7 Ways to Correct a Failing Marketing Strategy
No entrepreneur has a perfect first marketing campaign. Even if you’re experienced as a marketer or entrepreneur, you can’t really dial things in until you have data to inform your campaign.
So let’s say you have a marketing strategy that’s, for the most part, “failing.” You aren’t seeing the results you predicted, and from what you can tell, your return on investment (ROI) is either negligible or negative. I’m going to assume that this isn’t just a gut feeling or an early reaction, either -- you’ve looked up the hard numbers, and can objectively demonstrate that your marketing strategy isn’t working the way you’d hoped.
You don’t want to abandon your strategy altogether, so what can you do to correct it?
1. Give it more time.
First, I want to acknowledge that some strategies—like SEO—take a long time to start paying off. If you’re investing in your brand image, or if you’re relying on inbound channels of traffic to bring you more customers, don’t get discouraged after only a few weeks of effort.
On the other hand, some strategies -- like PPC advertising -- should start working immediately and improve over time as you make adjustments based on the data. If you’re working on a long-term strategy, consider giving your campaign more time to develop. Otherwise, try one of the approaches below.
2. Differentiate it.
The marketing world is a competitive one, especially in popular realms like content marketing and social media. There are thousands of brands competing for your target audience’s attention, so what makes your strategy unique? If you’re saying the same things that your competitors are saying, or if your design blends in as background noise, your campaign is going to falter. Correct this by saying something unique that only your brand could say. Sometimes, it’s the only way to cut through the noise.
