It’s a new year, and your business needs to start off on the right foot. As you’re planning out your upcoming digital marketing strategy, it’s important to remember some key points:
- Audience habits change, and your marketing efforts need to pivot along with them.
- Technology and social media change constantly!
- The same recipe for success that worked a year ago may not be your best option today.
- Marketing stagnation is very real, and can really hold back your business.
- The key to a prosperous future is to remain proactive!
There could be hints of stagnation all around you. As you reassess your strategy, take a moment to watch out for the following:
- Higher cost per click (CPC)
- Lower return on ad spend (ROAS)
- Less engagement on social media
- Decrease in website effectiveness
Read more below about each sign, and what it means:
1. Higher Cost Per Click (CPC)
Cost per click, better known as CPC, is the amount an ad platform charges you each time someone clicks on your ad. This metric applies to pay per click advertising channels such as Facebook Ads Manager, LinkedIn Advertising, and Google Ads.
These advertising platforms increase your cost per click if your engagement levels decrease. When you begin to see that your cost per click is rising, it may be an indicator that your ads need an update. Because these platforms generally perform on an auction model, a higher CPC could mean that you have more competition for the same audience than you may have had before. It could also suggest that the messages your ads are conveying aren’t resonating as much with the people you’re targeting.
2. Lower Return On Ad Spend (ROAS)
Another indicator that your marketing efforts may need a refresh this year is if you are seeing diminishing returns on your ad spend (ROAS). This is where collecting and utilizing data really comes in handy.
ROAS is calculated by dividing your revenue by the amount you are spending on advertising. Compare the amount of money you have spent on advertising over the years with what you are currently spending now. Now take a look at the level of sales it has gotten you.
Especially if you’ve been largely using the same messaging and audiences throughout these given periods of time, you should be able to establish a baseline, and identify whether your results are improving or diminishing. If your ROAS seems to be on the decline, your marketing efforts could be stagnating. It may be time to look at new audiences, creatives, or messages moving forward.
>>> Related Article: Four Ways Small Businesses Can Improve Their Digital Marketing In 2021
3. Less Engagement On Social Media
Marketing stagnation doesn’t only pertain to paid media efforts. The engagement you see on social media can be one of the initial signs that your brand is losing traction. After all, social platforms are among the first ways your brand makes an impression on a potential customer, as well as one of the main channels that happy customers use to advocate for your brand.
Keep an eye on the quantity and quality of the responses that your posts are receiving.
- Are your posts getting less engagement than they used to?
- Has your organic reach been on the decline lately?
- Has your engagement rate (engagements/reach) dropped significantly over time?
Like most metrics, looking at just one of the above measurements won’t give you the context you need to make an informed decision on your strategy. However, if you find yourself answering “yes” to each of these, it could mean that your marketing efforts need to be reevaluated.
4. Decrease In Website Effectiveness
The fourth sign that your marketing may have become stagnant is defined by the behavior of your site traffic. Your website should be built to guide visitors into taking specific actions. Here are a few key metrics your business should monitor:
1. Average Session Duration
Have you noticed that people are spending less time on your site than they used to? Even if you’re still getting the site traffic that you’ve grown accustomed to, if those visitors are leaving your website without spending the time they need to adequately read and understand your value proposition, you risk losing them.
2. Pages Per Session
How many pages are your visitors scrolling through when they arrive at your site? Have you found that most people just visit one or two, but don’t move onto the next? This could mean that your marketing is losing effectiveness, especially if you are selling a high-involvement purchase decision product, or are running an eCommerce site.
3. Bounce Rate
Bounce rate is a great indicator of the overall quality of your traffic. It represents the percentage of visitors who enter the site and then leave right away. In other words, lost traffic. For example, you may have ads running that pull in 100 visitors per day, but if 70 of them bounce once they arrive, your ads are really only attracting 30 members of the “right” audience.
4. Conversion Rate
Conversion rate is the king of all of your statistics. If you’re starting to see that fewer members of your audience are becoming customers, then marketing stagnation could be the culprit.
Get Your Digital Marketing Strategy Back On Track
The best way to avoid marketing stagnation is by staying proactive. If, after reading this article, you can relate to a few of the problems we’ve listed above, it may be time for a change. We’re here to help. At Right Left Agency, we’ve made it our mission to provide small and scaling businesses with quality digital marketing services.
If you’re interested in executing any of the ideas we highlighted above, let us know and we would be happy to talk about your digital marketing strategy.
