By Jason Hennessey
Source: SearchEngineJournal
One of the surest signs that your digital marketing is falling flat is if you’re not seeing the results you want from your marketing campaigns.
But determining whether your marketing needs an overhaul isn’t always that simple, as there can be many holes in your existing strategy.
The truth is, you may not know whether your marketing is effective if you don’t know what metrics to track or how to track them.
Further, you might see some revenue coming in, but how do you know if you’re generating the best results possible?
If you’re looking for a sign that your digital marketing could use a makeover, check out this list.
1. You’re Not Maximizing Your ROI
Seeing tangible results from your marketing efforts is always the goal, but are you getting the best possible return on your investment (ROI)?
This all comes down to determining your cost per acquisition (CPA) – how much it costs for you to acquire one new customer.
In tracking the success of your marketing campaigns, you’re likely to discover that some channels are more effective than others.
Your goal should be to acquire the maximum number of customers or clients for the lowest cost possible.
You’re only able to determine your true ROI by comparing the results across channels and campaigns, seeing which methods yield the best results.
If you aren’t confident that you’re maximizing your ROI, it may be time to give your marketing an overhaul.
2. Your Social Campaigns Are Falling Flat
One of the biggest mistakes brands make when it comes to their social media marketing is taking a “post and pray” approach – meaning they post content and pray it generates the engagement they want.
In actuality, brands should be posting content they know will resonate with their audience based on existing data.
Every social media platform has its own version of analytics or at least its own performance metrics.
Likes, comments, social shares, and clicks can all be indicators of follower engagement.
If you’re posting social media content and hearing crickets, something has to change.
Whether you’re investing your own time or have hired an agency to post on your behalf, that’s an investment that should be yielding money-making results.
Your social posts falling flat is surely an indication that your marketing needs a revamp.
3. You’re Seeing Traffic But No Conversions
Traffic generation is only one part of the equation when it comes to running successful marketing campaigns.
You could be attracting thousands of website visitors every week, but if they aren’t converting into paying clients or customers, you won’t see the ROI you deserve.
So whether you run your own marketing or are working with an agency, you’ll want to be sure that your marketing is translating into conversions, not just website visits.
This means using analytics tools like Google Analytics to track conversions on your website, attributing them to the right channel, and determining ROI on each of your campaigns.
For example, many businesses invest in search engine optimization (SEO) in order to drive organic traffic to their website, but this is rarely the end goal.
You’ll want that traffic to be highly targeted so website visitors are interested in your offers, subscribe to your newsletter, buy your products, or otherwise reach out to work with you.
4. You’re Seeing Little or No Traffic at All
If you’re seeing little to no traffic at all, this is also a bad sign.
No traffic means your marketing efforts aren’t actually working to drive users to your website or social media platforms.
Most platforms have their own unique algorithm which determines what content gets shown to users.
For Facebook, this means brands banking on organic reach to get noticed by potential customers.
When it comes to Google, this means optimizing your website so it gets displayed to users in the organic search results.
If you’re seeing little traffic from your primary marketing channels, this is a clear sign that your marketing needs a fix.
The right marketing strategies – and/or provider – will help you take advantage of these complex algorithms and drive more traffic to your business via the appropriate platforms.
5. The Returns on Your Paid Ads Are Abysmal
Pay per click (PPC) ads can be a great way to generate more leads fast, but they can also be crazy expensive if done incorrectly.
Many brands end up seeing poor results from their paid ads because the targeting is off, users aren’t converting, and/or the cost per click (CPC) is too high.
The key to effective paid campaigns is targeting the right audience with the right content.
Whether you’re running Google Ads, Facebook Ads, Instagram Ads, or others, you want your campaigns to be laser-focused on your ideal audience and displaying content that’s relevant to them.
While cost per click can be highly variable, you want to be sure you’re getting the best bang for your buck.
That means testing ad groups, ad copy, keywords, targeting, and more to get the lowest CPC possible and maximize your ROI.
6. Your Campaigns Are Usually Thrown Together Last Minute
We’re all guilty of having thrown marketing campaigns together at the last minute, but if this is your go-to strategy, it may be time to take a different approach.
Effective marketing campaigns take time to put together, especially since you should be analyzing existing data, segmenting your audience, A/B testing your ads, etc.
If you want your digital marketing to be cohesive, then you should be planning most of your campaigns in advance.
This means taking the necessary steps to set up your campaigns, like conducting keyword research, setting your ad targeting, hiring copywriters, and more.
Imagine the relief of having your campaigns laid out well in advance, without the scramble of throwing them together last minute.
How much more effective would your marketing be if you had a clear plan of action from the beginning?