The team at Arc Interactive have put together a list of top tips to gauge if your marketing efforts are actually working and on trend with what your consumer wants:

1. Know what success looks like in your business

Each business is unique, and so are success points in marketing. Relook at your business goals and marketing goals. If your objective is to gain 10 new clients a month, are you achieving that?

Are you getting that brand awareness you were seeking? Do you achieve the newsletter signups each month you require? Establish, in a nutshell, what is working and what isn’t and if your current marketing efforts are bringing you the right ROI for your business.

2. Know your customer

This is potentially the most important element. Down to a fine 'T', discover who your ideal client is, what generation they fall under, what demographic they fall in, their interests, behaviours, and what they really want. It is possible that your client's profile has actually changed since the last time you checked; and so have their needs and wants from a brand.

3. Know where to find your customer and reach them where they are

Are your current marketing channels working or have new and better ones since emerged? Are these marketing channels even relevant to your audience?

Based on your ideal customer’s profile, you will have an idea of where to find them; both online and offline, what websites and online platforms they visit, if they can be found on social media or not, and what device they are using. This is all helpful information you should optimise in order to reach your ideal client where they are.

4. Check your content and messaging

Is your current message, that used to work before, now falling flat? Really look at your content and the messaging you’re conveying and consider if it really is the right message, for the right client, at the right place, at the right time. Is effective enough to inspire that client to perform your desired action?

Don’t assume you can use one type of message for your entire audience. Rather, segment your audience. This will ensure that your message is relevant to each audience type.

5. Consistently test, monitor, and optimise

Continually test and monitor what’s working and what’s not. Pin two sets of creative against each other or two different calls to action and evaluate what yields the best results and why. This will allow you to optimise towards what’s working and stop wasting money on what’s not.

Remember that valuable, relevant marketing targeted at the right client, where they are, on the device they are using, will always yield greater results. Whether you have a stable marketing plan or are just 'winging' it sometimes, all you need is some fresh perspective and guidance.

For more information, visit www.arcinteractive.co. You can also follow Arc Interactive on Facebook, Twitter or on Instagram.