Marketers across industries don’t like to admit defeat. However, not every marketing plan provides results, and sometimes, the best course of action is to scratch a campaign completely and move on. Indeed, knowing when to halt an ineffective marketing tactic and adopt a new approach is actually a vital skill to develop. Marketing blunders are unavoidable, but how you deal with them can make all the difference. With that in mind, here are three signs to watch out for that’ll let you know it’s time for a re-think in marketing strategy:
Years of Ineffective Content Creation
The truth is, search-engine optimization (SEO) requires time to take effect. You can’t expect to write a blog on Tuesday and start ranking highly for it on Wednesday. Google and other search engines don’t work that way. However, if you’ve been blogging about a certain subject for years now –– but haven’t been able to increase your online visibility at all –– it may be time to try a new strategy. Perhaps the keywords you’re trying to rank for are uber-competitive, or maybe you’ve mismanaged your on-site SEO and therefore, Google isn’t rewarding your blogging efforts. Or perhaps your content simply leaves a lot to be desired. Remember, quality content is required to improve your site’s SEO. So if you’ve been running your blog for years now with little to show for it, consider a shake-up ASAP.
Low Conversion Rates
Many businesses utilize pay-per-click advertising within their marketing strategies. Such a practice can –– under the right circumstances –– come up gangbusters. Conversely, a mismanaged PPC account can end up costing a company big time. Sound PPC management involves closely studying the results of previous efforts and altering them to improve future performance. If you currently aren’t using software to attribute conversions back to ads that generated them, you’ll never have a complete picture of your PPC efforts. What’s more, low conversion rates are probably indicative of ineffective ad content. To combat low conversion rates, you’ll want to implement negative keywords or else, rework your content entirely.
Negative Feedback
To put it bluntly, if your consumers don’t find a new marketing campaign compelling, little you do with it will make much of a difference. At the end of the day, the content you create, the ads you pay for, and the products you promote should all cater to your customer base. If those elements are off-kilter, your campaign is almost certainly doomed to failure. Don’t be stubborn on this front; the purpose of running surveys and monitoring click-through rates is to let you know when something isn’t working. You just have to be willing to listen first!
The Bottom Line
Many companies would like to change their marketing tactics but feel stuck with a rigid plan of action. Instead, it’s often best to pursue an agile inbound marketing strategy that allows for more flexibility. Keep that in mind next time you’re on the fence about a new campaign.
