A manufacturer told me his agency got him zero results. Here’s what actually went wrong.

Had a conversation yesterday with a food products manufacturer. We’re revamping his website and digital marketing now.

He told me his previous agency got him zero results.

I looked at his website and asked him two simple questions.

• Who are your ideal customers?
• And which products actually make you money, revenue and profit?

He said OEMs, traders, and suppliers are his real customers.

But his old website (built by the previous agency) was an ecommerce website. Not a lead-generation website.

So I asked, why ecommerce?

He said:

“Because the No. 1 brand in our segment has an ecommerce website.”

I told him that’s the mistake. Copying the No. 1 brand’s website without knowing their marketing strategy behind it.

You need to play to your own strengths and opportunities.

Your website wasn’t built for your actual customers. That’s why it didn’t work.

Now we’re building a marketing strategy specifically for OEMs, traders, and suppliers. And revamping his website to attract exactly them.

The real culprit here wasn’t the manufacturer. It was the agency that built the wrong website for the wrong audience.