The Fatal Mistake Most Marketing Agencies Make

Last week I visited an agency who failed to drive any new clients for a massage therapist. They had never done marketing for a massage therapist before.

This one poor guy, was trying to run ads for a plumber. Then switching to writing ads about pain management, then auto repair, and then a real estate agent. All totally separate types of businesses with specialized industry expertise required to effectively market.

Just because you can build a pretty website doesn’t mean you can convince someone who is looking for SAT prep for their kids to spend money on a business that does SAT prep.

Don’t fool yourself.

Choose ONE niche and serve it well.

Small businesses who don’t know anything about digital marketing might give you money at first.

But if 6 months later, they don’t see new clients and notice your social media posts get zero engagement, they might start asking questions.

Aggressive salespeople will attempt to offer everything to everyone. They claim to build websites, produce videos, run Facebook ads, optimize your Google listing, and offer advice on crypto. And they’ll say they can help every type of business— from accounting services to zen garden designers.

The successful agencies do one thing for one type of client. Then do it over and over again. Would you trust someone who claims to be a surgeon and can also repair your washing machine?

Overeager salespeople will claim they can do everything for everyone because they think it will widen their potential customer base, helping them close more deals.

But the reality is that the most successful agencies get really good at one type of client, like Sal Steffano with cryotherapy clinics, Jorge Cruz with doctors that serve Hispanic patients, or Welton Hong with funeral homes.

Each of these pros knows exactly what works. So they don’t need to guess.

And each time Josh Nelson has a new HVAC company, he has a process his team follows every time, which has worked for hundreds of HVAC clients. This means his clients stay with him for years and years, instead of 3-5 months, like most marketing agencies. Trying to be a pro at every aspect of digital marketing for every type of business under the sun is a recipe for disaster— you’ll be exhausted and broke.

Back to our San Diego North Country massage therapist. Even within massage therapy there are many specialties— sports, Swedish, hot stone, pain management, geriatric, and so forth.

Our buddy, Philippe, specializes in just one type— chronic pain. And he’s helped over 5,000 clients with chronic pain, which is not the same as a 60 minute couples massage for Valentines Day.

Ask yourself, how long would it take you just to learn what works for each type of massage therapist, much less every type of business on this planet?