5 signs your marketing isn't working
You spend a lot of time marketing your brand but you may not know if what you’re doing is actually moving the needle in a meaningful way.
There are so many different marketing avenues you can take and so many gurus out there telling you have to do XYZ to be successful that isn’t hard to drown out the noise and know what’s going to work best for you and your business.
Quantifying your marketing efforts can be tough as a small business when you’re trying all the things but there are some telltale signs to be on the lookout for that will indicate that your marketing isn’t working the way you want it to and needs some adjusting.
1. Low conversion rate
This one’s pretty obvious. If you’re not making sales or even getting any leads, then you know your marketing is definitely not working.
This is the ultimate goal as a business and marketing is the tool you use to attract customers/clients to you. So if you’re seeing a low conversion, it’s time to make some adjustments to your marketing strategy.
*Conversions not only include sales but can also be email sign-ups, inquiries, clicks from ads, etc.
2. Attracting the wrong leads
So you’re getting leads but they’re not exactly in your target audience. This often indicates that your messaging in your marketing is off. It’s connecting with people but just the wrong people. Dig back into your target market to see where you may be missing the mark and then adjust accordingly.
If you want to be a little more proactive about your leads by reaching out to them, you can use tools like ContactOut to easily find the contact details for brands and leads you’d like to connect with further.
3. Little to no engagement on social media
We’re talking no comments on your posts and no conversations happening in your DMs.
Social media is one of the best places to really connect with your target audience but if no connections are actually happening, you know what you’re sharing isn’t working. It’s likely that you’re either not reaching your ideal audience or your content isn’t resonating with your audience.
Keep an eye on your analytics on a regular basis if you don’t already. This will help you gage what’s working and what’s not and if you need to make any changes.
4. Low web traffic
If you are focused on driving your audience to your website in order to convert them into sales or email subscribers, etc. (not everyone does this!) and you’re seeing no growth in your web traffic and/or it’s low, then what you’re doing to send people to your sign isn’t compelling enough to get them to click on over!
Evaluate the tactics you’re using and see how you can improve them or try something new all together.
5. High bounce rate
Your bounce rate is the percentage of visitors who visit your website and then leave, aka "bounce", rather than continue on to view other pages on your site.
So if you’re getting traffic to your website and then they’re immediately bouncing, you know you have an issue with your website. Common factors that lead to a high bounce rate are your website might not be user-friendly or they can’t find what they are looking for quickly.
What to do to get your marketing on track
Before you can really get going on your marketing adjustments, you need to identify what the problem is with your current marketing. One of my favorite ways to do this is to audit every single piece of your marketing strategy using a SWOT analysis.
SWOT analysis is a technique used to help you identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats related to a specific area. Most people use this to identify how their brand fits into their overall industry but it’s also so helpful when auditing your own business.
This should help point you in the right direction in identifying the areas of your marketing that need a little TLC. Then you can ramp up what’s working and cut back on what isn’t (or outsource to an expert if you can)!
Want even more help with your marketing?
My Strategy Intensives provide you with a complete brand and marketing strategy based on market research and analysis and your own business metrics.
My 60-minute sessions are great if you need help brainstorming or working through a specific challenge.
Not sure what you need but know you could use some support? Reach out and I’ll help guide you in the right direction (whether that’s working with me or not!)
