't make a working working system. You need to get the right parts and assemble the engine for it to work. And then leadership is the mechanic. Without someone tuning and adjusting that engine, optimizing it on an ongoing basis, performance is going to drop off. So if the fundamentals are off, even if you've got good tactics, even good tactics are not going to work the way they should. But if any of those core components, strategy, planning, and leadership, are out of alignment, it is not going to work as well as it should.

The Marketing Engine Perspective

I've started to touch on this, the marketing engine perspective. But marketing is not a collection of tactics. It has to be a system if you want something that is going to yield predictable, sustainable your new growth. The marketing engine brings that strategy, planning and leadership together, make sure that they're in alignment and that they're working together. Strategy gives you that clarity. Who are you serving? What problems are you solving? And why are you different? Planning creates focus. What are you going to do? What are you going to ignore equally as important? What are you not going to do? And what does success look like over the next 90 days? Leadership keeps it running. You're tracking what's working, you're tracking what's not working. You're making adjustments and course corrections, and you're staying disciplined to the plan. You're not like a squirrel chasing a nut, getting distracted by every new idea that comes across your plate. When the engine is sound, tactics finally start to work. Ads convert better. Content resonates. Sales conversations get easier. You got to fix the engine first, then add tactics that are actually going to support it. That's the marketing engine.

Breaking The Cycle

So how do we break the cycle? A lot of companies are just treating the symptoms and not the root cause. And that's part of the challenge, right? But we've got to pause before adding anything new. We need to ask ourselves, Hey, what problem is this tactic supposed to solve? Come back to the fundamentals. So many people skip the fundamentals. Who is your ideal client? What messaging is going to resonate with them? How are you positioned and how are you positioned differently than everybody else in the market? Build a short, focused plan, not a 40-page document. Just clear priorities of what you're going to focus on over the next 90 days and why? You need to decide who owns marketing. Somebody needs to be the leader. Even a part-time leader beats none at all. Frankly, there's plenty of companies that don't need a full-time marketing leader. It makes more sense to hire a part-time marketing leader, a fractional chief marketing officer, or even an advisor who can just help you lead your efforts, someone that you can rely on to bounce ideas off of and get feedback and help you when you get stuck. And play the long game. Consistency beats cleverness every time. Marketing is a long game. Despite what some people are out there selling, it is a long game. If you get into it thinking that it's short term, you are going to be disappointed. You are going to waste time, money, and effort. But progress with your marketing comes from clarity and focus, not more activity. Most businesses don't need more marketing activity. They need clarity on what they need to do and why and what to focus on, and then they can start taking action.

Conclusion

I hope you found this helpful. Remember, you cannot tactic your way out of a fundamentals problem. If the fundamentals are out of alignment, the tactics are going to be out of alignment. So stop asking, what should I do next? And start asking, is my engine built to support this? Once the fundamentals are solid, marketing gets simpler and a lot less stressful.

So thank you so much for taking the time to tune in. I am Tim Fitzpatrick with Rialto Marketing. If you feel like you are stuck in the marketing maze, you're doing all the recommended stuff, but you're still not seeing the results. If you want a roadmap, head on over to marketingenginescorecard.com to find out exactly what's keeping your marketing engine from delivering consistent growth. You can also always connect with us at rialtomarketing.com. That is rialtomarketing.com. Until next time. Take care.