There’s a pattern we see over and over again with businesses. They move from one marketing activity to the next, always searching for that holy grail – the thing that’s finally going to make everything work. But here’s the truth, marketing advice is noise:
Marketing isn’t a collection of disconnected tactics. It’s an ecosystem. A machine. And machines don’t respond well to constant tinkering.
We all want to hit home runs on day one, but it takes time for the machine to get moving. It takes time to get results. Keep chasing the next shiny object, and you’ll never stick it out long enough to get any real traction. Meanwhile, your budget will waste away.
Here are four of the most dangerous “shiny new objects” to steer clear of in marketing:
Shiny New Object #1: Spray-and-Pray Cold Outreach
We all get those emails offering to help your website rank better, or convert more, or whatever.
Our clients bring it up all the time. “I got an interesting email the other day. Should we be doing this instead?”
We get these emails, too. Often, it’s from people offering to rebuild my website – and we build websites for a living.
What does that tell you? These people have no idea who they’re targeting. No idea who they’re marketing to.
It’s pure spray-and-pray. There’s no understanding of your business, no awareness of what you already have in place, no strategy.
Your marketing dollar might be better spent on, I don’t know, email newsletters or billboards or guest lectures… not some SEO strategy from 2012.
At best, spray-and-pray cold outreach is a distraction. At worst, you say yes, and then you’re taking the money you were supposed to spend on your existing marketing strategy… and lighting it on fire.
Maybe you’re scrolling LinkedIn – or, God forbid, TikTok – and you see a post about some “new way of doing things.” A new hack. A new shortcut.
The author sounds professional. Confident. They’ve got lots of likes and followers, so they must know what they’re talking about, right? And suddenly you’re thinking: Why didn’t I know about this? Why aren’t we already doing this?
The FOMO sets in hard.
But it’s the same problem as the cold emails. They don’t know your business. They don’t know your market. And they definitely don’t know how your marketing machine is set up. What worked for them – or for the business they’re showcasing – may be completely wrong for where you’re at right now.
Advice without context is just noise.
Shiny New Object #3: Trending Tech and AI Everything
Right now, AI is the ultimate shiny new object.
Everyone’s talking about it. Every SaaS company is crowbarring it into their software. Every business owner is convinced they need it – even if they’re not entirely sure what problem it’s meant to solve.
A new chat widget. An AI assistant. Some SEO plugin that promises 10x leads.
There’s a use case for all of it. But you can’t just shove it in and hope for the best.
Say you’re a residential builder. A lead visits your website and speaks to your new AI chat widget about their project… but that widget was never connected to your existing CRM.
The lead isn’t captured properly. No follow-up happens. No automation fires.
That could be an $800,000 gig, trashed, because someone bolted on a tool without thinking about how it fits into your system.
Shiny New Object #4: Referrals From Your Mate
Your cousin’s friend’s brother is secretly the biggest threat to your marketing strategy in existence.
What we mean is, there’s always some personal connection to who “does this stuff for a living” and is happy to help. But you’ve got to be so careful here.
To illustrate the risk, an example:
A builder client of ours had a friend who hosts websites and dabbles with web dev. After we’d built them a sexy, high-performing website, this friend got stuck into it and started changing things willy-nilly.
Then they shifted the hosting… and the website slowed way down. Like, it hit a fricken wall.
Slow site → lower Google rankings → less traffic → fewer leads.
And suddenly, it wasn’t “we made a bad hosting change.” It was “this whole thing isn’t working.”
So, in a questionable attempt to make some of their lost money back, they then swapped out their entire CRM.
This just dug them into an even deeper hole. And we had to come in and dig them out.
When they finally made it back to square one, their pocket was several grand lighter. Not to mention the opportunities they lost while their website was crashing out.
There’s a Massive Side Effect to All This Shiny Object Syndrome, Too
Every time you change tools or direction, you reset momentum. You reset learning. You reset trust – with Google, your team, your systems, and your consultants.
But more than that, you’re letting more chefs into the kitchen. Different agencies. Different freelancers. Different specialists.
This is something that so many businesses overlook, expecting all the pieces of the puzzle to just fall into place.
Firstly, the constant onboarding, the constant educating, is insane. Then, when something breaks, you’re the burnt-out, coffee-fuelled detective tying red string between the pins on the cork board.
“My website’s down,” you say to your web designer.
“It’s not us,” they say. “Something to do with your emails?”
And then your email marketing guy: “Nope. Not us. Could be your hosting?”
Compare that to having just one point of contact. One team building and actioning your marketing strategy.
It also stops shiny new objects from turning into shiny new holes in your wallet. When you see something on TikTok, you don’t go rogue. You bring it to the team and see if it fits your strategy.
If it does, great. If it doesn’t, even better. Less is more.
In Reality, Shiny Objects Aren’t the Problem
A lack of patience is.
If you keep swapping tools, tactics, and people, you’ll never give anything enough time to work. You won’t build momentum. You won’t build an asset. You won’t get your ROI.
You’ll just keep spending money and wondering why nothing ever sticks.
Build the machine. Stick to the plan. Let it work.
If there’s a common thread running through all of this, it’s this:
Marketing only works when it compounds.
Not when you jump from tactic to tactic. Not when you bolt random tools onto a half-built system. And not when your message changes every time a new “opportunity” pops up.
If you want better clients, more consistent leads, and results that actually stick, you need a clear authority position, and a system that reinforces it over time with every piece of content you put out.
That’s exactly what this free guide helps you build:
Set Yourself Up as an Authority: Close More High-Margin Building Contracts
Inside, you’ll see how to:
- Clarify the message your ideal clients are already searching for
- Build authority without shouting, discounting, or chasing trends
- Turn casual interest into trust, momentum, and higher-quality enquiries
- Create content that Google rewards and clients remember
Click here to grab the free guide and start building a marketing machine that compounds, instead of resetting every time something new comes along.
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