When to Invest More or Pivot: What to Do if Your Marketing Strategy Isn’t Working After 6 Months
When you commit to a marketing strategy, especially one designed to run for 6 months or longer, it’s natural to expect results. After all, investing time, resources, and energy should lead to growth, right? But what happens if you reach that six-month milestone and business improvement isn’t as dramatic as you hoped? How do you decide whether to keep going, invest more, or pivot to something new?
Here’s a guide to help you evaluate your marketing efforts and determine the next steps:
1. Evaluate Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Before deciding to invest more or pivot, start by evaluating the data. Your marketing strategy may be working in ways that aren’t immediately visible. Look closely at KPIs such as website traffic, conversion rates, social media engagement, and lead generation.
For instance, if traffic to your website has significantly increased, but conversions remain low, it doesn’t mean that your marketing strategy isn’t working; it’s a sign that awareness is growing, but something might be off in how you’re guiding visitors toward action. KPIs provide a more nuanced view of whether your strategy is gaining momentum.
Tip: Check if you hit smaller milestones like brand visibility, engagement, or lead nurturing. These are important steps toward eventual sales growth.
2. Identify Bottlenecks
Marketing isn’t just about reaching people; it’s about leading them through a journey. Are leads drying up before becoming customers? Is there high engagement without a corresponding boost in sales? A deep dive into your funnel will help identify bottlenecks. Once you know where potential customers are dropping off, you can tailor your efforts to address these weak points.
If, for example, your social media campaigns are driving significant traffic to your website, but your landing pages aren’t converting, this could indicate that a redesign or content adjustment is needed rather than a complete marketing overhaul.
3. Benchmark Against Competitors
Sometimes, the issue may not be with your marketing efforts but with broader market conditions. Benchmarking your business performance against competitors helps provide context. If your competitors are also seeing slow growth, the issue might be industry-wide or due to economic conditions.
However, if they’re thriving while your business struggles, you may need to reexamine your approach. What are they doing differently? Analyzing their strategies might uncover opportunities for you to refine your own approach.
4. Consider ROI, Not Just Immediate Sales
In marketing, it’s easy to focus solely on sales as the ultimate measure of success. But remember, marketing campaigns—especially those involving brand awareness, SEO, or content marketing—often have a long tail. You may be building a foundation that pays off later, even if it’s not evident right away.
Evaluate the return on investment (ROI) from a broad perspective. Are you gaining valuable exposure, building a community, or generating leads that can convert down the road? These factors contribute to long-term success, even if immediate results aren’t stellar.
5. Adjust Tactics, Don’t Abandon Ship
If your KPIs show progress but results aren’t as strong as expected, it’s likely that your strategy isn’t entirely off-course. Rather than abandoning the entire marketing effort, consider making adjustments to your tactics. Maybe you need to allocate more budget to the channels that are performing well, or adjust your messaging to better connect with your audience.
Marketing success often requires flexibility. A strategy that didn’t work at first might start to deliver once you fine-tune certain elements.
6. Consult a Marketing Expert
If you’re unsure of what’s holding your strategy back, bringing in fresh eyes can be a game-changer. A marketing consultant or agency can analyze your data, audit your campaigns, and identify opportunities you might have overlooked. Sometimes, small tweaks—like improving SEO, refining targeting, or updating content—can make a significant difference.
Tip: Don’t wait until you’re six months in to consult an expert. Partnering with professionals early on can help you avoid common pitfalls and maximize your budget.
7. Set a New Timeline and Budget
Marketing isn’t always a quick fix. If you’re seeing progress in some areas but still need more time to hit your goals, consider extending your timeline and budget. Give your strategy another 3-6 months, but incorporate the lessons learned this time. The second phase could be the one that pushes you over the finish line.
8. Know When to Pivot
If, after a thorough evaluation, you find that your marketing strategy hasn’t moved the needle at all, it may be time to pivot. This doesn’t necessarily mean giving up on marketing altogether. It could mean trying a new approach—shifting focus to different platforms, changing your messaging, or even revisiting your target audience.
Not all marketing strategies work for every business, and that’s okay. The important thing is to learn from the experience, reassess, and make data-driven decisions moving forward.
In Conclusion
When your marketing strategy doesn’t deliver immediate results, the key is not to panic. Instead, dive into the data, analyze your KPIs, and identify areas for improvement. Sometimes, a marketing strategy works behind the scenes in ways that will pay off later, while a shift or pivot may be necessary in other cases.
Marketing is a marathon, not a sprint. By thoughtfully evaluating your progress and making informed adjustments, you’ll be better equipped to decide whether to invest more or pivot toward new opportunities.
At Innovast Digital Marketing, we help businesses assess and fine-tune their marketing strategies for long-term growth. If you’re unsure of your next steps, reach out to us for expert guidance tailored to your business needs.