Is your organization relentlessly focused on producing results?

More specifically:

  • Is your work producing the change you want?
  • Is web traffic increasing? What about conversions?
  • Do your customers thank you after they work with you?
  • Are people spreading the word about you?
  • Are sales increasing? Profits?
  • Are you getting the feedback you want?
  • Are you getting any feedback at all?
  • How do you measure success?
  • What does a “win” look like for your company? (For this project? For this phone call?)
  • How will you know when your team has done a good job?

These are the types of questions you must continually ask. Every marketing move you make should go through this single filter:

Is it producing the desired result?

If not, you either need to change what you’re doing, or scrap it all together. Be ruthless about cutting out wasted tactics and strategies.

Here’s a quick example:

For months we emailed companies to see if they needed marketing or web design help. As far as I recall, only once or twice did we ever get a response. And yet each of those emails took nearly an hour to write, because we customized each one to the specific client.

After several months of toil with virtually zero responses, it was time to move on. Point being: Once you know it’s the wrong tree, stop barking. Perhaps we’ll write more emails like these down the road, but not for now.

The same thing goes for the rest of your marketing efforts. If you’ve done a certain tactic for an extended length of time with nothing to show for it, it’s probably time to stop. 6 months of radio ads that don’t increase sales (or even traffic to your website) means it’s time to make a change. A new product offering that nobody wants doesn’t have to stay on the shelf for 2 years. Google Ads that fail to get click-throughs need to be edited or deleted. Don’t keep forcing a method that isn’t producing results.

A little pruning goes a long way

Take a look at your current marketing mix. Take a look at the numbers. Take a look at the amount of investment each area requires. And if something isn’t performing, don’t be afraid to cut it loose or completely revamp it.

There are only so many hours in a day. There’s no use wasting them on fruitless efforts. Do some pruning now, and you’ll bear far more marketing fruit in the long-run.