22/01/2026
“What if the marketing strategy doesn’t work?”
I get asked this a lot.
And my honest answer is always the same:
Then we learn from it and we tweak it.
In my consultancy work, I’ve learned that marketing is not a one-time magic bullet. It’s more like cooking. (As a food lover, this is the best example that immediately comes to mind) You taste, if bland add salt or seasoning or spices, sometimes you may have to turn down the heat or even change the recipe altogether.
I’ve participated in campaigns that looked perfect on paper but then fell flat.
I’ve also seen “simple” ideas outperform big, expensive plans.
When a strategy doesn’t work, it usually means:
1.The audience heard us… just not clearly
2.The message was right, but the timing was off
Or
3.We chose the wrong channel or even audience for the story we were telling
And that’s okay.
Good marketing is not about being right the first time.
It’s about listening, refining, and being consistent - This should be the guiding light.
The real mistake isn’t a strategy that fails.
The real mistake is refusing to review, tweak, and try again.
Progress lives in doing, learning, adjusting and doing again. Growth lives in having the courage to try over and over.
And every “this didn’t work” moment is simply FEEDBACK, never a failure.
If you’re building, selling, launching, or growing something right now, keep going. We learn as we move.
~ Yvette Onyando
