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Putting together any meaningful digital marketing strategy takes time and money. This commitment can involve days, weeks, or even months of brainstorming sessions, research, analysis, strategy building, testing, and more, using the skills and collaboration of some of your best and brightest to create something that which helps your brand shine.
But even the best-planned digital marketing campaign can sometimes hit a lull, reaching a point where it no longer delivers value to your business or brand-building efforts. When that happens, the hard work you’ve put into this strategy can make it extremely difficult to pull the plug, even as it pushes your patience and budget to the limit.
Yet there comes a time to let things go and make way for a new digital marketing plan. Here’s an overview of seven common signs that it’s time to ditch your digital strategy and start something new.
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1. The value isn’t there
One of the main signs that you need to hit the brakes on your digital marketing campaigns is a poor level of value. Determining that value often comes down to looking closely at the numbers, such as what you’re spending on ads, organic marketing, social media marketing efforts, etc., versus what you’re getting in return.
If your costs far exceed your returns or you’re not keeping up with your digital marketing spend, it’s probably time to rethink your strategy.
2. Your campaign goes into overtime
The Internet is a growing, complex organism. Implementing a multifaceted marketing campaign across multiple digital channels and making a measurable impression on your customers can sometimes take time, not to mention a certain amount of patience. In fact, some strategies can take several months or more to really see the results you expect – or get a good idea of how close you are getting to your digital marketing goals.
However, when a digital marketing plan begins to linger too long past the strategy deadline—failing to produce the timely, positive results that similar campaigns do—it’s time to hit the reset button.
Connected: 6 Marketing Metrics Every Business Should Track
3. Strategy adjustments make no difference
Have you ever tried to salvage a failed digital marketing strategy? If you’ve started tweaking different elements or tweaking marketing tactics to save a campaign, but results aren’t improving, pulling the plug is probably your best bet.
In some cases, making key strategy adjustments at the right time can change the marketing plan. But when these mid-game hubs don’t make a difference, your time is better spent on other ways to support your brand and long-term business goals.
4. You threw the kitchen sink at him
Sometimes, not being able to let go of a digital marketing plan can lead to serious overreaction. This usually means that even after exhausting all the ideas and digital marketing tactics in the book, top marketers will continue to throw themselves at the problem, ultimately turning a poorly performing campaign into a counterproductive fiasco.
If you’ve tried everything in the online marketing playbook but still aren’t seeing returns, there’s no shame in ditching that strategy and moving on.
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5. Things work backwards
Seeing more red than green in your weekly digital marketing performance reports? Down arrows happen, but when these negative results start to turn into a long-term trend, it’s a pretty good indicator that your digital marketing strategy framework needs a refresh, if not a complete replacement.
Analyzing strategy performance deeply and frequently allows you to closely monitor negative trends and end digital marketing initiatives before they become a significant drain on your budget.
6. Other digital marketing strategies are getting better
From search engine optimization and content marketing campaigns to email marketing and paid advertising plans, it’s not uncommon to have multiple digital marketing strategies going at once. And if all but one digital strategy is hitting the right notes and getting results, maybe it’s time to cut the bait on that underperformer and focus your efforts on something better.
In other words, don’t let one bad apple spoil the bowl. When a bad campaign threatens to unravel what’s working, stop it quickly.
Related: 4 Ways to Manage Your Next Brand Crisis and Come Back Stronger Than Ever
7. You get bad emotions
You can be proud of the marketing strategy you put together. But as much as you believe in it, if it’s getting a largely negative reaction from the public, it’s probably time to pull the plug. Online negativity can quickly get out of hand, and the sooner you tackle this problem at the source, the sooner you can and should stop the bleeding and revisit the drawing board.
Upsetting your target audience is a sure sign that your digital marketing efforts need a reboot.
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