Fourteen proven ways to waste your marketing dollars

Nation's Restaurant News, June 28, 1999 by John R. Graham

John R. Graham is president of Graham Communications, a marketing services and sales consulting firm founded in 1976 and located in Quincy Mass. He is the author of "The New Magnet Marketing" and other books.

A CPA firm spends $11,200 on a Web site that attracts only a handful of visitors. An insurance agency invests $80,000 in an advertising campaign, and no one sees the ads. An alternative-health clinic sends out 8,000 direct-mail fliers and gets 26 responses. A manufacturer spends $28,000 on an attractive brochure that no one uses.

When analyzed carefully, each of the preceding actions is an example of wasted marketing dollars. The CPA firm's Web site was technically superior, but the company had no plan to attract visitors. The insurance ads lacked a clear message, so no one stopped to read them. The health clinic's mailer focused on the clinic, not the prospective patient. And the $28,000 brochure was 100-percent self-serving.

They are not isolated marketing mistakes. They happen every day, and they waste valuable marketing dollars.

To help evaluate a company's marketing program, here are 14 proven techniques for wasting marketing energy dollars:

(1) Always shoot from the hip. Doing so is what we might call the most common marketing plan in business today. Of course, it's no plan at all. But many otherwise- sophisticated companies believe they are marketing their products or services effectively by doing a mailing now, a couple of ads in the fall and a brochure somewhere in between. And from time to time, the price sheet is revised.

Someone comes up with a "great idea," and that's the marketing strategy for this month or this quarter. Even though it sounds ridiculous, this is what passes as marketing in far too many businesses. It all adds up to no plan, no understanding, no organization, no purpose -- and no results.

(2) Do your marketing only when more sales are needed. Companies of all sizes are guilty of spending their marketing dollars at one particular point: when sales lag. That's the time someone finds enough money to sign up for a trade show or get out a promotional flier. Of course, they don't know what's going to happen when they arrive at the show or what should be in the flier, and they don't understand why they should. "What difference does it make, anyway?" they say. "It gets our name out there. That's all that counts." Is it? Even when what's done makes a negative impact on customers?

Once a crisis passes, marketing is back on the shelf -- until next time. Every company experiences slow periods. One reason to market consistently is to make certain that business is coming to you at all times.

(3) Make your secretary the marketing director. If that sounds sexist, it isn't. Many managers feel that everything is in good hands because the sales manager's secretary is the marketing director. She orders pamphlets and a letterhead. And when the company needed a brochure, she had a friend, actually a cook, but he really likes to do artwork. Anyway, he did the whole job for 50 bucks. It's unfair to give a title and responsibility to someone who lacks the right experience and training. Unfortunately, these are the people who fill countless marketing slots. And then management complains because the marketing is ineffective.

(4) Duplicate exactly what your competition is doing. When it comes to stealing marketing ideas, some businesses rival the CIA. They know exactly what the competition is doing almost before it happens. Cutting the bad guys off at the pass is what they consider aggressive marketing. "We know how to beat them to the punch," they say.

Why would anyone want a competitor to be the catalyst for a company's marketing strategy? Again, it happens every day. One company offers a rebate, and everyone falls into line.

(5) Expect huge results from a tiny budget. A certain marketing mind-set exists. Send out a mailing, and someone comes to the conclusion that it should get at least a 25-percent response! On what basis? How good was the list? How do we know it was the right audience? Was the offer strong or weak? Was it tested?

If $25,000 is spent on a marketing campaign, why does management expect $2 million in sales? But that's the thinking. When there's no miracle, someone says, "See, marketing doesn't work. Just get sales to work a little harder. That's all we need."

(6) Don't waste time and money on research. Walk into the storerooms of almost any company, including the Fortune 1000, and what will you find? Cartons and cartons of expensive brochures, self-mailers, fliers and a dozen of other marketing materials gathering dust.

"We know what we need," says the company's macho marketing mogul. "We've got the best product at the right price. All we need to do is tell them about it." That's right. Who needs research on prospective customers? How do they think, what are their buying patterns and what are their problems? Instead, dollars are spent on classy brochures, direct mail and a Web site. Everything looks great except the results.