If you are in charge of approving and paying the bills at your business, do you ever feel like you are paying a lot for marketing and not seeing any return on your investment? I often talk to business managers who tell me they are bleeding marketing dollars and not seeing results. There may be several reasons for this. Some are misconceptions about marketing. Some are misplaced marketing. In any case, here are some of the more common causes of frustration when spending marketing dollars without results.

Marketing is not magic

One misconception I hear from customers is that we tried to do marketing and it did not work. What were you expecting? If you expected to place one ad that would mesmerize thousands of people into believing in your brand—or, should I say, buying your brand—you are not understanding the way marketing works. The truth is, it takes time for people to become familiar with your brand, to understand what you are selling, understand why they would be better off buying from you than from your competition and be convinced they need what you are selling. For that reason, marketing needs to be communicated often. We are not playing some sort of hypnosis game with consumers, we are convincing them to buy your brand. That takes time and repetition.

Don’t limit your marketing definition

Many times, marketing is defined as good graphic design. All you really need is an artistically pleasing logo and people should be drawn to your brand. However, marketing is much more than attracting attention to your brand through design. It also includes strategically helping people remember what your brand is all about. Who are you to them? What do you produce and why is it different from your competition? Marketing also involves more than awareness of your brand. It involves making an offer to potential customers and retaining your old customers. In other words, it is complex and all-encompassing to the customer experience: from encountering your brand for the first time to the first sale, to customer service and engaging the customer after the sale to more sales. Don’t limit your marketing with too narrow a definition of the discipline.

You’re missing your target

You may be marketing in the wrong place for your target market. That means you have to understand who your target is and is not. What if everyone is your target market? That is not likely unless you are selling very basic life necessities, like water. There are groups of people who are more likely to buy your goods and services than others. Define them, but don’t stop there. Ask yourself what they prefer, including what catches their attention. Spend your marketing dollars appealing to this group of people in the place where they are likely to look. To be effective with target markets, you have to implement a strategic marketing plan that is being evaluated and updated given the values and attitudes of the consumers in those groups.

Take a long view of marketing

If you are expecting too much from one round of marketing you are going to be disappointed. Why? Because there is a right time to get a prospect to make a purchase. Your marketing has to be in front of them until they are ready to make that step forward. Marketing is about keeping your brand at the top of the customer's mind when the right time occurs. I pay scant attention to automobile tire advertising until I wear out my old tires and need to make a purchase. Before that point, it is important that tire companies keep their name in front of me so that when I get to the point where I need tires, I think of them.

If you feel like you are bleeding marketing dollars, take a step back and evaluate where you are promoting your brand in light of your target market. All marketing should lead to sales, but it takes time to function properly. Are you expecting too much without time for marketing to work? Don’t short circuit the process. Maybe you are marketing in the wrong places. It might be time to make a change to be more in tune with your target market. Take a good look at what you are marketing, how you are marketing and to whom you are marketing. The marketing dollars you invest should be coming back to you and much more. Make sure your marketing is working for you.