"Cargo Cults" appeared in the South Pacific islands during World War II, when once quiet islands quickly became supply points and battlegrounds.
The indigenous populations were suddenly exposed to modern technologies and weapons, food and other "cargo" airdropped from planes or shipped over by the Allies.
For many of the islanders, this was their first exposure to the outside world. They watched as soldiers used radios and marched around with rifles, and were seemingly rewarded with incredible resources falling from the sky.
When the soldiers eventually left the cargo drops went with them. In an attempt to get the cargo back again, some of the islanders began to imitate the actions they had seen the soldiers performing.
These rituals obviously didn’t work – and many marketing initiatives fail for the same reasons.
Cargo Cult Marketing
You want to grow your business. You look at the marketing strategies and tactics used by large, “successful” firms in your niche, and try to apply them to your own company.
This is cargo cult marketing.
You’re copying the actions of the large firm, without understanding the context behind those actions. And it inevitably leads to disappointment.
Playing different games
When you copy the strategies or tactics of a larger firm, you are making a mistake of scale. You're not copying the actions that made them large, you’re copying the actions they are taking when they have already reached scale.
But mimicking the strategies and tactics that did help them grow also comes with risks.
Marketing channels and tactics lose value over time. Competition increases costs as it lowers performance (as in the case of Google or Facebook ads), and people become increasingly aware and/or fatigued by tactics (newsletter popup modals).
These channels and tactics aren’t useless, but you need to have realistic expectations when you try them.
Assuming the best
Cargo cult marketing tends to come with a large – and often wrong – assumption: that the strategies and tactics used by the larger company are resulting in positive outcomes.
In reality, their size and success could be hiding failed (and expensive) experiments. We simply don’t know.
Avoiding the trap
So how can we avoid the cargo cult trap?
Before diving headfirst into your next marketing initiative, ask yourself:
Why are we doing this?
And have a better reason than "because Firm X has done it".
Is this strategy/tactic appropriate for our business?
If you have a boutique professional services firm catering to business clients, think carefully before copying the tactics of firms that target individuals (and vice versa).
Do we understand what we are doing?
You should be able to outline a clear path that shows how the strategy/tactic will lead you to your intended outcome.
Do we understand what they are doing?
And if you decide to follow another company's lead, make sure you understand why they made their decisions.
Be careful to avoid the trap of cargo cult marketing.
Your firm’s growth should be a thoughtful, deliberate process, and not the blind application of someone else's playbook.
