Kelford Labs Daily: Marketing need or want?

A common way clients come to us is after trying something else.

Often, we’ll work with entrepreneurs who’ve already spent thousands—even tens of thousands—of dollars on others’ marketing services, which got them no results.

But here’s the thing, if we went back in time and we were able to observe those folks making those purchase decisions, they’d frame them as “needs”.

As in, we “need” to spend this money. We “need” to rebuild our website. We “need” to run ads. We “need” to lean into video. We “need” to start a podcast.

Rarely, if ever, is marketing described as a “want”.

But, let’s face it, it is.

Nobody needs marketing—what they need is increased sales volume, margin, or retention.

Marketing can help, if done right, but the need isn’t the marketing. It’s what the marketing achieves.

Which is all to say: Consider what you’re planning to spend your marketing money on, and ask yourself: Do I need to spend this money, or do I want to?

And if I want to, what is the real need motivating it?

Is it declining sales? Narrowing margins? Increased churn?

Or is it envy of a competitor, peer pressure, or imposter syndrome?

Spending a bunch of money that doesn’t help won’t make you feel any better.

But identifying what you actually need and then spending appropriately to address it—including on marketing—will help.

It starts, though, by figuring out why we want what we want, and what we actually need instead.