"Marketing Is An Investment, Not An Expense"

by yst
7 replies
I forgot whom coined this phrase but:
1) Do you agree with this phrase?
2) When you should declare a way of marketing as "ineffective"?
  • Profile picture of the author Floyd Fisher
    1. Yes

    2. Are you reaching people who might have an interest in your product or service? It should be exactly how you evaluate any marketing method.
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  • And do I record the potential profits as a Capital Gain or Ordinary Income.... blah blah.

    Semantics mean nothing.
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  • Profile picture of the author Mark Blaze
    It's only ever an investment if you do something with it.

    Hence why my program and service subscriptions stay under close gard and as soon as i don't use them then they go!

    Plus it also comes into focus and not getting distracted on too many thing's and buying too many products and methods that you don't work on any of them!

    It's almost like saying buying a new pen is an investment and not an expense but then if you don't use it then it is just another expense!

    Although investments normally make you money and i know my pen sure helps

    Mark Blaze
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    • Profile picture of the author businessmatt
      I agree, but it also depends, what type of marketing are you doing? I've seen a lot of marketing/advertisements that were, quite simply, a waste of money. What's your goal? Are you branding? Are you using direct response marketing? Are your efforts measurable? Do you have some way of knowing if your marketing is working?

      Matt
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  • Profile picture of the author sdentrepreneur
    Are you sure? I thought that everything was free on the Internet and all marketing is free as well??
    You just burst my bubble and my business model....
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    • Profile picture of the author dougp
      Ofcourse marketing is an investment. However, if used incorrectly it can be mostly an expense, and this is why marketers decide to cut their marketing budget which is one of the worst things a marketer can do. Not investing any money into your marketing is like cutting off the life line of your business.

      Doug
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      • Profile picture of the author SantiSantana
        I have seen that quote by both Robert Kiyosaki on the Rich Dad books and By Sergio Zyman in his book "The end of marketing as we know it" ( a must read in my opinion).

        Zyman in that book talked about offline marketing on the same terms the pros speak in IM; ROI, conversions, sales. He didn´t like people who created ads to win awards rather than to make sales. He advocated ( I seem to recall) measuring an advertising campaign based on the increase in sales it produced and forgetting about brand awareness and other factors. Of course I´read it along time ago and I might be digressing but I felt he was very much in tune with the direct marketing approach, which isn´t exactly how marketers and advertising agencies off line "like" to work.

        He also spoke a lot about the man who inspired him, David O´Gilvy, arguably the grandfather of copywriting. Having a copywriter as a role model I would think he would have those views.

        Back on topic, Zyman talked about marketing being an invesment and not an expense and the need to measure efficiently its effectiveness and I fully agree with that approach.

        He also spoke about how in recession times your marketing efforts should not be reduced, rather increased, as with everyone else cutting marketing "expenses", those who stood out during the hard times were better positioned to lead the way when the economy recovers as they have had more visibility.

        So there, my 0,02
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