Take the Test: Are You Doing Hit-or-Miss Marketing?

Hit-or-miss marketing isn’t new. We’ve been talking about it in one form or another for several years. At one point, we called hit-or-miss marketing something entirely different. For most of those several years I mentioned above, it went by another name entirely. 

But…

It turned out that someone else was using the same phrase. It was nothing more than a coincidence, like how several popular songs use the same chord progression and melody. Or how one Christmas my wife unknowingly bought me the same shirt that my sister-in-law gifted my brother. We looked adorable and awkward, as you probably guessed.

Anyway, we needed a rebrand. Several options were tossed around – spray-and-pray marketing, wing-and-a-prayer marketing, spaghetti-against-the-wall marketing, Marco-Polo marketing (the pool game, not the explorer) – before we landed on hit-or-miss marketing.

Why do I tell you this story that my by-the-rules editor is almost certain to confront me about?

Because it doesn’t matter what you call it. Not only did we not invent the name, we also didn’t invent the concept. The important thing is whether you engage in the activity. Because if you are doing it, you’re acting no differently than the person who tried to get healthy but instead of sticking to a routine jumps from one thing to the next every week – cardio, low-fat, weights, yoga, Keto, HIIT, vegan, cycling – expecting to see consistent results.

It’s not happening. And nothing is going to change with your marketing and sales results if you engage in roll-the-dice marketing – err, hit-or-miss marketing. 

Are You Engaging in Hit-or-Miss Marketing?

Every time we mention the concept, CEOs and marketing pros alike say it resonates with them and their situation at their company. To fix hit-or-miss marketing, the first step is recognizing it.

Here’s a quick test to see if you’re guilty of hit-or-miss marketing. Be honest!

YES/NO – Do you have fully fleshed buyer personas that guide and define nearly every activity you do?

YES/NO – Do you use a system for marketing and sales to generate revenue?

YES/NO – Do you have a documented marketing strategy that details what tactics and campaigns you’ll be executing over the next three months?

YES/NO – Do you test and vet new technologies and tactics, and integrate them into your strategy rather than jumping on innovative new trends?

YES/NO – Do you have a story and supporting details that make your company remarkable in your industry?

YES/NO – Do you have an agreed-on marketing budget for the next six months or longer?

YES/NO – Do you have clear expectations for marketing performance over the next three months?

YES/NO – When a tactic isn’t working, do you make adjustments and optimizations rather than changing course and switching tactics?

YES/NO – Do you have defined processes for 90-day planning and 30-day execution?

YES/NO – Do you measure all your marketing on a weekly, monthly and quarterly basis?

YES/NO – Do you use a marketing and sales technology platform for automating and analyzing execution?

YES/NO – Do you run regular optimization on all your marketing campaigns and tactics?

If you answered no to even one of these items, you’re probably doing hit-or-miss marketing.

You’re Not Alone

Most companies engage in some level of hit-or-miss marketing, us included. Our team is filled with curious people who love to learn and push boundaries. That’s a recipe for hit-or-miss marketing – we constantly want to explore and try new things. What saves us is that we have a trusted system and established processes that snap us back in line when we start getting too reactionary. 

Even for the best companies, hit-or-miss marketing rears its head during times when things aren’t going well. When sales are down or leads are hard to come by or site visits have bottomed out or “the numbers” are just generally low, teams tend to search high and low for any answer and are usually game to try anything. 

It’s also true that many companies that don’t engage in hit-or-miss marketing DO engage in abracadabra sales or musical-chairs technology or free-jazz talent sourcing. See, it’s not about the name and it’s not just about marketing. It’s about whether you approach each facet of revenue generation with intention and purpose and connect it to a larger strategy.

If you don’t have a system that pulls everything together, work with a partner that does and can keep you pointed in the right direction.