Why does marketing pause so much?

“We paused marketing because we were overrun with sales.” Said no one ever. Marketing has a terrible history of pausing, or even worse, going in frantic fits and starts. If you’re a CEO, CMO, COO or C anything you know this to be true. Which begs the question: why? Here to settle that question down are the top 3 reasons marketing hits the pause button, and what you can do to avoid marketing pauses.

1. Not enough time. Marketing that drives sales is extremely time consuming. The truth is that the people in charge of it never have enough time. There are people to manage. Other priorities to pay attention to. Board meetings. HR meetings. New product meetings. And always a steady flow of red hot issue of the day. All of which consume time like Skittles. Marketing takes time and thought in order to support sales. When time is spread across a day like too little jam over toast, marketing pauses. 
2. Marketing is too complex. Marketing is extremely complex today. There are algorithms involved. Google has a seat at your marketing table and you didn’t even invite them. There are enough acronyms to fill a corn truck to spillover, what with SEO, SEM, PPC, AI, DOTCOM, ECOMM, CPCs, KPIs and CPMS. It’s enough to keep tabs on what they stand for, much less what they actually do for your sales. When marketing gets too complex it pauses.
3. Patience wears out. New customers take time to cultivate. Typically far more than you think. And always waaaaaaay more time than the person selling you tactics or media leads you to believe. Marketing rarely lives up the the promises it makes early on, or the expectations you set for it. When marketing doesn’t pay off fast, it pauses. 

Marketing can work, of course. It doesn't have to pause. Businesses that have growth over time rely on marketing to drive sales. But that’s the key. Growth over time. Patient, thoughtful, consistent marketing serves its purpose. Accept it for what it is and marketing won’t drive you crazy. Here are the top three ways to have consistent marketing over time.

1. Treat marketing like a mule not a stallion. Marketing that drives sales doesn’t sprint to the finish line, working up a lather the entire race. Marketing that works is a hard slog. It’s steady thoughtful steps over time in a race that isn’t even a race, but rather consistent progress to one waypoint after the next. When you get there, you look at the trail you’ve worked, gather your senses and carry forward. Marketing doesn’t have to pause if you don’t ride it to death. 
2. Marketing is math. There is this horrible belief that the shine of marketing matters most. The logo, the whizzy, blingy digital ads and the cool catchy cleverness is key. That’s bulljive. I mean, I get it. That’s the fun stuff. But it’s a very small part of the marketing mix. Marketing is a math problem. Your prospect are a population. That’s a number. Your sales goals are a dollar amount. That’s a number. The spaces between where your prospects are now and when they become a customer goals are best addressed when you look at the math more, shine less. Marketing doesn’t have to pause when it’s rooted in math.
3. Marketing is simple. There is an entire marketing industry that benefits when marketing is complex. The less you know and understand the various components of marketing, the more money the marketing industry makes. If you’ve ever bought ads on Facebook or ran Google ads on your own, or invested in a hot ticket like social media marketing, you know this to be true. It’s not their problem if you don’t get it. Put tactics like those on the back burner and examine the simple steps of your customer’s journey from prospect to customer, and you realize you marketing can do more with less. Not the other way around. Marketing doesn't have to pause when you keep it simple.

Marketing pauses come down to a simple truth that we expect marketing to do more than it can. Ask your marketing to do the humble chore of working through the numbers and process of the customer journey, and you'll find that marketing pauses and fits and starts are someone else's problem now.

I am an entrepreneur and independent marketing consultant. You can reach me at john@myjparms. 612-590-1995 and at www.myjparms.com.