Why businesses race to begin rather than begin to race.
After working with hundreds if not thousands of small-to-medium businesses over the course of (well over) twenty years, many of which included nonprofits and institutions such as private colleges, manufacturers, law firms, and corporate holdings, after a while I became a little jaded, honestly, as I began to see how common it was for businesses whether they were small and new to marketing or established and secure financially yet making the same (avoidable) mistakes as the struggling startup for myriad reasons.
Here are just a few ways I’ve seen businesses put “the cart before the horse” in relation to their overall marketing and certainly in relation to digital marketing in particular. But before we get started highlighting some of the metaphorical ways businesses often sacrifice needed progress unknowingly (and in some cases knowingly), let’s first define what we mean by using this common idiom.
Below this paragraph should be an infographic I created illustrating key points. If you don’t see it, just scroll down to the end of the post.
Putting the cart before the horse.
When I use the term “cart before the horse,” I’m referencing a common and fairly old term or proverb for a process being executed in a manner that is contrary to logic and conventional industry norms.
Now, since it’s very common for many businesses (especially new or struggling businesses) not to know commonly-held industry norms in digital marketing practice, it’s no great shock to have seen companies shun those norms however unfortunate.
So when I use these metaphors to illustrate ways in which business owners often engaging in marketing in a manner that is opposite to a way that could help them it’s with the desire to illustrate (hopefully) helpful and ameliorative ways in which engaged business owners and entrepreneurs can learn from the mistakes of others and reverse course by putting the horse before the cart and reach their desired outcomes that much easier and faster.
Racing to begin rather than beginning to race.
In this example, the business is “chomping at the bit,” (yet another old idiom in which a horse usually pulling a cart or wagon is biting at a “bit” put in its mouth so it can pull the cart forward, denoting unbridled enthusiasm to move ahead) to gain traction by starting before ready.
This is one of the the most common, if not the single most common instance I see and hear about on a daily basis (and often multiple times per day) in which a business is eager to generate some results in online marketing efforts but without yet having the necessary tools or planning needed in order to have valuable assets in place. Usually they build a “free” DIY template website with no or incorrect SEO, minimal if any content, poor design and User Experience, no paid advertising, and then wonder why they’re not gaining traction.
This example could be the company not having a marketing plan, so it’s great that they’re getting started, for example, but they’re rushing forward with marketing without having yet a clearly defined consumer base, or without any SEO plan (local or national for example), without any marketing content (which can take weeks to months to produce depending on resources), with or without a PPC plan (paid advertising), without any competitive branding, and on it goes. In most cases this is as simple as having a generic do-it-yourself template devoid of local or national SEO, devoid of marketing plan or content or ways to determine success that is posted online, and then waiting anywhere from six months to six years to see if anything happens. Since this is one of the top examples of “raring to go” it’s often also one of the toughest traps to get out of for a business, as so many become entrenched whether emotionally or financially in their “free” DIY template that they’re unable to proceed from that vantage point and can stay in that stasis point for years on end sacrificing tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars in potential profits to competitors.
In this case, it’s vital to begin progressing with marketing, hopefully combining effective digital marketing with traditional “boots on the ground” marketing, after the business has a thought out and tested plan in place along with needed assets and tools.
Empty carts.
This example refers to expanding upon our previous point where we include into our “moving forward”marketing plan not only SEO, eCommerce, content marketing, social media marketing, content repurposing, design, automation, and other aspects of digital marketing with traditional marketing in such a manner that all these seemingly disconnected “items” are actually extensions of the overall ongoing process of marketing as the business moves toward its goal (such as doubling profits within one calendar year, increasing donations for a NPO by 25% within 9 months, or some other equally ambitious but worthy goal).
If we look at marketing as a “one and done” single item to be hauled around, or as something that needs to be checked of a “to do” list, we’re proceeding forward essentially with empty carts as we have nothing to deliver even if we reach an end-goal. However, if we see marketing as an ongoing process that has multiple levels requiring a complex, thought-out plan with accompanying strategies, we’re more likely to be able to reach our destination faster, easier, and plant seeds along the journey.
Too far to travel.
Again, this point expands upon our previous point, in that most business owners and senior staff often underestimate how tough a road to hoe they may have ahead or how long that proverbial road could very well be.
For example, every business in existence needs money to survive much less generate sustainable profits to grow upon further. Yet, if we look at most business sites on the internet today, overwhelmingly most do not utilize eCommerce and if they do, it’s usually only in one specific manner. So let’s unpack that a little more since it’s a literal example of turning away money. Every business needs to provide services in exchange for money whether by hours, packaged offerings, downloads, courses, classes, accepting donations, or they exchange products such as groceries or single items for payment. Yet if we look at your own competitors online or company website, will we as consumers facing the business website be able to make payment online for services such as booking a consultation, scheduling a meeting, paying for classes, easily and securely? Can a lawyer accept payment online, can clinic, dentist, college, private school, yoga teacher, or restaurant? In most cases, they cannot. And it’s not their fault, certainly, but it remains an example of a road too far to travel unprepared. Which leads us to our final point in this brief post….
Broken wheels.
Finally, by broken wheels on the cart, I’m metaphorically referring to businesses that are “running” deficits in their marketing (and subsequent digital marketing) efforts in which an integral component part is either missing completely (such as SEO, which is usually the one missing most commonly) or underutilized. It’s incumbent upon the proactive, progressive, profit-concerned business owner to realize that while there are hundreds of do-it-yourself templates, none provide in-depth solutions that encompass all of what is needed in a satisfactory marketing effort and most lack the needed insights a trained and experienced professional provides. Also, where there are deficits (no content marketing plan, no content provided before launch, no branding, no content repurposing, no eCommerce used on multiple levels such as to take payments for services and products or consultative services), those need to be resolved before jumping into the saddle.
Although these metaphorical points are comparing the long-range journey that is effective profitable digital marketing to placing the cart before the horse, if they can be taken seriously and acted upon with adequate help implementing them, substantial results can still be seen quickly.