I’ve already discussed the importance of keeping one’s product or service relevant in a previous post. What happens when your marketing approach becomes outdated?
A person may start off with a really fresh and effective marketing plan. Perhaps they are using the newest technologies and most effective means of communication with current and potential clientele. The fact remains that the positive response one receives from current marketing efforts are only temporary if a company does not see the value in constantly refreshing their approach. Four reasons why you have to constantly update your marketing efforts:
- Your target market is aging and you wish to grow with that market. In this case, you will have to adapt your means of communication to their changing needs. Their priorities change with age. Additionally, with age, our ability to communicate changes slightly (ex. target market now be unable to read tiny print easily). If you are growing with an aging demographic, you have to adapt your product or service to their changes.
- Your target demographic has remained the same as you cycle out clients that have outgrown your product. Teenagers from the 80s are very different from teenagers in the 90s. Simply advertising in teen magazines and during teen television shows (effective in the 80s) is not the best or even most cost-effect way to reach teens now. Online is the place to be and there are very specific “online dens” where a company can easily reach millions of teens.
- Technology and general means of communication are constantly changing. If you do not stay current, you competition will. Ultimately, you will lose market share.
- Popular culture is changing and adapting. Your marketing approach has to reflect current real-world issues.
A business owner cannot afford to avoid current technologies and trends because it puts them out of their comfort zone. A fresh marketing approach is just as essential as a relevant product/service is to the survival of a business.