4 Signs Your Digital Marketing Strategy Isn’t Working, And How To Fix It

Why do marketing strategies fail? 

Even with the best plans, the color-coded notes and the fool-proof procedures, your marketing strategy still might fail. And to a certain extent, this is normal. Most great marketing strategies are born out of trial and error.

Did you catch the latest Burger King flop? The fast-food chain took a big risk on their tweet to celebrate International Women’s Day- one that did not pay off. ‘Women belong in the kitchen’ is what the tweet read. Yikes. Of course, the caption and descriptions that followed detailed BK’s commitment to see more women succeed in the culinary field. But no one really cared about the reason behind the cheeky statement. This is what we call a swing and a miss. Obviously, one lame tweet won’t be the end of a multi-billion dollar fast-food staple. You better believe that after the world’s negative response to the latest snafu, the BK marketing team is back to the drawing board.

The best marketing strategies have failure built into the plan, always prepared to adapt and to- 2020’s favorite word– pivot. Great strategies are designed to undergo routine review and adjustment. Cue today’s episode of…reviewing and adjusting your strategy. We’ve rounded up a short list of common digital strategy woes, and chances are, you’re painfully familiar with all four. Relax, we’ll also offer some ideas on how to fix them. We’re sort of wizards in the digital marketing department. We’re also wizards in The Bachelor department, but we’ll save that for another blog.

1. No new clients

If new clients are nowhere to be found, my money says you’re not collecting lead information. Or maybe you are, but you aren’t doing anything valuable with it. There’s no effective conversion point. Quick marketing 101- any part of a strategy that is designed to convert a new contact into a known contact is called a “conversion point.” Think contact forms on a website, newsletter sign-up forms, eBook downloads, “Book a Call” buttons, etc. Any tool to try and engage with the customer’s information.

If you aren’t collecting lead information and converting new contacts to sales leads, then your digital marketing strategy isn’t working. Let’s get real- it’s failing miserably. 

🛠️ How to fix it: If you want visitors to become clients, give them something of value. No one’s coming back for that second date if the best you had to offer was some water and the free breadsticks. Offer a phone call with a ‘let’s chat’ button, or provide a downloadable PDF with tips and tricks of the industry. Create and offer content that will keep your customers engaged and provide opportunities for connection. Your customers are ready and willing to pass along their info, they just need a good reason to do so. Give them one.

2. Lack of engagement with your customers

Everyone’s ghosting you. Social media likes, shares, blog post comments and site visits- it’s all ice cold. You’re putting stuff out there, but it’s not working. Is it the timing? The platform? The hair gel? (Possibly yes on the hair gel.) But you can’t seem to establish a consistent rapport with your audience.

🛠️ How to fix it: Reassess your audience. Did something in your demographics change? Are you creating content that appeals to the right market? Research, study and get to know the ins and outs of your target market. Understand what trends they follow and the type of content they value, and position your messaging accordingly. (And lose the hair gel. Please.)

3. You are over-budget

One of the nifty things about digital marketing is you can clearly see where your leads are coming from. Techniques such as PPC (pay per click) allow you to clearly define the cost for each lead and sale. And if the numbers are ugly, it’s time to change something. Say you spent $10,000 on an influencer campaign, but only sold $2,000 worth of product. Was the remaining $8k really worth it from a branding perspective? If not, you’re upside down.  And not in the cool, Stranger Things sense. In the less cool, losing money sense.

🛠️ How to fix it: Consult with a specialist. They’ll provide guidance on where your dollars need to be to meet your goals. Digital marketing should generate a clear ROI, so if you are not seeing a good ROI, something needs to change.

4. Inconsistent messaging

If you’re saying one thing on your blog, another in your advertisements, and something entirely different on social media, then most likely… your audience has no clue what you’re all about. Where there is no clear brand story, there is no clear mission and no clear purpose. And if your customers can’t differentiate you from your competitors, you are giving them nothing to connect to (which brings us back to the ghosting).