When is it time to change your marketing strategy?

I believe when things go south you know you need to rework your marketing strategy! When the KPIs, leads, conversions, traffic goes down you know there needs a revamp! More so, the signs are very clear more often than not! And, taking up those flags to your profits is how you work through it! Be it product or service based marketing! When things fall out it’s the marketing strategy that you attack the best!

If you are not measuring your marketing, it is likely that you are throwing money away. What are the right KPIs to use though? Among several, I have used and recommend: Marketing ROI, by channel Lead to Opportunity Conversion Rate (or whichever tern is used by your CRM - this could be lead or prospect to 'qualified lead' or something else) And the conversion rate of your primary channel (eg website). Too often managers get sucked in to Vanity Metrics, those which values are high so make them look great - eg post engagement or page views. But, in core business terms, are meaningless. A good marketing strategy makes clear what actually needs to be measured, if comparable data is down it is time for a rethink.

These methods help understand your marketing's effectiveness and refine strategies: 1. Social media metrics analysis: Check likes, shares, comments, and clicks to understand audience engagement and campaign success on social media. 2. Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO): Improve conversion rates by analyzing user behavior, running A/B tests, and enhancing website elements. 3. Competitor analysis: Compare your marketing with competitors to identify areas for strategy improvement.

Consider a shift in your marketing strategy when there's a misalignment between your goals and measurable outcomes over an extended period. Patience is crucial, but if sustained efforts don't yield desired results, strategic adjustments may be warranted.

Change your marketing strategy when market conditions shift, performance metrics decline, or customer needs evolve. Stay agile to adapt to changes in the competitive landscape, technological advances, and internal shifts within your organization.

If customer needs, behaviors, or preferences shift, new competitors emerge, or external factors like technology or regulations evolve, our strategy must evolve too. Regular market research, competitor analysis, and SWOT analysis are vital to identify industry opportunities and threats, as well as our business's strengths and weaknesses. Discovering significant market changes demands a strategic adjustment to stay relevant and competitive. Adapting swiftly and effectively is crucial for continued success.

The best time to change the marketing strategy depends on the following reasons- 1. Company goals - When the company realises the perfect market fit for their product, it’s time to change or explore various marketing channels and a different approach to target the new audience segment. 2. Failure to achieve numbers - When target doesn’t meet for a long time, then it’s time to change the marketing strategy and try to experiment into unexplored channels. 3. Scaling the company - When the company is set to scale up and expanding to new regions, then it’s time to switch from BTL to ATL marketing activities to get attention and spread awareness in less time.

When it comes to your SWOT analysis, always keep in mind that any strengths or weaknesses your business has have to be in the context of your competitors. i.e. What are your points of difference? e.g. Having high-quality products when your competitors do is not a strength. You need to tick this box just to compete. Using this perspective when carrying out your analysis enables you to have a far greater awareness of your place in the market.

There is a fundamental issue in many businesses which results in massively reframing their marketing strategy; they don't talk to their customers! At Customer Attuned, we advocate giving the customer 'a voice at the table' in key business meetings. This means explicitly ensuring that the customers' interests are constantly being considered. Customer Champions are a means to achieve this, a Customer Manager that is closely aligned with the customer and understands their concerns and needs. Voice of the Customer campaigns are critical to ensure a deep understanding of how customers perceive you - done regularly, these ensure that issues are identified before they escalate to the ultimate customer feedback - taking money elsewhere!

In my experience, staying attuned to market dynamics is not only about recognizing changes but also about anticipating them to maintain a proactive stance. Market shifts can be gradual, and early identification allows for a more seamless transition in your marketing strategy. Regularly reassessing your target audience can help identify emerging subgroups or changing demographics that may demand a more tailored approach. Furthermore, monitoring industry influencers and thought leaders can offer insights into emerging trends that could shape your market in the near future.

