When a marketing strategy isn’t giving you the results you want, you may be tempted to just scrap it and start over. While that may often be the best course of action, many failed marketing campaigns can be saved if you’re willing to go back to the drawing board and try some new things. Here are a few tips for salvaging a marketing strategy that has so far been failing you.
Be patient
Depending on the strategy (some should produce near-immediate results while strategies that involve content marketing can take much longer) you may just need to be patient. If you only just rolled out your new content marketing schedule and you aren’t seeing improved numbers, it may just need a few more weeks or even months to start producing the results you want. [Insert obligatory reference to Rome not being built in a day here].
Find ways to differentiate it
Depending on your company’s niche, you may be trying to market in an overly crowded marketplace. It could be that your message is too similar to other brands’. It may take a lot of thinking, but you can eventually come up with a brand message that’s different enough from everyone else’s to really stand out.
Sweeten the deal
If your marketing strategy entails some kind of special offer, it may be that the special offer isn’t special enough. This is a fine line of course because too good a deal can bankrupt you or lead to so much interest you can’t meet demand and upset your customers. Carefully consider if you can afford to make your deal better.
Narrow in on a more specific audience
A common marketing mistake is trying to target too wide an audience. It may seem counter-intuitive but you actually want to target a smaller audience with more relevant advertising than a wider audience with less relevant advertising. Everything from the channels you’re using to the tone you’re adopting can be adjusted to better fit your target audience.
Segment and test your strategy
It may be that just one aspect of your marketing strategy isn’t working. To find the source of your problems you’ll have to segment and AB test. You can stop all efforts on one social media platforms to see how the other stands up on it’s own. You can test one version of a landing page against another version.
Unify your efforts
Regardless of how many channels you’re using, you need certain uniform elements to tie them together. If all of the smaller parts aren’t contributing to a greater whole, you need to revisit those parts individually to see how you can get them to work better together. A foolproof way to do this is to make sure you’re integrating various channels. Your text messages should link recipients to your mobile site and your social media pages, your mobile site should direct people to your social media profiles and tell visitors how to sign up to receive text messages and your social media pages should encourage people to opt-in to your SMS loyalty program and to visit your mobile site.
Last resort
A new strategy is always an option you can go to as a last resort. If you’ve given it time and tried the other tips mentioned above, it may be time to find a new angle, a new channel, or an entirely new brand message.
