Here's one of the most important things we know about marketing: it works. Therefore, if you aren't getting results from your strategy, there's definitely something wrong. That doesn't mean you need to abandon your current tactics, but you should reassess the methods you're employing and review the goals you've set. Let's consider why your strategy may not be delivering the number of sales or leads you want.
Why Your Marketing Strategy Might Be Failing…
While it's crucial to have a marketing strategy in place, it has to be the correct one for your company and you need implement it in the right way.
- Firstly, if you aren't clear about what you want to achieve, you're unlikely to get the results you want. Do you want to increase awareness of your brand, generate more new business leads, increase sales from existing customers, or make improvements to your bottom line? If you don't define your goals, you won't be focused on them properly when planning your marketing activities.
- Secondly, taking a wide approach to marketing rarely leads to success, so if you haven't identified and studied your target market, you won't get the results you want. What works for one demographic might not work for another, so it's vital to send messages tailored to the audiences you want to appeal to via their preferred communication channels.
- Thirdly, if you aren't specific enough when laying out your plans, you're also likely to fail in your attempts to boost your bottom line. A good marketing strategy will comprise details of the specific methods that you plan to use and the results you expect to see from them. Additionally, even if you've created a thorough plan to help you implement your strategy, you'll almost certainly fail to get results if you haven't delegated tasks to your employees or agency properly.
- Finally, if your plan isn't flexible, you won't be able to tweak it to account for data that you obtain while implementing it. Analysing the results you get from different techniques and campaigns will provide a wealth of information that will help you improve your marketing strategy - and if you aren't using this data properly, you're missing a trick.
You should also be using other business growth methods while implementing your strategy: examine your sales and lead conversion tactics carefully, for example, to ensure that they aren't derailing your marketing activities.
The Importance Of Setting Attainable Goals
Of course, your marketing strategy may not have any major flaws and, if that's the case, you may need to readjust your expectations of what you can achieve. While it's good to have ambitious goals, if you're expecting to get a return on investment (ROI) or to increase the number of sales you're making straight away, the chances are that you'll be disappointed.
It can take time for many marketing techniques, such as SEO and social media marketing, to start yielding results, so any strategy that delivers gradual yet consistent growth can be considered to be a success. That means that it's important to set small, achievable goals at first, rather than pushing for big, immediate wins. Marketing is also a fast-moving industry, so you should revisit your approach regularly to ensure you're using the latest methods.
Unsure If You’re Taking The Right Approach?
If you aren't sure whether your marketing strategy is working, or want advice on how to improve it, the talented team at JDR are ready to assist. Contact us to discover how we can help you achieve your business goals.
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