Marketing is an investment.
With spectacular returns.
Don't ever stop marketing.
Cut marketing and sales will fall too.
Marketing drives sales [I'd argue nothing else does], so be in no doubt that if you want the latter, you'll have to work hard on the former.
If your marketing is not working, you're doing it wrong. That doesn't mean stop marketing, it means stop doing the wrong marketing — go and ask people who know what you should be doing*, listen to them, and start doing the right marketing.
Not all of it will pay off today — much will take weeks, months and even years to filter down the funnel and into your company’s sales gas tank. But that doesn't mean it’s not working.
The original Mad Man, ad guru, David Ogilvy said, “Any damn fool can put on a deal, but it takes genius, faith and perseverance to create a brand.”
Marketing is like any investment strategy — you need to have short, medium and long-term goals, and you'll do different things for each.
From your salary you save a little money for the weekend on the fizz, you save a little money for your summer holiday, and you put away a little for your pension. Stop doing any of them and the future starts looking dull at best, and scary at worst.
If you want to go out on the razzle this weekend you need to do a deal today, but if you want a luxurious retirement you'll need to put in years of faith and perseverance building an amazing brand.
*people who know what your marketing should be and to whom you should listen:
- your customers. 2. your staff (possibly not the marketing team) 3. the last resort, consultants….