Key Takeaways:

Your marketing strategy and the market are two important things to monitor as you steer your business toward success.

Sometimes it’s necessary to adjust your marketing strategy in response to the current economic environment. 

Google Trends is a valuable tool that provides insights on the latest market trends.

If you’re not seeing the website traffic and leads you’re used to, don’t assume it’s because your marketing strategy has lost steam. It could have more to do with the economy and the current consumer habits at play. Here are some tips to know if you need to improve your marketing strategy or just sit tight and have some patience as you ride out the current marketing trends.

Marketing Strategy or the Market?

When you’re thinking about what’s going on in your business, it’s important to understand and look at not only your marketing but the overall market. The two are tied together, so it’s important to monitor both.

Perhaps you have a fantastic marketing plan, from focused email campaigns and digital ads to customer-focused blog content and short-form videos. But there could just be a seasonal lull in the market for your business’s products or services. For instance, retail stores can see a drop in sales after Christmas that has nothing to do with their marketing and everything to do with the current behavior of customers.

Maybe there’s a decreased demand for your business’s products or services in your city but not in other cities a bit farther away. It might be time to tweak your strategy to target the surrounding areas. For instance, consider beefing up your brand’s location pages and incorporate those other cities into the keywords you use on your web pages, blog posts, and social media.

Or say that there’s a nationwide recession, resulting in increased unemployment rates and a decline in consumer spending. Adjust your messaging in response to your customers’ current finances, highlighting how your products or services are essential. Show them exactly how they’ll benefit from purchasing your solutions and how their lives will be easier and less stressful.

When you’re thinking about what’s going on in your business, it’s important to understand and look at not only your marketing but the overall market.

Why Is It Important to Evaluate Both?

As a small business leader, it’s important to evaluate and weigh both things: your marketing strategy and the market. Because sometimes your marketing strategy is flawed and needs revising ASAP. While, other times, you might need to tweak it temporarily as you wait for consumers to start spending more once again. Then adjust it later, when the market is healthier — or when there’s another holiday season that prompts them to shift out of saving mode and into spending mode.

Patience and perseverance are crucial as you weather the highs and lows of small business life, as you analyze both what your company is doing and how the overall market is impacting your click rates and impressions.

Patience and perseverance are crucial as you weather the highs and lows of small business life, as you analyze both what your company is doing and how the overall market might be impacting your click rates and impressions.

Need Help with Your Strategy or Interpreting Market Trends?

Technology Therapy® Group is here for you if you need an extra set of eyes to evaluate your marketing strategy and tweak it, if need be. We can also coach you on how to monitor current marketing trends and use those observations to tweak your messaging or campaigns. Increase your digital marketing knowledge even more when you check out the following on-demand courses from TTG.