You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.” Hear this phrase before? Maybe we should stop being critical of our canine companions and face the real truth behind this phrase: “Humans don’t like change.”
This is true in relationships, it’s true in business, and yes, it’s true in marketing. As marketers, how often do we ignore new strategies in favor of the ones we already know? We like to stay in our comfort zone, where things are easier, and the common thought process is, “Yeah, we’ll check out these new strategies, but only after some serious vetting and testing. We need to know where we land with a specific audience first, before we commit our resources.” There’s a better way to identify a winning strategy, but this line of reasoning is often the path of least resistance.
When considering which new strategies to implement and how to implement them, I see several common mistakes:
Focusing too much on past performance. Don’t get me bahrain phone number library wrong, using your past performance as a benchmark can be a helpful way to measure your current marketing efforts against a strategy you’re already familiar with. But what if you’re considering expanding to a new platform or executing an entirely new strategy? Focusing too much on past performance can cause you to incorrectly compare old strategies to new ones “apples to oranges.”
Paying too much attention to
What peers and competitors are doing without metrics. Keeping your guide to choosing a company accounting a close eye on your competitors and industry peers is a good thing—in fact, we’ll discuss how to do it effectively in a moment. However, it can be difficult to evaluate the merits of a particular strategy based on how competitors and industry leaders are using it. For example, can you really parse out why a competing brand is enjoying audience growth on a particular social media buying house b platform? Is it because of their posting cadence, their content, or (most likely) a combination of all of these factors? While it can be valuable to look outside of your own four walls for examples of best practices, be careful not to start chasing tactics that aren’t all that effective.