Marketing Durability: The Power of Pivoting

Goal setting is the easiest way to focus your efforts and priorities, whether personal or professional, and digital advertising is no exception. Online marketing goals should be dynamic and adaptable as new data inputs provide campaign insights, enabling sellers to adjust strategies effectively. The objectives set for marketing channels should evolve from those established in the past month, quarter, year, or even decade. With economic indicators, search volume, social media trends, Google search results, and competitive landscapes continuously changing, your marketing goals should reflect this ongoing evolution and remain fluid and responsive.

Pivot goals based on data

Not only does the expectation to pivot force you to have a regular goal review cadence, but it also pressures your team to be in the data to measure progress and anticipate new opportunities. However, before you can determine where you want to go, you have to start with where you’ve been to set adequate campaign targets. Over the past 15 years in digital marketing, I’ve had thousands of conversations with business owners and marketing teams. The vast majority of businesses don’t effectively align their marketing goals with their business goals.  

Step 1: platform and funnel alignment 

Use the graphic below to understand where each marketing channels fall in the purchase funnel:

At the bottom of the funnel, you're capitalizing on existing demand, generally leading to a higher return on ad spend (ROAS). This occurs because individuals actively searching for your product or brand on platforms like Google or Amazon are more likely to convert compared to presenting a Meta ad to an audience that may not yet be actively seeking your product. Consequently, marketing goals should be set with this distinction in mind.

Step 2: marketing and business goal alignment

If your objective is to grow the business for a potential exit in 3-5 years, you might set aggressive customer acquisition targets in the short term (1-2 years) to gain market share and build an extensive email database. A lower ROAS can facilitate customer acquisition through platforms like Google and Meta. These new customers can become repeat buyers through retention programs such as email, SMS, loyalty initiatives, and subscriptions, thus boosting profitability in the years leading up to the exit. Note that most industries will break even or incur losses when acquiring customers at scale. While there may be brief periods of profitable customer acquisition or small-scale successes, sustainable large-scale profitability is uncommon.

Step 3: execute against goals

Setting a goal doesn't guarantee success, so this is easier said than done. Making a measurable impact requires continual testing on various audience segments with new creative assets, along with landing page optimizations designed to increase conversion rates. With so many variables impacting outcomes, the guidance of experienced professionals is essential. This might be handled in-house for big brands, whereas smaller organizations might rely on an outside agency for guidance or a combination of both. To understand impact across the entire funnel, be careful to attribute success or failure in a vacuum. A proper holistic strategy allows your platforms to work together to maximize performance for your brand. 

Step 4: measure and pivot

Effective data collection accelerates the ability to assess and refine goals promptly. This process varies by brand, generally aligning spending levels with review frequency. At a minimum, businesses should review marketing objectives by channel quarterly, with larger spending brands (over 6 figures per month) assessing more regularly.

A critical sub point involves ensuring access to accurate data for measurement and adjustment. Formerly, Universal Analytics from Google served as a trusted source for many businesses, but with its discontinuation, reliance solely on marketing channels as a source of truth becomes problematic. These channels often attribute full sale credit to their pixels, inflating revenue figures beyond transactions processed by merchant processors or e-commerce platforms. At Logical Position, we advocate for Triple Whale. This robust analytics tool provides executive-level summaries and detailed reports, ensuring comprehensive insights for effective decision-making across all organizational levels.

Step 5: rinse and repeat

As your organization scales, the momentum of this flywheel intensifies, and your channels extend further up the marketing funnel. The increasing scale brings about a heightened level of complexity and strategic depth that should excite the data enthusiasts working on your account. Delving into sophisticated analytics, segmentation strategies, and multi-channel attribution becomes not just a necessity but a fascinating journey of discovery and optimization. Each new layer of complexity presents opportunities to uncover insights, refine strategies, and drive even greater organizational efficiencies and growth. This dynamic evolution of your marketing efforts can be exhilarating for those who revel in the intricate dance of data and strategy.

Bend, but don’t break

In the ever-evolving digital marketing landscape, the power to pivot is advantageous and essential. By setting dynamic goals informed by continuous data analysis, businesses can navigate shifting market conditions with agility and precision. Aligning marketing objectives closely with business goals ensures a strategic focus that drives growth and profitability over time. Remember, success lies not just in setting goals but in disciplined execution, meticulous measurement, and willingness to adapt. Embrace the journey of refining strategies, leveraging insights, and optimizing campaigns—this iterative process is where the true resilience and effectiveness of digital marketing come to fruition.

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