I would have to write a big-ass book to explain how to design a good marketing strategy. But it would take only a short blog post to tell you how to know when you’ve got a bad one.

There is one absolutely positive, 100%, every-single-time indicator that your marketing strategy (barring some phenomenal piece of luck) is DOA. And that one absolutely conclusive indicator is…. wait for it….. wait… the Magic Step.

A good marketing strategy creates an appealing path between you and your potential clients. A bad marketing strategy leaves gaps and obstacles in that path that the potential client will, somehow, for some reason, willingly traverse.

A perfect example of the Magic Step is the ubiquitous Myth of Seven Impressions — the belief that if you “just get your name out there” about seven times then clients will start knocking on your door.

Let’s take a closer look. For that strategy to make sense there would have to be something almost coercive about being exposed to a person, product or ad. A dubious claim indeed! I’d say that awareness alone generates no behavioral change (the only exception being in a case where you have no competition) (for more on this see “Awareness” doesn’t count for much)

The Seven Impressions strategy will fail because it’s not based the true nature of behavioral change (and behavioral change is, after all, what you’re looking for). The fact is, people change because they WANT to. So, what makes people want to change? I’ll tell ya. It’s Relevance, Credibility and Value.

A Magic Step, then, can be defined as a step that does not clearly establish enough Relevance, Credibility and Value to motivate a person to take the next necessary step.

And there you have it. If your marketing isn’t working I can pretty much guarantee there is a Magic Step there somewhere.

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