Many marketing myths can lead businesses astray. Today’s post is a collaborative piece. Aimee Savran and I will debunk 3 common marketing myths and share our perspectives on what is the truth. Aimee and I worked together on the Prisma Cloud marketing team at Palo Alto Networks from 2021-2022. We have kept in touch and are both passionate about digital marketing best practices.
Who are we?
Aimee Savran is a Senior Campaigns and Content Marketing Specialist at Mitiga, the leader in cloud and SaaS threat detection, investigation, and response. She lives in Southern California and has worked in cybersecurity marketing for the past 5 years. Aimee has a passion for content marketing and social media. Check out her LinkedIn newsletter, Meditative Marketing for tips and best practices on modern digital marketing.
Elena Salazar is a Senior Omni-channel Marketing and Innovation Manager at Palo Alto Networks, based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Elena has been working in tech B2B marketing for 10+ years. Having worked on the client side, at advertising agencies, and as a freelancer, Elena has diverse perspectives on digital marketing strategy and best practices.
Debunking 3 Common Marketing Myths
Myth: You need to be active across all platforms and tactics.
Truth according to Aimee: Instead of focusing on quantity, focus on quality from a strategic perspective. Then, add in the layer of how many people you have on your marketing team. A two-person team can execute fewer activities than a 20-person team. Knowing this information allows you to think about what’s important for your specific audience, and then determine the platforms and tactics to help you reach them based on the resources you have. For example, it’s much better to report to leadership that you grew your one social media account following by 20% quarter over quarter than to say you have six different accounts where you’re struggling to be consistent because of the sheer number of accounts you’re trying to manage. Plus, wouldn’t it be better for the team member managing the social media to use their other skills for other marketing tactics instead of having all their time sucked up for one activity? I recommend that you sit down quarterly as a team, get clear on the specific messages you want to put in the market, and put a plan into place that allows you to be realistic about how much time and resources you can (and should) invest.
Truth according to Elena: It can be overwhelming to try and be active across every platform and tactic. This is especially true if you are a startup or have a lean team. It is better to do a few platforms and tactics well than spread yourself too thin trying to be active everywhere. Quality is more important than quantity! Be selective and strategic about where and how your brand shows up online. If you aren’t sure which channels and tactics to prioritize, think about who your target audience is and their online habits. It is also important to consider what content you have to share and which platforms and tactics are best suited for each content type.
As you can see, we share a nearly identical perspective about debunking this myth. As with any endeavor, quality matters in the long run more than quantity, and being strategic helps pave a clear path to success.
Myth: If you have a good product, you don’t need marketing.
Truth according to Aimee: In the digital world we live in, there are tons of products available at our fingertips 24/7. It’s easy to find multiple products that could accomplish the same goal for customers, rendering differentiation key. How do you differentiate? Through marketing of course! Marketing creates demand for your product specifically because it is the bridge between a prospect having a problem and sales having the solution. You could have the best product available but no one will know what makes you unique because you expect “If they just see the product/use it, they will get why it’s important for their life.” As a consumer yourself, you know this isn’t how buying a product works. You want to hear from the company why you should choose them because as the consumer, you know you have many options and thus seek to understand “Why you, and why now?” Without marketing, you can’t position yourself to explain how and why your product/company solves certain problems and why someone needs those solutions here and now.
Truth according to Elena: You may have an exceptional product, but you won’t make any sales if people don’t know you exist. Your ideal customer needs to know who you are and how you can address their pain points. You need marketing to raise awareness for your brand. Not everyone is going to need what you have to offer when they see your marketing. However, you will want to make sure that your brand is in your ideal customer’s initial consideration set when they are ready to make a purchase. According to the LinkedIn B2B Institute, brands whose share of voice is greater than their share of market tend to grow. Marketing is important for increasing your share of voice vs. your competitors.
Myth: You need a big marketing budget to drive results.
Truth according to Aimee: Much of modern marketing happens digitally, specifically on social media. It doesn’t cost anything to start a social media page, and it costs very little to start a website and begin blogging/creating content. Even LinkedIn has blogging built in now! If I had a limited marketing budget, I would focus on these things first: functional website (will be a large portion of a small budget), social media accounts (free), content creation (either within social media platforms themselves or on a blog – mostly free if not free since the cost is already accounted for as part of your website), and partnerships (can do these for free if the relationship is mutually beneficial – or dedicate a small budget towards this). This accomplishes the goal of building brand awareness, which in a digital world filled with so much noise, is more than half the battle. This goes along with what Elena mentioned regarding the importance of share of voice. The more you can take up mindshare in your industry, the easier time you’ll have finding qualified prospects and making sales.
Truth according to Elena: Do you know the Pareto Principle, also known as the 80-20 rule? Essentially, it means that 20% of the effort leads to 80% of the outcomes. Similar to my comment above about not spreading yourself too thin across platforms and channels, quality over quantity is important across marketing. Some of the best performing ads that I have run were scrappy videos taken by an internal employee on their iphone. I have experienced budget cuts where I have focused ad spend on the top performing channels and achieved similar (or sometimes even better!) results than the previous quarter. You can do a lot with a little if you get creative and resourceful. If you don’t have a big budget for paid search, focus on SEO to improve the visibility of your brand in organic search. If you don’t have a big budget for paid social, focus on making your organic social posts and presence best in class. You can even put small paid boosts behind top performing posts to expand their reach beyond your followers.
Please stay tuned for our upcoming posts, where we will be debunking social media and content marketing myths.
Did any of these myths surprise you? Are there any marketing myths you’d love to see Aimee and I debunk? Drop us a comment below!
