If your marketing strategy is non-existent or unprosperous, take a look at these common reasons why marketing strategies don’t work.
1. Do you actually have a strategy?
If you’re not sure or not feeling confident in what you think you have then you don’t have a strategy. To get started first and foremost, develop a plan of action. Without a plan, your setting your initiatives up for failure. Try not to throw out initiatives without developing a strategy first, and be sure to clearly define your objectives and ROI (return on investment) metrics… which leads me to my second point.
2. You’re not tracking KPI metrics.
In order to prove your marketing strategy works, data has to back it up. Every successful marketing strategy needs expectations set and frequent monitoring on what, when, and how; what got launched, when it went live, and how it performed. Data-driven decision making is the key to successful marketing. Here’s a great reference for which KPIs you should be tracking.
3. You’re wanting results NOW.
Have you ever heard of the phrase, you need to learn how to crawl before you walk? The same applies for marketing initiatives. Marketing is powerful but results don’t happen overnight. To prove success for a marketing plan, focus on KPIs at the beginning and throughout the campaign, and ROI at the end. Often times, campaigns get shut down early because they didn’t prove value within the first few days. The key to avoiding this is to set attainable goals and learn from the results for your next campaign.
4. Your marketing budget is M.I.A.
Many healthcare practices are apprehensive towards spending marketing dollars. With the industry being highly competitive, allocating a certain percentage to marketing is a must. Additionally, when you track KPIs and ROI, you can make data-driven decisions to increase marketing dollars where it makes sense. For more help on how to allocate a marketing budget, take a look at this blog post.
5. You’re living the “Definition of Insanity”
The definition of insanity is doing the same thing and expecting different results. Marketing initiatives are not one-and-done or set-it-and-forget-it. Constant optimization is required for optimal success. Try different initiatives as well. The more data you can collect on what worked and what didn’t, the more you can leverage it for your success.