Why Your Marketing Isn't Working (And What to Do About It)

You're working hard, but the results aren't there.

It's a frustrating cycle of trial and error that drains your time and budget.

The problem isn't the platforms or the tools—it's the missing piece at the centre of your strategy.

Read on to discover the key to unlocking a powerful, efficient, and profitable marketing plan.

Based on my 25 years of working with businesses and teaching digital marketing at Concordia University, I've seen firsthand how a well-defined ICP can transform a business.

It’s not just a marketing exercise; it's a fundamental shift that simplifies every decision you make.

This article will show you how creating a detailed ICP directly addresses and simplifies the top ten digital marketing challenges SMBs face, turning each potential roadblock into a clear, actionable opportunity.

By understanding your perfect customer, you stop shouting into the void and start having meaningful conversations that drive real growth and revenue.

The Foundation: What is an Ideal Customer Persona?

Before we dive into how an ICP solves your problems, let's clarify what it is.

An Ideal Customer Persona is a detailed, semi-fictional representation of your perfect customer.

It's more than just demographics like age and location; it’s a deep dive into their motivations, pain points, goals, and daily behaviours.

Think of it as creating a profile for a specific person, complete with a name, a job title, and a clear understanding of what keeps them up at night.

Many times during my career, I would ask a potential client if they have a living document that describes everything about their ideal customer.

Many have not gone through this exercise. I hear responses such as, “We sell to everyone." or  "Everybody can use our product.”

What this means is that their marketing strategy is vague, unfocussed and fails to provide the results they desire.

For example, let’s consider a local coffee shop.

Their ICP isn't just "people who drink coffee."

It might be "Freelance Fiona," a 32-year-old graphic designer who values a quiet workspace with reliable Wi-Fi, seeks ethically sourced beans, and uses Instagram to discover new local spots.

Suddenly, marketing to "Freelance Fiona" is a lot easier than marketing to a generic group of coffee drinkers.

You know exactly where to find her and what to say.

Some SMBs are only in the development stage and are unsure of the best fit for their product or service.

Developing an ICP is a bit harder to develop but it is important to start developing one. An ICP is a living document.

You should be adding nuggets of crucial information that will help paint the ICP portrait clearer and with more colour.

Finally, we have the SMBs who have gone through this exercise but the ICP documents are stored away on a hard drive belonging to a computer that no one uses any more.

The effort was made but it has not been updated for years. 

How the ICP Simplifies Your Top 10 Marketing Challenges

The beauty of the ICP is that its benefits ripple through every aspect of your digital marketing strategy.

It’s the master-key that unlocks efficiency and effectiveness, providing clarity where there was once confusion. (The top ten marketing challenges are from a research article printed July 17th, 2025.)

1. Limited Budgets: Maximizing Every Marketing Dollar

Limited budgets are a persistent problem for SMBs, with 65% struggling with budget limitations in a typical year.

When you have a tight budget, every dollar must generate a return.

You cannot afford to waste money on broad campaigns that reach the wrong people.

• ICP as the Solution: Your ICP allows you to focus your limited funds on the channels and tactics most likely to reach your ideal customers.
  
  Instead of running a generic social media ad to everyone in your city, you can create a highly specific ad targeting "Freelance Fiona" on Instagram, mentioning your "reliable Wi-Fi" and "quiet ambiance."
  
  This precision means a higher conversion rate, and with email marketing generating an average ROI of $42 for every dollar spent, targeting the right people is critical for success.
  
  Your ICP prevents you from engaging in broad, expensive campaigns and instead forces a strategic focus on high-return channels.
  
  You will no longer have your marketing efforts hijacked. 

• How many times have your friends, colleagues and other SMBs provided their marketing advice that works for them and their customers but is not suitable for your business or your customer?
  
  Many entrepreneurs get sidetracked by following advice from people they believe no better or have more experience.
  
  Believe me, they mean well and want to see you succeed but following advice from others will have you chasing rabbits in several directions.
  
  You end up exhausting your marketing budget and time.

2. Lack of Time: Efficient Digital Marketing Management

SMB owners are stretched thin, with 56% reporting they have an hour or less per day to dedicate to marketing efforts.

With so little time, every action must be impactful.

The last thing you need is to spend hours on tasks that don’t move the needle.

• I take a survey of the students that I teach at Concordia and time, or the lack of it, is a big issue preventing the execution and consistency of the marketing strategy.
  
  Every entrepreneur dreams of acquiring more of this vital resource - time.
  
  Unfortunately, the only way we can get more of this precious resource is by improving our efficiency and focus.
  
