“Should we do influencer marketing?” “Can we start posting on Instagram?” “Should we run Meta ads?”
These sound like marketing questions. Often, they are questions that arrive too early.
Before choosing a channel, a business needs to decide what it is trying to build in the first place.
A brand may want to be perceived as premium, affordable, trustworthy, fast, expert, friendly, luxurious or simply convenient. Those decisions shape almost every subsequent marketing decision. They influence the audience, the language, the visual identity, the creators a brand works with, the kind of content it produces and even the customers it is willing to attract.
The problem is that channels are now incredibly accessible. Almost every business can run paid ads. Almost every business can create reels. Influencer collaborations are available at many budget levels. A phone can produce content that would once have required a production team.
Access is no longer the difficult part.
Choice is.
Why businesses end up copying the competitor
A business can easily end up copying the marketing behaviour of competitors. If competitors are using influencers, the natural reaction is to find influencers. If everyone is posting reels, the natural reaction is to post more reels. The campaign may generate reach and engagement while still feeling disconnected from the brand.
That usually happens when the channel becomes the starting point instead of the brand.
Consider an influencer campaign. The creator may have an excellent audience and strong engagement. But if the creator's personality, language and positioning communicate something completely different from what the brand wants to mean, the campaign can create attention without creating the right association.
The same problem exists with content. A business can publish every day and still leave customers unclear about what makes the business different.
Reverse the sequence
Marketing works better when the sequence is reversed.
First: What are we trying to mean?
Then: Who needs to believe it?
Then: What behaviour are we trying to influence?
Only then should the business ask which channels and formats make sense.
Positioning rarely produces a screenshot
The least visible part of marketing is often the most important part. Positioning rarely produces an immediate screenshot. It does not look as exciting as a campaign launch. But it gives the visible work a direction.
There is no shortage of channels.
The harder question is whether the marketing being chosen actually fits the business being built.