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How To Know Your Marketing Isn’t Working [and What to Do About It]

If you’re not seeing the results you expect from your marketing efforts, you need to find out why. This involves:

  • Analyzing solid data to inform the efficacy of your marketing campaigns.
  • Identifying clear reasons why your messaging isn’t resonating with your audience.
  • Committing to adjust your strategy to make it work better.

In this article, we’re sharing a few signs that your marketing tactics aren’t working plus the results-driven ways marketers use for overcoming marketing failure.

First, the signs.

  • Your business is not attracting traffic. If you’re not seeing more traffic regardless of your advertising efforts, something’s not clicking. Make sure you’re targeting core customers with a solution that meets their needs.
  • Prospects aren’t converting to customers. Put yourself in your prospects’ shoes. If your marketing messaging doesn’t inform you thoroughly and you’re not delighted, it’s time to pivot your pitch.
  • You’re not measuring relevant performance indicators. Advertising success is dependent on what you’re measuring based on your goals. Do you want to build brand awareness? Have a positive impact on people? Encourage a specific action? Get great reviews? Decide on your goals first, then measure that.
  • Your planned objectives are not being met. When your data isn’t telling the story you expect, conduct more market research to identify the root cause. If that’s not an option, try testing different solutions to find out what works.
  • Your marketing is not driving sales. If you’re not getting the return on investment (ROI) you want, try shifting your marketing story. The key is to create an emotional connection with your target audience so they’ll be inspired to buy. Rather than selling product or service benefits, try focusing on your company's purpose and impact or how you better people’s lives with your solutions.
  • Your audience isn’t engaged by your messaging. This usually means people aren’t relating to what you’re telling them. Take another look at what you know about your target audience. Maybe they’re not ready to hear what you have to say. Maybe the story doesn’t meet their current needs or desires.
  • You’re attracting an audience you don’t want. If the wrong audience is resonating with your message, try gaining clarity on what is meaningful to the audience you’re aiming for, so you can correct your approach to them.
  • People don’t know what you mean. If you’re communicating complex ideas to your audience and they always need clarification so they can understand, it’s time to simplify your message.
  • Customer feedback is negative. When your customers tell you that your marketing is not working, listen to them. That way, you’ll know exactly when to adjust your approach and likely how to engage more prospects.

Results-driven Ways to Correct a Weak Marketing Strategy

  1. Make sure all your messaging is working together.

Aligning your marketing tactics with your overall strategy is one of the best ways to identify missteps. You’ll be better able to identify problems with your brand voice, where your direction may have taken a turn, and whether you missed any cross-promotion opportunities.

  1. Refocus messaging to fit your specific audience.

If you’re targeting a general audience with generic messaging because you think you’ll reach more people and get a higher ROI, think again. Try targeting a select audience with more relevant messaging. This involves doing new research on the audience segment you want to reach and adjusting messaging and medium to engage them.

New call-to-action

  1. Tinker with your offer so it’s more valuable.

Take a look at your calls-to-action and what prospects are getting in return. If your offers aren’t generating enough interaction with your audience, up the ante when it comes to creating value for your prospects and customers. Increase it by intervals to learn what will incentivize desired action.

  1. Segment your audience and A/B test your strategy.

Reaching one audience segment with a primary channel and another audience segment with a secondary channel could show you better results. Alternatively, you could see better results by segmenting your strategy into discrete paths. A/B testing, which means experimenting with more than one variable in a controlled environment, can also reveal different results. Experiment with different messages and mediums to determine the ones that perform better in reaching your outcomes.

  1. Allow more time for results to build.

With some marketing strategies, like SEO, brand building, and using inbound channels for lead generation, it takes longer to see desired results. In these cases, give it ample time to develop before tweaking the details. Other marketing strategies, like pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, are made to give immediate results. If you’re not getting ROI even as you make adjustments based on early data, it’s time to refocus your efforts sooner rather than later.

  1. Try something new.

Marketing strategies are dynamic. It’s rare that one simply doesn’t work or work too well. Try the same strategy with another angle or a new budget. Experiment with different approaches as modifications. And if you’re still not seeing the results you want, learn from the mistake and commit to a different strategy altogether.

11outof11 Knows Marketing Strategy

If you’re wondering whether you should ditch your marketing strategy or simply refocus it, connect with 11outof11. Request a complimentary call with an 11outof11 expert. Contact us to learn more.

 

Topics: Marketing, Inbound Marketing, Content Marketing, Digital Marketing, Email Marketing