Mastering marketing experimentation: Overcoming the ‘I tried that, but it didn’t work’ mindset

When I hear “I tried that, but it didn’t work”, my left eyebrow automatically goes up.

Not in a “Yeah, that makes sense to stop doing it” kind of way. It’s more like: “Oh, tell me more. What do you mean with ‘it didn’t work’?”

I usually hear it when I propose a particular marketing activity. Doesn’t matter which one.

If someone has done a specific activity and didn’t get a huge reward from it right away, they automatically deem it as a failure and give up the idea altogether.

And then they try something else. And when that activity doesn’t result in a huge win, they try something else, and continuously go through these cycles.

This approach can create mayhem when building your business.

It’s like trying to run a marathon and stopping by every person who cheers you on the sideline to personally thank them. You’ll never reach your goal in a suitable time frame.

What’s ironic is that even though we’re in the eco space and inspire others to embrace slow fashion, food, travel, and way of living, we want immediate results.

Like, yesterday!

We’re only human and are extremely impatient when it comes to financial gain.

In this article, I will dissect this statement that is possibly keeping you from moving forward and achieving success.

Marketing experimentation is crucial

Marketing is like science — often things don’t work right away, requiring marketing experimentation.

Marketing takes time and usually requires multiple rounds of marketing experimentation before an activity is truly successful.

So, if you discredit an activity because of a failed try and didn’t even look at the data to confirm its ‘failure’, or try to optimize it, then please, for the love of yourself and your business, read on because this post is for you.

Too many shiny new objects

If there’s one thing creatives especially excel at — and I’m no exception — is getting distracted by those shiny new objects we see every day.

There are so many marketing activities you can do which is why people get anxious about choosing the right ones.

So, we end up trying a bunch of things just once and giving up right away, however, this is not how entrepreneurs become successful.

Instead, this strategy wastes time, causes frustration and demotivation, and adds self-doubt.

Constantly changing paths to reach the same destination is like starting over every single time. It’s exhausting.

Evolving along a consistent path is more effective than frequent pivoting.

That’s why you need a marketing strategy to keep you on track.

How to know if something’s working or not

From what I’ve seen, most freelance creatives don’t measure anything but their social media post engagement, however, that doesn’t tell us much.

It certainly doesn’t tell you if a marketing activity worked or not.

When you decide to try a new marketing activity, the first thing you need to do is set your intention for this activity and answer the question (do this in writing) Why am I doing this?

You then want to set a goal, whether it’s financial or some other kind of number, you need a metric to try to go after to keep you focussed.

And please be realistic with your goal setting. You can have your moonshot goal — the one for your entire business that seems unreal at this point in time. However, expecting to gain a new client after sending just one DM is unrealistic.

It takes on average seven points of contact before a client will hire you which is why giving up after just one try is not an option for any business owner.

You have to refine and measure, refine again, and measure again: Rinse, and repeat.

Understanding human behavior

There is no way anyone can fully understand human behavior. Even experts who constantly test and study it still get stumped.

No study or interview will give you 100% insight into what a potential client is thinking. We’re that complex.

Heck, we often surprise ourselves with our own behavior, so how can we expect to know what others are thinking all the time?

How many times have you been presented with an offer and first thought, “No, this isn’t for me,” and then you’re presented with the same offer a few months later and think, “Oh, this really does sound interesting,” and only then explore the options?

This happens because people make decisions based on how they’re feeling that day.

Emotions and moods significantly influence decision-making processes

Here are a few points to support this:

1. Mood and Decision-Making: Studies show that people in a positive mood are more likely to make optimistic decisions, while those in a negative mood might be more cautious or pessimistic.
2. Emotional Influence: Emotions such as fear, excitement, anger, or joy can drive immediate decisions, sometimes overriding logical reasoning.
3. Advertising Strategies: Marketers often use emotional appeals in advertisements precisely because they know emotions can significantly sway consumer behavior.

So, if you continuously try something new and give up, you may never be able to work with those clients who need more touchpoints to say “Yes.” Marketing experimentation is key here.

Progress over perfection

We humans sure do get in our heads, and when something “doesn’t work” the first time, we give up and deem it a failure for all of eternity.

Aren’t we lucky that successful pioneers, explorers, scientists, developers, doctors, etc. don’t subscribe to that nonsense?

Even though we know the theory and proof behind embracing failure in order to succeed, we ignore it. Why?

Because we were taught to get good grades, achieve awards in school, and make our parents proud.

We are constantly scared of failing and end up striving for perfectionism, which is the best way to keep yourself from becoming successful.

Perfectionism halts progress by instilling fear of putting anything out until it’s flawless.

Truth is: Perfectionism is fear of being rejected and criticized. It’s something no one can achieve.

Instead of waiting for perfection, put your offer out there, even if it’s not perfect.

Test it, refine it, and keep improving it.        

This cycle of continuous improvement leads to real progress and success.

Perfectionism is an illusion. Embrace imperfection, and you’ll find that consistent effort and iteration lead to success.

Here are a few tips for progressing, not perfecting:

?? Be intentional with your marketing experimentation efforts: Ask, “Will this activity attract the right clients?”

?? Track results: Focus on effective activities. Conversion rates may be low at first, so your goal is to increase them each time.

?? Stay persistent: Keep refining and trying. Rinse and repeat.

?? Learn from failures: Analyze and refine your approach.

?? Celebrate wins and milestones on your entrepreneurial journey!

“Giving up is the only sure way to fail.” — Gena Showalter

Conclusion

I feel that so many people think there should be a guarantee in marketing when in reality, the only guarantee you have is that you have to experiment to be able to find out what really works.

Achieving marketing success doesn’t have to take years. However, if you quit before giving it a chance to work, and move on to the next activity, you’re taking every single detour possible and then yes, it will take a loooong time before you’ll see success!

In a world where we embrace slow living, remember that success requires strategic persistence; results may not be immediate.

It takes time.

Do you have a feeling you’ve been jumping from one thing to the other? Let us know in the comments below.

And if you haven’t already, read the other beliefs that can keep you from moving forward in your business.

Create on,

Jessica

Originally published at https://ethicalbrandmarketing.com on June 22, 2024.