My $200 Marketing Mistake and the Lesson That Redefined My Consulting” or “Why ‘High Traffic’ Can Be a Useless Metric: A Case Study on Targeting ‘Doers’ vs. ‘Dreamers’
I use this as a simple example for something much bigger: a year ago, I launched a promoted post for an article I had written. I spent a modest budget on Facebook… The results came in: thousands of views, plenty of clicks. I was thrilled. Then I checked my sales dashboard: Zero. Nothing.
The article was a philosophical piece... It was perfect for attracting an audience I call ‘Dreamers’—people who enjoy thinking about business in the abstract.”
But my service isn’t for Dreamers. It’s for ‘Doers’—founders, entrepreneurs, and managers who need to make a decision now. It is about finding the target group.
I thought publicising a philosophical piece of text will help my brand and so elevate my sales. It did not – there were many people who like my way of thinking, but hardly any of them needed my service. The connection trom the philosophical article to my services in market value, marketing ROI and brand value calculations and research was not present for the readers, or they did not need it.
How This “Failure” Makes Me a Better Consultant
“This experience is why I am so passionate about data-driven validation. Before my clients spend a single euro on ads, it is important to ask the tough, practical questions that separate ‘Dreamers’ from ‘Doers’:
- The Message Test: Is my content speaking to the person who thinks about the problem, or the person who pays to solve it?
- The Alignment Test: Does my Call to Action (CTA) on this post align perfectly with the service I’m selling?
- The Market Test (The ‘Doer’ Question): Have I calculated my Serviceable Addressable Market (SAM)? Do I actually know how many people are in my target niche and what their potential value is?
- The Metric Test: Am I measuring the right thing? (Stop tracking ‘Views’ and start tracking ‘Qualified Leads’).”
The market test is not expensive – see my order page. You, the reader, might even do it yourself and decide if you want professional assistance. Most successful campaigns are the result of contributions of multiple persons:
- The business owner or Chief Marketing Officer
- The consultant helping defining the target group and messaging with the help of AI
- The responsive clients who help developing strategy and product by answering questions
- The designers who do the final graphic appearance
Lets start it and find the marketing mistake.
