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3 minute read
We’ve all been there, we’ve worked through the marketing strategy steps like an A-grade student of marketing, developed data-led and evidence-based marketing tactics and carefully set them into the market - only to find they don’t deliver as expected.
All that hard work! Don’t worry - I’ve got you!
Follow the below steps and you’ll be back on track in a flash.
1. Return to Your Funnel and Benchmarks
Having gone through the strategic steps before developing your tactics, you should have your workings close to hand and hopefully customised funnels that helped you estimate your tactics expected output.
Return to these now and compare your estimates against actual performance. This will help you identify where the gaps in performance are occurring.
Go through your funnel step by step: from how many impressions/listeners/viewers or reach you expected each tactic to achieve relative to the budget allocated, down to the key results you’re tracking, most probably leads, customers or revenue.
A working example:
Imagine running a social media campaign that isn’t generating the expected revenue. Upon reviewing the funnel, we find that while impressions and reach meet estimates and the CTR exceeds benchmarks, the onsite conversion rate is significantly below expectations.
The funnel also reveals that leads reaching sales are unusually hard to reach, however those that are successfully contacted convert to revenue at the expected conversion rate.
We conclude that there are two areas of the funnel that are leading to the social campaign driving less revenue than expected: onsite conversion rate and sales contact rate.
2. Investigate Performance Metrics
Once you’ve identified the step or steps in your funnel showing underperformance, dig deeper into the relevant metrics. Look for patterns and anomalies that can provide insight.
A working example:
To dig deeper into why the onsite conversion rate is lower, we sense-check which web analytics metrics are underperforming - is it that visitors are immediately bouncing, or not finding the landing page engaging, or simply not filling in the lead form?
We find the latter is the case.
We also sit down with the sales team to unpack the key themes behind the low contact rate. There are two key issues discovered, a large proportion of incorrect phone numbers and of those that are correct, a large proportion are going straight to voicemail.
3. Hypothesize About Potential Issues
Having found the key metrics and themes contributing to underperformance, consider the evidence to develop some hypotheses on what could be preventing your target audience from taking the desired action.
It’s also a good idea to take a step back to consider whether any variables in your current tactics are vastly different from those you used to calculate your original benchmarks for funnel estimations, for example:
A. Seasonality
Are you comparing performance to benchmarks from a different time of year? Certain periods can lead to natural dips or spikes depending on the industry.
B. Budget Constraints
Are your budgets larger or smaller than in historical campaigns? This can influence the level of engagement you might have seen previously versus in your current tactics.
C. Creative Quality
If your creative has dramatically shifted direction, benchmarks used from previous campaigns may not be compatible with your current campaigns or tactics.
D. Market conditions and consumer behaviour shifts
These can shift unexpectedly. Conducting regular research can help understand and stay ahead of changes in your audience’s behaviour or other external factors affecting their decisions.
A working example:
Having observed that visitors are engaging with the landing page but not filling in the form; those who do fill in the form are likely to provide a dummy phone number; that those who do fill in the form and provide their correct number are hard to catch, we think we’re seeing that the target audience are not comfortable with us calling them in the first instance, and may also be working in different time zones or busy during business hours.
Therefore we hypothesise that by providing more information (download or similar) along with an option or subsequent step to book an appointment at a convenient time, we will be able to:
- Increase the lead volume
- Provide sales engagement with high intent booked appointments
- Build an ongoing nurture email and social approach for downloaders who have not requested an appointment, to stay top of mind
- Save the sales team time in calling low-intent or reluctant leads
We’ll also be able to observe and learn what impact this has on the revenue outcome.
4. Implement experiments within an always-on optimisation framework
Having clear hypotheses, you can now implement your experiment.
Set a timeline to evaluate the effectiveness of your optimisations through your funnel and observe the leading indicators in the meantime.
With the working example, you may find that you see an increase in onsite conversion rate, but revenue dips due to the longer funnel to sales conversation, or few people request appointments. Keep testing and learning with a data-led approach until you’re achieving your desired key results.
Marketing is an art, but lean into the science…
Navigating the complexities of marketing can be challenging, especially when tactics don't yield the expected results. But by systematically analysing your funnel, investigating metrics, and forming data-driven hypotheses, you can identify and address issues effectively. Continuous testing and optimisation, coupled with a deep understanding of consumer behaviour, will ultimately lead to improved marketing performance and greater success in achieving your goals.
Embrace the iterative nature of marketing and remember that each setback is an opportunity to learn and refine your strategies.
