A century ago, physicists added up the mass and energy of a galaxy. When they tallied it up, it came up short.
Galaxies were moving faster than they should. At that speed, stars and planets should be flung off into the void.
The stuff holding it together was missing. A lot of stuff. Like…85% of it.
They couldn’t see or measure what was holding it all together, so they simply called it “dark matter.”
I avoid math like cats avoid hot tubs, but, that’s the general idea. There is something there. They can’t see it. Hence: Dark Matter and Dark Energy.
Marketing has a similar physics problem.
There are things we plainly see in the Galaxy of Marketing:
- Your product must be something a customer wants
- It needs to be priced in a way that matches a customer’s expectation of the value
- It should be easily available at a place a customer expects to find it
- And you better promote the thing, so the customer knows it exists
Eagle-eyed readers will recognize the classic “4 Ps of Marketing.” Our Laws of the Universe. Violate them and you will get flung off into the void.
But following those laws doesn’t guarantee success.
There are other forces at work.
Dark Marketing.
These are the things we can’t account for, but are there just the same:
- Invisible feelings a customer has about you or your product
- The quality of your competition
- The impact quotient of your advertising
- A snowstorm
- A sunny day
- A holiday
- The amount of competition in your market
- A headline that makes customers uncomfortable about spending money
- Whims of the algorithms
- A new competitor
- Traffic patterns
- Street talk
In truth, many of these things can, theoretically, be measured with deep econometric studies. Most small businesses have neither the time nor cash to pull that off, however.
A simple way to think of it is this: Roofing companies become really successful after a hurricane. And unsurprisingly lean during calmer seasons. Marketing had nothing to do with either of those things, but those forces impacted it none-the-less.
If you’re a dentist in a state that just took fluoride out of the water, I think you’re about to get a raise.
There is no marketing or advertising that works 100% of the time with consistent growth. Dark energy surrounds our galaxy, and our businesses. It causes a push and pull. One day tariffs are on, then they’re off. Statisticians say the economy is good. Mr. and Mrs. America aren’t so sure about it.
Oh, and AI is coming to destroy everything. I think. Not sure.
Today, businesses have access to incredible data. Every digital purveyor has a “dashboard” to show you results (or, at least, the results they want you to see). Meta and Alphabet give you a waterfall of numbers. Granular data that zooms in tighter than ever. This is undeniably improving efficiencies.
But zooming into grains means you’re so close, you miss the big picture.
Before you start to fiddle with the knobs and uproot a good campaign while it’s still in its infancy, remember the Dark Marketing forces at play.
