Why cookie-cutter marketing isn’t working for your business

Want to know why cookie-cutter marketing isn’t working for your business? Maybe you’ve paid for a DIY marketing course or signed up for some type of group programme and are feeling deflated from not seeing the results that are promised or that others are getting. If so, don’t panic! Keep on reading to find out why cookie-cutter marketing isn’t working for your business.

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What I mean by cookie-cutter marketing

Cookie-cutter marketing isn’t a term in the dictionary so whilst the term is used online some people use it differently so I want to clarify what I mean by cookie-cutter marketing. I am focused on cookie-cutter marketing from the business owner’s perspective, rather than the client or customer’s perspective.

Cookie-cutter marketing is where someone is teaching everyone the same approach. They have a formula that is followed over and over again and it doesn’t take into consideration the type of business, business model, business owner, ideal customer or clients etc.

7 REASONS WHY COOKIE-CUTTER MARKETING ISN’T WORKING FOR YOUR BUSINESS

1. The strategy worked then but it doesn’t anymore

Digital marketing is a fast-moving space. What was working last year might not be working this year. For example, for years I raved about Pinterest. It was consistently driving traffic to my websites for years and I felt it was a place that offered a great return-on-investment for my time. But then it all changed. An update and change to the algorithm meant my monthly views on Pinterest plummeted and the traffic it was driving to my website also drastically reduced. Now if I had a self-study or DIY course you could have bought that and started applying what I was teaching but being oblivious that all that information would be now out of date.

2. The strategy doesn’t play to your strengths

If you are responsible for marketing your business then you should be finding a way to market your business that plays to your strengths. When you are following a cookie-cutter marketing approach you might be doing the complete opposite. You could find yourself trying to force yourself to do something that feels like hard work and you are basically setting yourself up to fail.

For example, I believe that it is a great idea to regularly publish long-form content, but I don’t prescribe whether that should be a blog, YouTube channel or podcast. The reason why I don’t prescribe what format you should create your long-form content in is so that the business owner can choose which one makes the most of their strengths. For example, if you are comfortable on camera and have editing skills then YouTube would be a great option. However, if you prefer talking to writing, but aren’t comfortable on camera I’d recommend having a podcast. And if you love writing then you should definitely consider having a blog.

Not sure what you should choose for your business? Read more about choosing between a Podcast, YouTube channel or Blog here.

Now I’m not saying that you shouldn’t be pushing yourself to try new things. As a business owner, you should be pushing yourself outside of your comfort zone – that is how you grow. For example. it is a good idea for all business owners to embrace video, but you could add a little bit of video into your social media marketing rather than starting a YouTube channel that you are meant to be posting on twice a week.

FED UP OF COOKIE-CUTTER MARKETING THAT ISN’T WORKING FOR YOUR BUSINESS?

WANT TO GET A BESPOKE MARKETING STRATEGY CREATED FOR YOUR BUSINESS?

I’m a Business and Marketing Strategist that specialises in supporting service-based business owners who are small in size, but big in ambition.

I’m a Chartered Marketer with over a decade of professional marketing experiences across a whole range of marketing channels. That means when I create a marketing strategy I’m not basing it on how I market my business or using a cookie-cutter approach. Instead, I focus on 3 things: your business, your ideal client and you.

I then create a strategy that can easily be delivered by one person whether that be you or a VA.

To find out more about getting a bespoke marketing strategy for your business contact me here or book a free, no-obligation, introduction call to discuss your business here.

3. Sometimes the ‘expert’ got lucky

No one wants to admit that they were lucky. However, especially in the world of social media where algorithms play a big part in an account becoming successful or not it is possible that someone got lucky. They did the right things and the right time and that combination helped them to see great results, but just following the ‘things’ they did won’t mean you get the same results.

4. What works for big accounts doesn’t always work for small accounts

I had a professional marketing career before running my own business and I would have a budget of hundreds of thousands and a number of people or agencies to make everything happen. When I started working with solopreneurs and small business owners I thought about what I learnt from big businesses, but then adapted it to be suitable for small businesses. Not everything that worked for a big business would work for a small business and not everything that works for a big account will work for a small account.

I’m sure you’ve seen posts online such as “Gained 10,000 followers in 24 hours” or “Generated £100,000 from one launch”. Those headlines are purposefully designed to hook you in, but you need to interrogate the numbers. Gaining 10,000 followers in 24 hours when their account had 10,000 is very different to if they already had 1 million subscribers. Making £100,000 in a launch when you have a mailing list of 25,000 people is very different to if you have 2,500.

5. It is too intense for you to maintain in the long-term

Another reason why cookie-cutter marketing isn’t working for your business is because you can’t maintain the recommendations over the long-term. Consistency is key in marketing, especially when you are building a business that you want to last for years. Sometimes the cookie-cutter marketing strategy is simply too intense and involves too much time or money for you to be able to maintain in the long run. You can manage it for a bit, but then you burn out and stop implementing the recommendations altogether. As a result whether it was working at first or not you’ll stop seeing results. When choosing a marketing strategy it is essential to follow something that you can follow for months not just weeks.

6. You don’t have the right foundations in place for your business

Sometimes there is nothing wrong with the cookie cutter marketing strategy, but there is a problem with the business’ foundations. For example, it could be that the marketing was designed to help you build awareness and have people book discovery calls with you. People book into calls with you, but no one signs up. That means you have a sales problem, not a marketing problem. Or maybe you decided to up your marketing because you want to grow your business. You set yourself a nice new financial goal, decide to offer a new service, use a new marketing strategy, make sales but don’t hit your financial goal. You blame the marketing, but in fact your pricing was the actual problem.

7. It focuses on one platform or channel and doesn’t take into consideration everything else you are doing

If you are following a cookie-cutter marketing strategy for one platform (Instagram, LinkedIn etc) or a specific channel (such as email marketing) then it might not be working because it is focused on one thing and doesn’t integrate with the rest of your marketing. Your marketing needs to be working together. Nowadays people expect to have a consistent experience with a brand or business, and in order for that to happen your marketing strategy needs to be created with that in mind. It should be one goal and all of the different channels and platforms working nicely together.

That’s it! You know now why cookie-cutter marketing isn’t working for your business.

Hopefully this has made you feel better about why your marketing isn’t working. So often when people teach cookie-cutter marketing they will put the blame onto the business owner when it doesn’t work, but in most cases it won’t be you.

The fact is rather than following cookie-cutter marketing you needed to invest in getting a bespoke marketing strategy developed specifically for your business.

A good bespoke marketing strategy will take into consideration your business, your ideal client and YOU. You’ll end up with a strategy that is as individual as your business is and see better results.

If you are ready to get a bespoke marketing strategy created for your business then I can help. Contact me here or book a free, no-obligation, introduction call to discuss your business here.