Key takeaways:
How to identify if your marketing efforts are missing the mark.
Why a lack of leads, visibility, and structure might be holding you back.
Simple fixes to help you get back on track and make your marketing more effective.
We love talking about strategy in marketing! So often we see folks going all into the creative process without considering that they need a solid plan behind the creativity to drive results. This is just one of the things that leads to ineffective marketing, but what are the telltale signs that your marketing isn’t landing?
You’re not getting any inbound leads
If your clients are exclusively from referrals or your own outreach efforts, something’s not right. Effective marketing means that you should be getting a consistent flow of leads contacting you. Yes, not every lead that finds you will book – and there are ways to tweak your marketing if this is your issue – but they should at least be getting in touch. No leads likely mean that:
🤳 You aren’t using the right platforms for your target audience
⏰ You aren’t posting on a consistent basis
🗣 The tone or the content you’re sharing doesn’t resonate with your ideal customer
✍🏼 Your content pillars aren’t appropriate for your audience
📖 Your copy is riddled with grammatical errors, undermining the quality of your work.
Don’t worry if these sound right for you! These are all fixable problems, we promise
There’s a lack of awareness around your brand
Here’s your best-case scenario:
“The Brady Creative! I know you from LinkedIn/your work for my client/your mega-helpful blog posts.”
The worst-case scenario?
Constantly introducing yourselves from scratch! No one you encounter online or at networking events has ever heard of you and you’re constantly describing your brand to people who have never heard of you.
If your marketing is successful, you should regularly come across folks who are aware of your work. They might not be a client right now, but they’ve got you on their radar as their go-to for your chosen niche.
Everything you do is reactive, rather than proactive
Does this sound familiar?
👉🏼 You post on the fly, instead of having a consistent weekly schedule.
👉🏼 You rarely or never review what content has performed well on your platforms.
👉🏼 You go all in on one platform, run out of ideas, then ghost your audience for weeks.
👉🏼 You post about whatever feels right in the moment, instead of following 3 - 5 content pillars.
👉🏼 You never plan ahead for busy and quiet seasons, key dates throughout your year, or for sales and promotions.
If this sounds like you, you’re marketing from a reactive perspective, where it’s very hard to plan ahead and be truly effective!
You aren't able to track where leads come from or the impact that your marketing is having
In a properly-oiled marketing machine, you have LOTS of data about your leads!
When you’re using the right tools, you can clearly see which parts of your marketing efforts are effective, and which ones aren’t converting. This allows you to pivot, think strategically, and spend effectively on what works for your business.
If you’re totally in the dark, it might be time to research better tools or get some marketing support.
You find yourself constantly overwhelmed without enough time to do everything needed
Effective marketing is much smoother and more time-efficient than scatter-gun marketing. If you are feeling overwhelmed, it might be because:
👉🏼 You are trying to create fresh content from scratch every time and thus running out of ideas
👉🏼 You’re under-using tools that would help you step back from the gruntwork
👉🏼 You’re using too many platforms, more than you actually need
👉🏼 It’s time to get expand your marketing team
If any of this resonates with you and you’re ready to get some experienced, strategic support with your marketing, we would love to help! Drop us a line at hello@thebradycreative.co.uk or explore our marketing services here.