  
• ICP as the Solution: Knowing your ICP saves you time by eliminating guesswork.
  
  You no longer have to spend precious minutes brainstorming what to post on social media or what topic to write about.
  
  Your ICP's pain points and interests become your content calendar.
  
  For "Freelance Fiona," you know she's interested in local art, co-working tips, and unique coffee recipes.
  
  You can quickly create content on these topics, confident it will resonate.
  
  This focus allows you to concentrate your efforts on high-impact activities rather than trying to do everything at once.

3. Difficulty Measuring ROI: Proving Your Digital Marketing Works

Quantifying the impact of marketing efforts can feel like a "black box" for many SMBs, and only 36% of marketers report they can accurately measure it.

Without clear data, it's impossible to know what's working.

• ICP as the Solution: When you build your campaigns around an ICP, measuring ROI becomes much clearer.
  
  You can create a distinct landing page for "Freelance Fiona's" campaign and track how many people from that specific ad converted.
  
  You can use tools like Google Analytics to track user behaviour and see if the ICP-focused content is driving more engagement.
  
  Because the strategy is so targeted, the results are easier to isolate and analyze, helping you identify and track the metrics that truly align with your business goals.

• One suggestion I have from experience running a multi-million dollar corporation and as an entrepreneur, don’t get caught up in vanity metrics.
  
  The first KPI to track is sales. The number of followers and likes on your social media platforms are irrelevant. 

4. Competing with Larger Companies: Standing Out in a Crowded Digital Space

It’s easy to feel like you're bringing a "knife to a gunfight" when competing with large companies that have massive budgets and brand recognition.

The growth of e-commerce sales creates even more competition from larger corporations that often dominate the online marketplace.

I worked for a start-up in Montreal commercializing a product for the international upstream oil and gas market sector.

There were twelve people in our company. Our competition was Schumberger Oil Field Services and Haliburton, two multi-billion market cap companies.

We niched down our marketing message to resonate with our ICP.

The first result, a number two ranking on Google or our niche and application.

The second result came from the first. An oil field consultant for companies in the North Sea found our website and gave us a call.

The third result was our first order totalling US$4.5 million.

• ICP as the Solution: The ICP helps you avoid a head-on fight. Instead of trying to be everything to everyone, you can become the perfect solution for your specific persona.
  
  Your niche specialization becomes your competitive advantage.
  
  Larger companies struggle to replicate the authentic, personalized connections that a small business can build with its ICP.
  
  By focusing on your unique selling proposition and speaking directly to your ICP, you can leverage your agility and personalized service to stand out and build a loyal customer base.

5. Understanding the Target Audience: Connecting with the Right Customers

"Reaching customers and growing sales" is a top operational challenge for SMBs, with 57% reporting this struggle.

Identifying and truly understanding customers can feel like guesswork, especially with limited resources.

With the AI tools available today, you can develop a detailed ICP document that will give you a great start moving forward.

Want to know how?

More on that at the end of the article.

• ICP as the Solution: This is the core purpose of the ICP. It forces you to move beyond guesswork and into a data-driven understanding of your audience.
  
  You can leverage CRM data, run customer surveys, and analyze website traffic to gather insights into your ICP's behaviours, values, and motivations.
  
  For many SMBs, the ICP is local, and it helps to focus on understanding local community issues and optimizing for local search, which only 19% of small businesses are currently using effectively.
  
  The ICP ensures that you are not just collecting data but actively interpreting and applying it to create truly targeted strategies.

6. Keeping Up with Digital Trends: Staying Ahead in a Fast-Evolving Landscape

The digital world moves at "warp speed," with new platforms and technologies emerging constantly.

It is challenging for an SMB to know which trends truly matter and which are just noise.

Trust me, I feel your pain.

Teaching SEO and social media every semester demands that I stay on top of the latest developments.

I rewrite 20 to 35% of my curriculum every semester.

I jokingly tell my students that much of what they learn this semester will be obsolete in 18 months. 

• ICP as the Solution: Your ICP acts as a filter for digital trends. Instead of trying to be on every platform, you can focus on the channels where your persona spends its time.
  
  If "Freelance Fiona" is on Instagram and TikTok, you can ignore the latest trends on platforms she doesn't use.
  
  This prevents you from being overwhelmed and allows you to be effective on the right platforms.
  
  For example, if your ICP responds well to video, you can prioritize short-form video content, which offers high impact with low production demands.

7. Lack of Expertise: Accessing Digital Marketing Know-How

Without an in-house digital marketing specialist, the learning curve can be steep.

