Welcome to the Funhouse: Digital Marketing in All Its Splendor
Digital marketing, they say, is the heartbeat of modern business. Which is true, if your heart beats erratically, sometimes skips a few beats entirely, and is largely dependent on caffeine, analytics dashboards, and your cousin Kyle who once ran a mildly successful meme page in 2016.
Now, don’t get me wrong—marketing can work. It’s just that many companies approach it like they’re assembling IKEA furniture without the instructions or an Allen wrench. What results is a beautifully janky mess of half-baked strategies, missing goals, and the haunting realization that nobody knows who the audience actually is.
Enter: consultants. The people you once mocked for “not doing real work” now appear like marketing therapists, swooping in to fix your emotional baggage—and your CTR.
Let’s unpack why trusting the experts might just be your best hope at salvaging your digital dignity.
Step One: Set Some Goals (Like, Actual Ones)
Not vague vibes. Not “get more engagement.” Actual, clear goals. I once met a client whose digital marketing strategy was “go viral.” When I asked “with what?” they responded “you know… stuff.” This is the marketing equivalent of saying your career plan is “to be rich.”
Good consultants are like fairy godmothers with spreadsheets. They help you define goals that are measurable, realistic, and don’t require divine intervention. They keep you from setting your sights on unicorns when what you really need is a reliable pony.
Also, having goals means you can actually tell if your plan is working. Otherwise, you’re just clapping in the dark and hoping someone, somewhere, is clapping back.
Step Two: Know Your Audience (No, Not Just Their Age Range)
Here’s a fun trick: describe your ideal customer without using the words “millennial,” “tech-savvy,” or “likes dogs.”
Most companies think they know their audience, but it’s usually based on the one time someone commented “cool” on a Facebook post. Consultants, on the other hand, do something radical—they use data. They craft personas so detailed, you half expect them to start texting you.
When you know your audience’s pain points, desires, and what keeps them doomscrolling at 2 AM, your marketing finally becomes more “magnetic” and less “desperate first date energy.”
Step Three: Content, or The Stuff You Keep Shoving at People
Quantity is not the same as quality. If your current content strategy is to post motivational quotes with stock photos of mountain climbers, please stop. Unless you sell hiking gear or deep metaphors, no one wants that.
Consultants help you turn your content into a story. Not a bedtime story, but one that wakes people up—ideally long enough to fill out a form, click a CTA, or just remember your brand exists.
And let’s not forget SEO. Because what’s the point of making amazing content if it’s hiding on page 47 of Google results, right between a chicken casserole recipe and conspiracy theories about Mars?
Step Four: Embrace the Chaos (With a Guide)
The digital world moves faster than my mom at a clearance sale. One day you’re mastering TikTok dances, the next it’s all about AI-generated newsletters and marketing in the Metaverse.
Consultants keep you from chasing every shiny object. They’re the person at the buffet who tells you, “Maybe don’t mix sushi with mashed potatoes.” They keep you on track, managing platforms, avoiding PR landmines, and telling you when your “bold new idea” is actually a terrible one.
Common Marketing Pitfalls: A Greatest Hits Album of Bad Decisions
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No Strategy: Like trying to bake a cake with no recipe, no ingredients, and a vague hope it’ll taste like grandma’s.
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Talking to the Wrong People: Shouting your message at the wrong crowd is like selling meat to vegans—ambitious but doomed.
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Too Much Meh Content: If your blog sounds like it was written by a robot with low self-esteem, it’s time to revise.
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Ignoring Analytics: Flying blind is fine for pigeons. Not for marketing teams.
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Forgetting Mobile: If your site on mobile looks like a ransom note, start over.
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Inconsistent Branding: One week you’re luxury, the next you’re “quirky fun”—pick a personality and commit, like a real adult.
Why Consulting Isn’t Just for the Lost and Desperate
Think of a consultant like a personal trainer. Yes, you could do 100 squats alone in your living room—but will you? And will they be good squats? Probably not.
Consultants:
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Set your marketing GPS.
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Build you a workout plan that doesn’t kill your knees (or your budget).
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Track your progress, shout encouragement, and remind you to stop skipping leg day (aka mobile optimization).
They bring specialized skills, fresh eyes, and a brutal honesty your internal team is too polite to voice.
Insivia: The Marketing Sherpa You Never Knew You Needed
At Insivia, we do more than just hand you a PDF and wish you luck. We roll up our sleeves, get into the digital muck with you, and come out with a strategy that actually, you know, works.
Our approach? Honest conversations, weirdly specific personas, data deep dives, and a mild caffeine addiction. We’re not here to be flashy—we’re here to make sure your marketing doesn’t suck.
From strategy to SEO, branding to analytics, we make digital marketing less of a fever dream and more of a focused, measurable, dare-we-say fun endeavor.
Final Thought: Embrace Help. Your Marketing Deserves It.
You wouldn’t perform surgery on yourself. So why are you trying to fix your marketing solo?
Let consultants shine a light on the things you can’t—or won’t—see. Let them help you articulate goals, know your audience like they’re family (but the ones you like), and create campaigns that actually resonate.
And hey, if all else fails, at least now you have someone to blame who isn’t Kyle.
Written by: Tony Zayas, Chief Revenue Officer
In my role as Chief Revenue Officer at Insivia, I am at the forefront of driving transformation and results for SaaS and technology companies. I lead strategic marketing and business development initiatives, helping businesses overcome plateaus and achieve significant growth. My journey has led me to collaborate with leading businesses and apply my knowledge to revolutionize industries.