How Startups Die From Their Addiction to Paid Marketing at Andrewchen

Acquisition marketing alone does not work long term for all business models. If what you sell gets bought multiple times, it may work for short bursts, but in the long run, it’s called “churn and burn” for a reason—you will burn yourself out.

Tactics that once worked well will become crowded and ineffective. All it takes is one other competitor seriously pursuing traction in the same way to drive up its cost and drive down its efficacy.

Your spend needs to be about much more than blindly throwing money at acquisition ads. It has to be wrapped up in a learning equation that involves elements such as the following: • Studying your customers • Understanding buying habits • Doing research • Analyzing post-purchase touchpoints • Customer journey optimization.