The Marketing Paradox: Why Effort Maximization Wins Over Profit Minimization

Why do so many marketing companies suck?

They Follow the Flawed Profit-First Model in Marketing.

Anyone that hired a marketing company knows that they either focus on selling you high margin low effort services like PPC and SaaS or seem to spend more time going over reports then doing any real marketing.

But why don't they just focus on getting you results? Can they not see that by helping you grow they can expand their marketing with you?

Few companies are willing to spend money to make money, and marketing companies are no exception

In order to prioritize results over margins a marketing company must invest in themselves and their ability to generate exceptional results.

Most marketing companies lack the self esteem that they can deliver exceptional value

Instead they focus on margins, less work, easier products, justification of services over service itself. This approach is a lose-lose for both the client and the marketing agency, as clients miss out on potential growth while marketing companies miss the opportunity to showcase real results which inevitably turns their clients into their promoters. Let's face it, the only reason why we don't spend more money on marketing is because we don't even know if it is making any more than it costs.

If your marketing company knew that they could 10x your investment, then all they need to do is that and the margins will follow

A marketing company that is focused on growth at all cost will create meaningful upsell opportunities and new client growth. At a previous marketing company that I was at, I generated more upsells of my clients than the entire marketing team of 10, simply because my clients knew that by paying more they would essentially be paying themselves more.

Why can't they market well and profit?

Marketing success today is on the one hand full of opportunity while on the other hand more difficult than ever. Take the old promo video, it used to be that someone would watch them, now you need 300 videos just to cut through the clutter.

Or what about the website page, in the olden day's of digital marketing you slapped a page up and watched the leads pour in. Today, you need to battle the endless stream of regurgitated AI content just to be relevant.

Put it another way...

To take advantage of the marketing opportunities today requires 3 essential ingredients

1. Manpower
2. Systems
3. Passion for delivering value

Manpower:

The opportunity to reach your customers has never been greater in history, but it requires a massive amount of manpower to consistently create at scale high-quality content across all channels (web, video, print, email).

Systems:

Processes & SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures) are essential for leveraging the manpower for maximum results.

Automation (e.g., social media scheduling, AI tools, and workflows) allows scaling without compromising on quality.

The Desire to Drive Results

The key differentiator is a commitment to getting meaningful results, despite the cost, despite the uncertainty of timing, despite not having fancy reporting to shield yourself from a client.

The Long Game: Growth Through Client Success

The long game is harder, your product is priced hire as an entry point, your margins are thinner, your efforts are ten fold, and you lack the ability to hide behind reports that make you look good. Results don't work on your timeline or any one else's, but eventually you show them, and then you and those other marketing companies are not selling the same product.

Over time, clients come to appreciate and trust the work because they see enormous resources and dedication to their own goals, their growth. And when the results come in, they trust you when you say there is more value to be delivered if they are willing to trust you further.

The Art of Sustainable Marketing

To recap the three pillars—Manpower, Systems and Automation, and Results-Driven Focus—as the foundation of a successful, sustainable marketing approach.

3 questions to ponder

1. Why has your marketing company not pushed video (is it because it is a TON of work?)
2. Take a moment to look at the marketing efforts that your marketing company is reporting, not the projects that are super important to you, but the things you never look at. For example the most recent blog/page/social post that you have never cared to look at. Does that content scream "check the box" or "driven to get you growth"
3. Who pushes who in your relationship with your marketing company?

What drives me?

For a regular marketing company the result is poor financial performance, and that sucks. But for a marketing company that works with healthcare, the result is that people will lack healthcare. More than that, with the rapid pace of innovation in healthcare, marketing is no longer just another business function in healthcare, it is the method of delivery. If a doctor provides care in a forest and no one hears about, is that doctor even doctoring? (it made sense in my head)

Maybe I give to much credit to companies, after all is not their reason for existence profit? But companies are driven by humans, and I still believe humans should desire for themselves to be a force for good.