7 Signs Your Marketing Strategy is Old-Fashioned

It’s great to enjoy a handmade espresso, instead of one from a giant industrial machine. It’s nice to ride a bicycle once in a while, instead of driving a car for a short distance. It’s not so nice to use stone age marketing techniques – especially when time is money.

Are you trapped in the past? Here are some signs that your marketing strategy might be a little behind the times.

1. You aren’t prioritizing social media

The whole world lives on social media. If social media isn’t a crucial part of your marketing strategy, you’re missing out on millions (technically billions) of potential customers. The optimization of social media marketing keeps customer acquisition costs low, thanks to the ability to target very specific audiences.

2. You’re not monitoring your results with online tools

If you’re using the right online tools — including those incorporated into social media marketing systems — you should be able to measure your results in real time.

If you aren’t seeing the results you want halfway through your campaign, you’ll be able to make changes to help you focus more of your efforts on the aspects of your plan that delivered for you.

3. Your company culture hasn’t reached your marketing team

Company culture is important. People might accept a job for the pay and the benefits, but the culture is what gets them to stay. Having a spirited workplace culture will keep everyone productive, motivated, and excited about their job. Your marketing team needs to feel that positive energy.

4. You’re not making use of content marketing

Without content marketing, you’re not going to be very visible on the internet. Google doesn’t care for websites that don’t provide useful original content. Advertise until the cows come home, but the majority of people still use Google to find what they need. People won’t be able to organically find your company on the top page of search results if you aren’t providing the value that Google is looking for.

5. Your budget hasn’t changed

If your marketing budget is the same as it was several years ago, this means one of two things: either you’re not expanding your reach or you haven’t found a way to optimize. Neither of those are good signs. Your marketing budget should slightly go up when you’re expanding to new potential customers or go down once you’ve mastered the tools you’re using.

6. You’re using flashy animations and obnoxious fonts

People are sick and tired of flashy, showy, obnoxious marketing. They’re beginning to develop negative impressions of common fonts. That used to work to capture attention in the early days of the internet and in late night TV commercials, but people don’t respond the same way anymore. Consumers are more informed and aware of their options, and your marketing strategy should involve proving that you’re worth more than your competitors, rather than just getting people to pay attention to you.

7. You’re not seeing the growth you want

You shouldn’t accept subpar results from your marketing campaigns. If you’re failing to achieve the level of growth that you want, you need a new strategy. It might be time to hire some new talent to your marketing team – particularly those who are well versed in SEO, content, and social media marketing. Your strategy deserves a breath of fresh air.

It’s worth noting that innovation is never a bad thing. Even if your strategy isn’t particularly stale, constantly striving to improve will only give you better results. Don’t be afraid to change things up from time to time. As long as you’re measuring your results and adjusting as you go, it’s not too big of a risk to experiment with different methods.

** About the Author: Rachel Jackson is a Senior Content Manager at Bizset.com, an online resource of relevant business information. She’s also the mother of two beautiful boys and loves to hike and write about traveling, education, and business.