Testing assumptions and consumer behaviors keeps your marketing strategy adaptable and aligned with audience needs. 1. A/B Testing: Compare two versions (like a webpage, ad, or product feature) to see which performs better, helping understand audience preferences. 2. Data Analytics: Analyze website, social media, or customer data for insights, confirming or challenging assumptions through patterns and trends. 3. Surveys/Interviews: Engage with your audience directly for qualitative information on preferences, pain points, and needs. 4. Social Media Listening: Monitor social platforms to uncover customer sentiments and trends about your brand or industry.

So, you know, if I start feeling like my ideas about my product, what makes it special, who's into it, or where I'm putting it out there aren't really on the money anymore, that's a cue to shake things up in my marketing game. Like, maybe I guessed wrong or got stuck in the past, and it's messing with how I'm doing things. To sort it out, I'd go for tests, chats, surveys, or groups – just to check if what I thought matches up with what's really going on. If it doesn't, well, time to tweak the plan!

In agribusiness, assumptions can impact strategy. If your assumptions about your product, value proposition, or customer segments are no longer valid, it's time for a reassessment. Conduct experiments, surveys, or interviews to validate or invalidate your hypotheses. Collect data to support findings. If assumptions don't align with reality, be proactive in revising your strategy to ensure it resonates with the actual dynamics of the agricultural market.

One of the best things to do when a hypothesis is not working well is to go chill with the UX team or a sales team. Often they will have made observations that will address your hypothesis and help you find answers in the most insightful way. Also Pro tip: limit your variables as much as possible when testing.

Absolutely, reassessing assumptions is crucial for any successful marketing strategy. It's not uncommon for initial hypotheses to diverge from reality over time, particularly in dynamic markets. Conducting thorough experiments and gathering both qualitative and quantitative data allows us to stay agile and responsive. As marketing professionals, our ability to pivot based on validated insights ensures we're always aligned with our audience's needs and market trends. It's not just about changing strategy; it's about evolving it intelligently to stay ahead in the game.

The Ansoff Matrix is a good reminder for all business big or small. Technically, with innovation and customers profile changing over the years, businesses are almost looking at revamping and improving the product and services they offer to their customers and clients on a yearly basis. Tech companies launch new products every year. My company launches new programs and courses every 6 months. One key important activity is to have open conversations with customers, to learn about what their pain points are, what they love most, dislike most about our companies products and services. What type of marketing content they have enjoyed from us and would love more of. Many companies missed the opportunity to reward their best customers too.

We have been into the practice to serve our client at this step onward. Over the years, we have found that Purpose Discovery and tools like Value Proposition Canvas and Brand Identity Prism have helped us to construct new pathways to connect our client's businesses with their target market, consumers & and people.

When your marketing hits a wall of limited opportunities within your current product, market, or channel, it's a signal to pivot. This shift is crucial when you've maxed out potential and need fresh avenues to thrive. It's about exploring new horizons, be it diversification, expansion, or innovation, to deliver heightened value and stand out amidst competition. Tools like Ansoff Matrix or value proposition canvases aid in brainstorming and assessing novel ideas, enabling the selection of the most promising ones. Recognizing the insufficiency of existing options to sustain or boost growth heralds the need for a strategic overhaul.

In this ever changing world, the only constant is keeping up with the change . Hence my take on strategy change : 1) Imbibing innovation suited to your industry and TG . 2) Internal audits and target . 3) Engagement is an integral part of marketing strategy . More UGC is needed for creating reasonable momentum and whenever there is a fall, its the right time to tweak the campaign strategy . In this ever evolving market scenario , any product goes through a cycle . Hence marketing strategy should be reviewed periodically.

If I notice that things are getting stuck with my marketing, I take it as a sign to shake things up. Maybe my current game plan isn't cutting it anymore, and that's cool. So, I'd start looking at fresh ideas using tools like the Ansoff matrix or product-market fit canvas. It's like opening a treasure chest of possibilities! By exploring these options, I'm not just changing for the sake of it; I'm aiming to bring more value to my customers and stand out from the competition. It's like upgrading your superhero suit when the villains get tougher – you've got to adapt and find what works best for you.

