Is it time to switch your marketing campaign? What’s the best mix for your brand?

There’s no secret number indicating when it’s time to update your marketing campaign. Just as there is no perfect blend of marketing methods. Some companies can go a year without changing anything, while others can change every month and find great success. Some have great success with Facebook ads, and others have better luck with TikTok videos.

Without being able to time it on a clock or have an algorithm calculate your strategy, how do you know when it’s time to mix up your usual marketing plan? Start by asking and analyzing your marketing team’s insights regarding these questions.

What Can You Budget For?

It’s time to assess your current mix of marketing tactics, but you can’t take this step without knowing how much to earmark for marketing. Gather your marketing team and any stakeholders who have a say in marketing decisions and start brainstorming. You need to set a realistic budget.

You won’t know if your marketing campaign is a success if you don’t have a starting point and goal line. It gives you something tangible that you can measure. How much should you be spending? A rule of thumb is to spend around 8% of your annual revenues on your yearly marketing campaigns.

Once you’ve crunched the numbers, it’s time to start figuring out how to allocate that budget. You may love the idea of putting a billboard on the side of a bus for the best visibility, but it would take up all of your budget. You have to come up with a plan that fits your financial goals and be ready to stick to them.

What Does Your Competition Do That You’re Overlooking?

A savvy marketing team knows to check out the competition. A competitive analysis should be on your checklist. Choose between three to five of your biggest competitors and some you aspire to be and start investigating what their marketing plans entail.

Start by seeing what they do right. What draws you in and makes you want to learn more? A day after exploring their website and social media pages, what do you still remember? Now, think about what you didn’t like. Where did you feel they failed you? Did you encounter any pain points?

Suppose you’re a bakery, and you’re hoping to draw more customers. Area competitors don’t take online orders. There’s a learning curve to setting your site for online orders, but if it draws business your way, it’s worth having someone on your team focus on that task and learn all they can.

Take the same bakery example. A number of social media comments ask if they make any non-dairy items. No one has responded, and you don’t see any non-dairy items on the competition’s menus. There’s another area where you could focus your marketing strategy.

What Hasn’t (and Has) Worked in the Past?

Think about your past failures, too. What about them didn’t work? Use that insight to avoid making the same mistakes twice. It can be costly to continue using the same ad campaign, especially if it was considered deceptive.

Some of you might remember the LifeLock ads of the early-2000s where the CEO shared his SSN as proof that LifeLock would protect you against identity theft. His fool-proof security program failed him as someone used his SSN to take out a payday loan. Other reports started coming in and soon the number of identity theft cases was over a dozen.

LifeLock claimed it would pay up to $1 million if personal information was stolen. But, no one was paying the companies that were making loans in good faith and then learning they’d been conned. There were enough victims who were losing money with the creation of these fraudulent accounts that the FTC fined LifeLock $12 million for deceptive advertising in 2010.

 Instead of learning from those mistakes, the company continued to make promises it wasn’t delivering. Additional charges were filed by the FTC in 2015 leading to a $100 million fine. Always learn from your mistakes and make changes in your advertising campaign.

As you weigh what didn’t work, don’t forget to explore what has worked. Returning to those strategies is smart, as long as you’re providing something new.

Take Oreos for example. People love Oreos, but the brand released a “Mystery Flavor” to step away from the same-old, same-old. They asked consumers to guess what the flavor was on social media. People loved this guessing game. Since then, Oreo’s continued to release new flavors and continue enticing consumers to keep buying.

Look at your analytics on your site and social media. Where did consumers spend the most time? What drew the most traffic or sales? If you have reviews or feedback online that you can analyze, use it to your advantage. The more information you have, the more you can implement new strategies that consumers like.

How Do You Determine the Best Mix of Marketing Strategies?

What is the best mix of marketing strategies? Much of this comes down to the industry or field you’re in. If you own a restaurant with a seasonal menu, you have to change your information each quarter. But, a financial firm that helps people with their seasonal income taxes may not need to market their service more than once or twice a year.

Consider the age of your target market. If you’re marketing to elderly consumers, they may not be using TikTok as much as a 20-something is. Consumers in their 20s may not care about a postcard in the mail or a marketing phone call. You need to market using the appropriate strategy.

Younger consumers have grown up with computers. They’re comfortable with online chat and email. Older consumers may not be, but remember some will be more tech-savvy than others, so provide options.

Are You Disappointing Consumers?

So much about a marketing campaign is about the experience. If it’s not memorable, it won’t stick in your head. Even a lousy experience can become a memorable one, especially if you take steps to show you’ve learned from your mistakes and are taking a different path.

Consider any standout experiences you’ve had while shopping online. What made it memorable? What pushed you into making the purchase? It’s likely that you’ll put a few things at the top of your list. Prices are always important, but you’re overlooking the biggest crowd-pleaser – quality product detail pages.

Salsify asked shoppers what drives them to complete a purchase. Two out of five consumers put image quality and product descriptions at the top. If you’re not paying attention to your website quality, you’re making a mistake. Quality content is key!

Even the most creative marketing mix won’t do a thing if it’s not visually pleasing and catchy. Refreshing your brand’s look and building quality product detail pages is important, even if it’s only been a few months. If you find your photos aren’t crisp enough or you’ve incorporated copy-and-pasted product descriptions, it’s time to change.

Turn to award-winning Factory 360 to take your data, products or services, and vision and create unforgettable campaigns. We use cutting-edge technology, creative content, and expertise in experiential, digital, and social marketing strategies. Whether you’re interested in taking your first dive into influencer marketing or want all-new photography and content, our team of marketing gurus is here for you. Let us know how we can help.