This leads to a lack of expertise and a "knowledge and trust gap" concerning new tools like AI.

I use an eight-step prompting sequence with my AI tool in order to develop a detailed ICP. (More on that later.)

• ICP as the Solution: The ICP provides a clear mandate, making it easier to acquire the right expertise.
  
  When you outsource, you can tell an agency or freelancer exactly who you need to reach and what message you want to convey, rather than giving them a vague request.
  
  This is about building a strong foundation of knowledge which the ICP provides.
  
  Furthermore, your ICP simplifies the use of AI tools, which 55% of SMB owners are already using.
  
  You can give AI clear prompts based on your persona, making content creation and personalization tasks much more straightforward and effective.
  
  The ICP helps you acquire "AI literacy" by providing clear use cases, building trust in the technology's capabilities.

8. Establishing an Online Presence: Building a Professional Digital Foundation

Building a professional online presence can feel like a huge undertaking, especially given the perceived high costs.

A basic small business website can range from $6,500 to $15,000. Yet, 81% of consumers emphasize the importance of a business having a website, and if they cannot find one, many will look elsewhere.

• ICP as the Solution: Your ICP determines which online platforms are most important for your business.
  
  For "Freelance Fiona," a simple, mobile-optimized website is crucial, as is a visually appealing Instagram profile.
  
  A simple brochure site can be created for a fraction of the cost of a complex e-commerce site, and many website builders offer affordable solutions.
  
  The ICP helps you prioritize what’s most impactful for your business, ensuring you focus on visibility and engagement over an elaborate, expensive setup.
  
  It also reinforces the importance of free tools like Google My Business, which helps local ICPs find you in search results.

9. Content Creation: Producing Engaging and Consistent Material

Producing consistent, engaging content is time-consuming and often feels like "shouting into the void".

Despite 70% of companies investing in content marketing, "creating high-quality content" is still the biggest challenge for 33% of marketing leaders.

• ICP as the Solution: The ICP provides a rich source of content ideas, ensuring you are never shouting into the void.
  
  Each piece of content is created with a specific person in mind, making it more authentic and engaging.
  
  You know "Freelance Fiona's" pain points, so you can create content that offers genuine solutions to her problems.
  
  This allows you to produce high-impact content, such as short-form video, which delivers ROI 49% faster than text-based content.
  
  The ICP also guides the use of AI for content generation, as you can provide AI with a clear creative brief tailored to your persona, which 67% of SMBs are already doing for marketing.

10. Mobile Optimization: Reaching Customers on Every Device

It's a mobile-first world, with mobile traffic constituting over 60% of all website traffic.

Poor mobile optimization can be a direct threat to revenue, as 40% of users will abandon a site and go to a competitor after a bad mobile experience.

• ICP as the Solution: The ICP helps you understand how your customers interact with your business on their phones.
  
  Your "Freelance Fiona" persona, for example, is likely using her phone to find your location, check your hours, and browse your Instagram feed.
  
  The ICP forces you to prioritize a "mobile-first" approach, ensuring your website and social media content are easily accessible and functional on a small screen.
  
  You can use tools like Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test to ensure your site performs well.
  
  The ICP ensures that every digital interaction, from finding you on Google to making a purchase, is seamless on a mobile device, directly preventing customer loss and boosting conversion rates.

Conclusion: Your Digital Compass for Growth

The digital maze is complex, but it doesn't have to be overwhelming.   

The Ideal Customer Persona is your ultimate tool for simplification, turning the ten biggest challenges of digital marketing into a clear, strategic roadmap.

It's the most effective way to manage your budget, save time, prove your ROI, and stand out from the competition.

By understanding your ideal customer better than anyone else, you can leverage technology to achieve more with less, create authentic connections, and turn every challenge into a powerful opportunity for growth.

Don't just navigate the digital maze; conquer it by putting your ideal customer at the heart of everything you do.

Where should you start?

I advise SMBs to look at their most profitable product or service group.

Develop your ICP for that group. Start working to get your ideal customer to buy your most profitable product.

How many ICP’s should I have?

I get this question asked a lot by my students and clients.

The short answer is to look at your product and/or service groupings.

Each group often deserves its own ICP.

How can I start the process? 

I have a 25-question survey you can answer as a first step.

From your answers, I can then develop a detailed ICP.

It will not be perfect but it is a wonderful first draft.

Go ahead! Take the survey here: https://forms.gle/S5tnAWi9oJXosY71A 

There is a limit of one per organization.