When Hobart founders tell me their marketing “isn’t working,” they usually assume the issue is:
→ Visibility
→ Traffic
→ Social media consistency
→ SEO
→ The website
→ Ads
→ Content
→ The agency
But in 90% of cases?
None of these are the real problem.
The real issue is simpler and far more strategic:
The business isn’t market-oriented.
And before your eyes glaze over at what sounds like another academic marketing term, let me translate it in founder-friendly language:
Market orientation means making decisions based on what the market actually wants, not on internal assumptions, overthinking, trends, or noise.
And this is the core gap in the Hobart digital landscape.
Let’s break it down.
1. Most Hobart Businesses Market From the Inside Out
This is the root cause of almost every failed campaign.
Businesses in Hobart often build marketing from:
→ What they like (personal preference)
→ What competitors are doing (me-too positioning)
→ What a designer suggested (aesthetics over strategy)
→ What they think customers want (assumptions)
→ What “feels right” (gut feeling)
→ What’s trending (reactive)
→ What a freelancer recommended (task-based)
Instead of from the only thing that matters:
What the customer actually values.
Here’s the thing: market orientation flips the entire approach.
It moves you from: inside-out marketing → outside-in marketing
And that’s the difference between:
→ Campaigns that fall flat vs. campaigns that convert
→ Websites that don’t convert vs. websites that sell
→ SEO that doesn’t lead to sales vs. SEO that drives revenue
→ Content that doesn’t resonate vs. content people actually want
Marketing that feels effortless and effective starts with understanding what your market actually needs, not what you think they need.
2. Hobart Doesn’t Have Enough Providers Doing Real Market Research
This is one of the biggest gaps across Tasmania:
There are plenty of providers doing:
→ SEO
→ Google Ads
→ Copywriting
→ Design
→ Content calendars
→ Brand styling
→ Social media management
But almost no one is doing:
→ Deep customer research (what motivates buying decisions)
→ Buyer psychology analysis (how people actually decide)
→ Market segmentation (who’s who in your audience)
→ Message mapping (what language resonates)
→ Customer journey diagnostics (where decisions happen)
→ Competitive insight analysis (real differentiation)
→ Value proposition development (why you, not someone else)
→ Audience demand mapping (what they’re actually searching for)
Businesses can’t be market-oriented if no one is gathering market data.
This leaves founders making high-stakes marketing decisions with:
→ Assumptions (hope this works)
→ Opinions (I think people want this)
→ Intuition (feels right)
→ Best guesses (let’s try this)
And while intuition might get you through startup stage, it won’t scale you through the $1M–$10M range.
3. Without Market Orientation, Messaging Always Misses the Mark
This is why so many Hobart websites sound similar.
They use:
→ Generic value statements (“We’re passionate about…”)
→ Broad positioning (“Your trusted partner for…”)
→ Cliché phrasing (“Industry-leading solutions”)
→ “Safe” messaging (nothing specific, nothing bold)
→ Undifferentiated copy (could be anyone in your industry)
→ Fluffy brand language (“Committed to excellence”)
Messaging becomes vague because businesses are trying to speak to everyone.
When you’re not market-oriented, you default to being:
→ Broad (afraid to narrow)
→ Bland (afraid to stand out)
→ Unclear (hedging your bets)
→ Safe (avoiding specificity)
→ Industry-generic (sounds like everyone else)
But when you are market-oriented?
Your messaging becomes:
→ Specific (speaks to real pain points)
→ Sharp (cuts through noise)
→ Filtered (for the right people)
→ Contextual (relevant to their situation)
→ Resonant (they feel understood)
→ Customer-led (their language, not yours)
This is why premium brands convert at higher rates. They communicate with precision instead of projection.
4. Lack of Market Orientation Makes Marketing Feel “Chaotic”
Here’s what chaos looks like in real-time:
→ Constantly changing direction (this month we’re doing video, next month podcasts)
→ Inconsistency in brand voice (sounds different every time)
→ Wasted ad spend (testing without insight)
→ Confusing internal communication (team doesn’t know what matters)
→ Reactive decision-making (responding to noise, not signal)
→ A marketing team stuck guessing (no clear direction)
→ Content that feels disjointed (no thread connecting it)
→ Strategy that never lands (always pivoting)
→ Founders jumping in to “fix” everything (back to being the bottleneck)
Every symptom above traces back to one root cause:
No clear understanding of the market’s top priorities.
When the market isn’t at the centre, everything feels scattered because everything is scattered.
And in a market as small as Hobart, scattered marketing is expensive. You can’t afford to guess your way through growth.
Why Hobart Businesses Waste Money on Marketing: The Strategy Gap No One Talks About
5. A Market-Oriented Business Sells More With Less Effort
Here’s the good news:
When you build from the market outward, everything becomes easier.
Marketing becomes:
→ Clearer (you know what to say)
→ Faster (decisions happen quickly)
→ More profitable (higher conversion rates)
→ More aligned (team knows the direction)
→ More targeted (right message, right people)
→ More scalable (systems that compound)
→ More predictable (less guesswork)
Because instead of guessing what will work, you know what will work.
