Ever find yourself deep in the weeds of your marketing strategy only to measure ROI and discover you haven’t achieved anything?!

It’s frustrating and discouraging. And sometimes, it can even look like a strong enough case to abandon this whole marketing plan and marketing strategy and marketing tactics thing altogether. But before you go, we want to show you another side of the coin. Here are just a few reasons why your marketing strategy might not be working.

Your Tactics Are All Wrong

Let’s clarify something here, there are a few parts to a marketing plan: most marketing plans start with goals and strategies which are made possible or achievable by the tactics you employ to implement your strategy in order to meet your goals.

For instance, let’s say that one of your basic marketing strategies is to grow your online audience via social media so as to convert those people into customers. Your tactics (the way you carry out your strategy) are items like using influencers or creating robust content to share on those channels.

So, while trying to grow customers by building a stronger online audience might not be bad strategy, the tactics you’re using could be all wrong. Have you done enough research to know whether or not your target audience responds to influencers? Do they even want to read content on social media? For example, a better tactic might be to run some Facebook ads that speak directly to each group of your target audience to get them really excited about a new free offer that you have.

So take some time to review your tactics. Make sure they make sense in the grand scheme of your target audience’s needs, wants, habits and behaviors. And keep in mind that what might have worked a few months ago might not be working today AND what works for one company might not work for you.

Your Strategy Is All Wrong

The marketing world is such a quickly changing world that if you aren’t taking its temperature every month or at least every quarter, you’re likely already running behind. So the problems you’re facing with your marketing work rendering it ineffective could go all the way back to your strategy.

Does what you are trying to accomplish even align with a consumer behavior or trend anymore?

It’s important to note that just because something looked like it might work a few months (or even weeks) ago doesn’t mean it’s relevant anymore. The best way to stay up to date is to do your research. See what marketing outlets are talking about, pay attention to what other people in your industry are doing and evaluate your competitors.

Remember, it’s okay to make changes to your marketing plans—in fact, it’s expected! Your plan is a guide, but it’s not the gospel. In the end, it all comes back to your consumers—your audience. What do THEY want? And how do they want to get it, hear about it, be enticed by it? That’s what should be leading your marketing plans, strategies, and tactics every step of the way.

So the next time you find yourself stuck in your day-to-day marketing tasks, give yourself a chance to look up, breathe and take a wide-angle view of your work to see what’s working and what’s flopping.

Change accordingly and keep plowing ahead. You got this. 

Interested in reading more about this whole "strategy" thing? We have another post that talks about why strategy matters. Check it out.