Mar 1, 2025 11:48:12 PM | marketing Comparison is the Thief of Happiness. Unrealistic Expectations Are The Real Problem With Marketing

Let’s be honest, marketing has a serious problem, and it’s not the complicated funnels or the challenges with first-party data or brand safety. It’s the snake oil! The dickheads out there are promising to “10x your marketing” with a wave of their magic wand. This is the real fake news problem. Snake oil. Lying. Mismessaging. Pick your buzzword; it all comes down to unrealistic expectations.

Every day, we encounter annoying and obnoxious Instagram, YouTube, or TikTok ads that promise unstoppable growth with minimal effort. It’s not just the marketers who see it; it's our bosses too! For no reason, we’re pressured to replicate “overnight success” that was never real in the first place. It was just a con artists ad!

My first-hand experience: I worked with a USA-based consultant who was replaced as a marketing lead by the CEO. The CEO was convinced that he had discovered a "guru" with the secret sauce. The CEO kept saying GA-4, GA-4 (IYKYK). Guess what? The new guru has also moved on, and the CEO called the consultant back and apologized. It was a problem with product-market fit! It was entirely unrelated to marketing. Do you believe the board or executives are interested in hearing this harsh reality? 

False Advertising as the Enemy

• Do you ever hear people brag about their incredible organic reach while never actually disclosing how much they secretly pay to Zuckerberg to boost their content? 
• Have you seen the guys on LinkedIn claiming to have $100M ad accounts, yet their reported revenue at HMRC is a laughable fraction of that? 

Comparison is the Thief of Joy

In marketing, comparing ourselves to fake “success stories” that are nothing more than smoke and mirrors is a real problem. Benchmarking things that aren't baked in reality will send you on a never-ending goose chase. Forcing everyone to chase after the next big hack or trick. Meanwhile, genuine strategies, like focusing like market fit, awareness, brand, creativity, etc., get completely ignored.

Let's Keep It Real

Marketing isn’t about making promises; it’s about connecting products to the right people in an authentic way. Unrealistic expectations destroy this mission. The next time you see an ad promoting a guaranteed 10x approach, please request references or consider reporting it as spam. Pull back the curtain on these BS "successes." And if your boss is swayed by shiny claims, remind them that good marketing can’t fix a broken product or a flawed business model. Stick to your guns!

You're not alone, according to CMOsurvey.org, fewer than half (48.3 percent) of marketing leaders believe their organization effectively measures the contribution of marketing to the bottom line

Ultimately, when lies and hype set the standard, nobody benefits. Let’s keep it real by focusing on the fundamentals and ditching the fairy tales.

This is the story nobody seems to want to talk about.