This is why market-oriented companies outperform others in:
→ Revenue (higher conversion rates)
→ Retention (customers stay longer)
→ Referrals (customers become advocates)
→ Brand perception (seen as the obvious choice)
→ Sales efficiency (shorter sales cycles)
→ Marketing ROI (every dollar works harder)
And this holds especially true in Tasmania where target audiences are smaller, behaviour is unique, and differentiation matters more.
In Hobart, you can’t hide behind volume. You need precision.
6. Market Orientation Is the Foundation of Your Momentum Blueprint
This is why, inside my Momentum Blueprint process, we always begin with:
→ Buyer insights (deep-level understanding)
→ Competitor gap analysis (real differentiation)
→ Market psychology (what drives decisions)
→ Demand triggers (what creates urgency)
→ Customer language mapping (how they actually talk)
→ Content expectations (what they want to see)
→ Value alignment (what they actually care about)
→ Audience segmentation (who’s who)
Everything that follows is built on top of market orientation:
→ Content strategy
→ SEO
→ CRO
→ Website architecture
→ Google Ads
→ Positioning
→ Brand messaging
→ AI integration
→ Long-term growth planning
Because without market orientation, even the best marketing will misfire.
With it?
Everything compounds.
Your content resonates. Your SEO converts. Your ads work harder. Your website sells. Your messaging cuts through.
Not because you’re doing more. Because you’re doing the right things.
7. Why Hobart Needs Market Orientation More Than Ever
Tasmania is in a growth era.
→ New residents (interstate migration)
→ More interstate brands entering the market (competition increasing)
→ Tourism recovery to higher than pre-COVID levels (demand shifting)
→ Remote workers relocating (buyer behaviour changing)
→ National competition increasing (local advantage eroding)
This means:
Your customers have more choice, and higher expectations.
Market orientation protects you from:
→ Outdated messaging (speaking to last year’s market)
→ Tone-deaf marketing (missing what matters now)
→ Misaligned offers (selling what you want, not what they need)
→ Low conversion rates (traffic without sales)
→ Confused positioning (trying to be everything)
→ Wasted ad spend (burning budget on the wrong message)
And it positions you above the local market.
Because most businesses are still marketing from assumption, not intelligence.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is market orientation in simple terms?
Market orientation means building your marketing based on what your customers actually want, need, and value, not on what you assume they want. It’s the difference between inside-out marketing (what we think is good) and outside-in marketing (what the market actually responds to).
How is market orientation different from market research?
Market research is the process of gathering data about your customers and market. Market orientation is the strategic approach of using that data to guide every marketing and many business decisions as well. You can do market research without being market-oriented (gathering data but not acting on it), but you can’t be market-oriented without market research.
Why do Hobart businesses struggle with market orientation?
Most Hobart marketing providers focus on execution (SEO, ads, content, design) rather than strategic research. Very few local providers offer deep customer research, buyer psychology analysis, or competitive insight analysis. This leaves businesses making marketing decisions based on assumptions instead of market intelligence.
What’s the difference between market-oriented and customer-focused?
Customer-focused means prioritising customer experience and service. Market-oriented means understanding and responding to what the market values, demands, and will pay for. You can be customer-focused with poor market orientation (great service, wrong offering) or market-oriented with weak customer focus (right offering, poor delivery). Best businesses are both.
How do you become more market-oriented?
Start with deep buyer research, competitive analysis, customer language mapping, and demand trigger identification. Then use those insights to guide your messaging, positioning, content strategy, and offer development. Market orientation isn’t a one-time project. It’s an ongoing strategic mindset.
Can small Hobart businesses afford to be market-oriented?
Small businesses can’t afford NOT to be market-oriented. In Tasmania’s small market, every marketing dollar matters. Market orientation helps you target the right people with the right message, reducing waste and increasing conversion. The Momentum Blueprint provides this strategic foundation at a fraction of what agencies charge.
How long does it take to become market-oriented?
The research phase takes 2-4 weeks. Implementing market-oriented messaging and strategy takes 30-90 days. However, market orientation is ongoing. You continuously refine based on market feedback, behaviour changes, and competitive shifts. It’s a strategic mindset, not a one-time project.
What happens if my market changes?
That’s why market orientation is ongoing, not static. Markets shift, new competitors enter, buyer behaviour changes, economic conditions evolve. Market-oriented businesses monitor these shifts and adapt their messaging and positioning accordingly. Assumption-based businesses wake up one day wondering why marketing stopped working.
Ready for Marketing Built on What Your Market Actually Wants?
If you suspect your marketing has a strategy gap, a messaging mismatch, or a conversion problem, the starting point is always the same:
Market orientation.
Let’s take a strategic look at where you stand.
No pressure. No sales pitch.
Just an honest assessment of whether your marketing is built on insight or assumption, and what that’s costing you.
Get a Second Opinion
Take a step toward more clarity, with our Brand Clarity quiz
Or jump right in and request a Momentum Blueprint today.
Because in Hobart’s market, you can’t afford to guess your way through growth.
