In my profession (marketer), it’s not rare to hear people saying things like:

• “We ran some ads on Instagram, but the return on ads spent (ROAS) wasn’t below what we expected, so we cut our budget for it”. 
• “We tried to do some SEO, but we didn’t get any significant increase in organic traffic, so we just stopped worrying about it”.
• “We tried to work with some influencers, but the process is just too painful, so we just left it aside”. 

For me, saying those things is like saying that you stopped exercising because, last time you did, you got an injury. 

There are hundreds – sometimes thousands – of ways to explore a marketing channel and just the fact you tried a few of them and it didn’t work out doesn’t mean the channel is not worth pursuing – maybe you just have to try new things. 

For me, this very common mindset is what explains the fact that the vast majority of small and medium businesses will always be doing the same thing that everyone else is doing when it comes to marketing, even when those things don’t generate results (some companies won’t even care to track it): running ads on Google search, posting randomly on social media, some offline promos here and there, and maybe some e-mail marketing. 

It’s time to stop blaming the channel.