Bad Marketing Stories from the Trenches & How to Reveal the Truth

In my work I focus more on content and messaging than the mechanics of demand gen campaigns. However, to be effective, I must be familiar with demand gen to understand how the content I create fits in. My expertise enables me to recognize bad marketing masquerading as good and help my clients align all initiatives to achieving their goals.

One of my clients had a team of demand gen pros who asked if I would be able to write a guide, “How to do [our service/tech] for free.”

I responded to the specific question by stating that I was capable of creating the guide. However, I questioned the value of such a document. (And I like to think I did so tactfully.) It would probably be successful as a call-to-action to generate leads, but would they be people who would buy our solution? Are we offering a free version that we encourage people to try first? (No.) What do we expect the progression to be from lead to customer if we walk them through the process of using free tools to accomplish, nearly, what we deliver?

A lively discussion ensued; at the conclusion of which we agreed I would write an eBook on best practices instead. “How to do this for free” was entirely abandoned as a campaign theme.

How Bad Marketing Can be Defensible

Had we not connected over the phone and had I not been so insufferably inquisitive, I probably would have just done what was asked of me. I’d have written the guide… and it would have generated leads… almost none of which would have led to any revenue.

In that alternate timeline, we could each have defended ourselves. I wrote precisely what I was paid to write! And the team generated leads! Look, the numbers are right there! Many people gave us their email address to download that guide! They filled out the landing page form and therefore they are “leads.”

?? and that is the key to the problem.

You shouldn’t begin to generate “leads” until you first define what a lead is. And that can often be a complex process, one that should definitely involve members of the marketing and sales teams, at minimum.

The Wrong Metrics for Social Media

I worked with another client who paid a social media (SoMe) consultant. On a regular basis, she emailed our contact to ask them to unlock the Twitter account because it had been locked due to her following and unfollowing large quantities of accounts.

As explained on the Twitter Help Center, “To prevent spam and manipulation of follow relationships and to ensure site reliability, there are technical limits regarding how many Twitter accounts you are able to follow. These limits are based on the rate at which you are following new accounts, as well as how many followers you have.”

Getting locked out of a service regularly is a red flag. Although my role was creating content for the client, I was intrigued and dug deeper (see my aforementioned insufferably inquisitive nature.) Despite posting on behalf of a B2B tech firm, she was following accounts as varied as nightclubs, individuals selling soap, and accounts dedicated to political rants - none of which were even remotely appropriate. 

I suggested the SoMe consultant, client, and I have a call. On the phone, she vigorously defended her technique of mass follow and unfollow and positioned the need to regularly unlock the account as an entirely normal component of SoMe marketing. Once again, bad marketing can be defensible. The results speak for themselves! The number of followers is going up on Twitter! And on Instagram too! 

I asked just a few simple questions:

• How many click-throughs are there to the website?
• How much engagement is there, in the form of retweets, likes, and replies?

And suddenly, she was no longer able to vigorously defend her practices. 

Yes, they fired her and I took over SoMe. 

While I didn’t feel good about my contribution to someone losing income, I wanted to see my client grow. I wanted to see the content I created leveraged in effective demand gen initiatives and shared properly in various channels. 

This sort of bad marketing actually angers me. I’m angry first and foremost because I didn’t like anyone being taken advantage of, particularly my client who I’m fond of. But secondly, this gives “Marketing Consultants” a bad name. I felt it puts a stain on my profession.

The Need to Align on Proper Metrics

The solution to stop the masquerading of bad marketing boils down to alignment on proper metrics.

The demand gen team wanted to tick the box of “generate leads.” The SoMe consultant ticked the box of “increase followers.” But those metrics -viewed alone- weren’t the proper metrics.

Personally, we (Yoeri Callebaut and myself) are just not interested in merely ticking boxes. We’re not interested in doing precisely what a client pays us to do-- no more, no less. We’re interested in helping companies grow and helping them build strong marketing operations that will sustain that growth by being scalable. Even if it means telling them that what they’re asking me to do isn’t the proper path. And yes, it has even meant losing income because we decline work. But we put ethics and quality results above everything else. 

Results-Oriented, Holistic Marketing

Forward momentum isn’t very valuable if you’re all running around in different directions, none of which ends up in making money. In future posts, we’ll highlight what proper marketing metrics are and best practices for aligning everyone on the same course.

Written by Megan Bozman (https://bozcontentmarketing.com/) in collaboration with Yoeri Callebaut and The Holistic Marketer ([email protected]).