Effectively communicating a new marketing strategy involves several crucial steps to ensure its successful implementation among your team, stakeholders, and customers. Here's a structured approach to convey the change: 1. Explain clearly: Tell everyone about the new plan in an easy way, and show how it helps and fits with our goals. 2. Get everyone involved: Talk to people early on, listen to their thoughts, and work together on the plan. 3. Say who does what: Tell each person what they need to do for the plan to work. 4. Check and change: Keep an eye on how things are going, ask for thoughts, and change things if needed. 5. Keep talking: Talk often to everyone, sharing updates and celebrating when things go well!!!

When everything's set after going through each step—finding the issue, seeing the chance, and having a solution with a plan and budget—that's when it's time for a new marketing strategy. To make this happen, I tell my team, stakeholders, and customers about the new plan, assign jobs, and keep an eye on how we're doing. If I've covered all this and we're good to go, it's time to switch up our marketing strategy.

When your current marketing efforts consistently underperform against your goals despite various adjustments, it's a sign for a strategy shift. Look for market shifts, changing consumer behavior, or if your messaging isn't resonating. Once you've scrutinized and crafted a detailed blueprint for a new approach, complete with clear goals, resources, and roles, and communicated this plan effectively, that's the moment to implement the change. Continuously track progress, adapt to feedback, and be agile in making necessary tweaks to ensure success. When you've ticked off these steps and are poised for a successful launch, it's the right time to pivot your marketing strategy.

So, when I see the fifth sign that it's time to change my marketing strategy, I've basically gone through all the important steps. I've figured out the problem, spotted the opportunity, and found a solution. Now, I've got a clear plan with a budget to back it up. To actually make the change happen, I've got to tell my team, stakeholders, and customers about the new plan. Everyone needs to know their part in making it work. Plus, I've got to keep an eye on how things are going, check the progress, and tweak things if needed. Once I've done all that, and I'm ready to launch the new strategy, that's the green light to switch things up in my marketing game. Time for a change!

When your brand is thinking of expanding and growing into a new area of business, for example, services into retail it is a good time to look at your marketing strategy and branding.

You need to change your marketing strategy when your brand feels stuck or disconnected from its identity. When that is the case, it’s time to reassess and before changing your whole strategy do this first: 1. Go back to your brand’s story: what made it exist in the first place? 2. Identify your brand’s signature strength: what can your brand do differently than its competitors? 3. Check in with your brand’s mindset: is it aligned with your positioning? Are you a challenger brand using a no1 brand’s mindset? Is everyone in the company aligned on the same mindset? 4. Has your purpose or both star changed? Have you evolved it in time? Do you need to? Or maybe you’ve lost track of what it was your brand was set to achieve in the first place?

Sometimes you need to change your marketing strategy if the environment of the business in the area that you are operating in change due to political or economical turmoils so you need to revise and change your marketing strategy to coop with changes that's why the SWOT analysis is must for any business to be checked from time to time also the competitors in the market if they change their strategies in marketing and that change affecting your market share or affecting your penetration this may be sign for rechecking your marketing strategy also.

The rapid evolution characterizing this period serves as a clear example of a situation where implementing your strategy involves introducing new circumstances, needs, opportunities, and more. Assess when and why adapting to changes in marketing is essential for maintaining competitiveness and fostering innovation simultaneously.

Regularly monitoring key performance indicators, staying informed about industry trends, and being responsive to feedback are critical for recognizing when it's time to change your marketing strategy. Flexibility and a willingness to adapt to new circumstances are essential for long-term marketing success.

In today's dynamic era, companies that wait for the right time to change their strategy eventually fail. Companies that embrace change, proactively adjusting their approaches and strategies, are better positioned to thrive in competitive markets. Moreover, the realm of marketing embodies a complete and continuous process. To excel in marketing, one must possess not only creativity and strategic thinking but also strong managerial skills. Being a proficient manager lays the groundwork for effective marketing.