When you nail down a strategy that works for you and your team, you might find yourself start to settle into a routine. It’s easy to stick with something when it’s guaranteed to work, but be wary about becoming complacent. You never know when you’ll need to change things up again.
Don't Be Afraid of Testing New Strategies
In today's climate, however, things change so quickly - you have to create something sustainable but at the same time continuously innovative. If your competition is offering something you’re not, you have a problem. You have to stay at the forefront of all new developments and trends.
I own a digital marketing company, so best practice in our industry is constantly changing. When AdWords was new, for example, we caught on quickly and were one of the first companies taking advantage. Since we were able to catch on early, we were able to utilize it for our clients with high ROI. It's always been true that utilizing new strategies is hugely beneficial, as it's pretty much guaranteed that a lot of competitors won't be using them yet.
It Pays To Get There First
I remember one unfortunate company that turned into a cautionary tale. A former client of ours relied heavily on paid search (SEM) but didn't incorporate any other tactics into its marketing strategy. We advised not to solely rely on SEM - we knew it would never be enough to market an entire company forever. It worked well for the company for a while, since it was early to the paid search game. But over time, the company's paid search campaign was becoming more and more expensive as its competitors started utilizing the same tactics while also updating their strategies.
As more people caught on to paid search - as happens with any strategy - the cost went up. Since it was this client's sole marketing strategy, it started noticeably bring down their profitability. It was a 10 million dollar company that ended up declaring bankruptcy because it was unwilling to evolve its strategy.
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Keeping on Top of It Pays off in the Long Term
Most strategies won’t continue to be beneficial in the long term. Staying on top of new strategies requires constantly paying attention and can be exhausting. It's important to always be testing new strategies, markets, platforms, software, and so on. You and your company have to be willing to evolve and accept the fact that it won't be easy.
You must consciously decide to focus on more than one thing. Always keep testing and see what's working best for now. No matter what industry, best practice is a continuous cycle; all strategies also have to run their course.
