Where’s the Exit (Plan)?

By Carrie Cousins

Thank you to Valley Business FRONT for featuring our Director of Digital Marketing, Carrie Cousins, in their July 2024 issue.

When you get on a plane, one of the first things the flight attendant does is make you aware of the exits, including the emergency exit. Whether you know what to do in the case of said emergency or not, you do know the way out.

This is an important lesson in business and marketing as well. We all expect smooth sailing but it’s smart strategy to think about contingencies. No matter how great your marketing plan was, and no matter how amazing the initial strategy looked, you need an exit plan. This plan will help you determine when a strategy isn’t working and if you need to pivot.

How do you know when your marketing plan is not working?

• I’ve worked on an in-house marketing team and worked with agency partners. Now I work with marketing teams as the agency partner. One thing is the same – all these signs point toward the exit.
• Your return on investment is undefined. It’s important to understand how marketing and advertising spend is impacting your business. You should have a target return on investment goal to help manage spending and ensure you know if the plan is working in the way you hoped.
• The goal to results ratio is out of whack. Whether you are trying to generate leads, sell widgets, or get more people to read your blog, consistent marketing efforts will generate consistent results over time. Sharp spikes or dips in results can happen periodically, but continued oddities are a definite red flag.
• Changes in technology create a need to try something new. There are two elements of technology that can impact your marketing strategy – changes in technology at your business or in your industry and changes to marketing tools or software (Google, social media, email, privacy regulations, etc.). Staying on top of these changes can ensure that you keep things running smoothly, efficiently, and in a way that looks and feels modern for your customers.
• There’s been an overhaul of business unit or changes in company leadership. Whenever there are major personnel changes, marketing philosophy may also change. What may have been a smooth ride before could start to feel bumpy. This is somewhat natural, but can be troublesome if it lasts for an extended period. 
• You’ve tried to communicate the need for a new strategy/direction and don’t feel heard.
• The relationship isn’t working. There are some instances when you just don’t connect, or things don’t feel right; your marketing partner should be just that – a partner. You should be connected in a way that benefits both of your businesses. 

At the end of the day, we all want to work with people we know and trust. We want to surround ourselves with others who make us better and create amazing things. I have clients that I just want to be around because they are good people. (And I hope that feeling is mutual.)

It can be hard to quantify, but when these relationships are in place, you never even glance toward the exit row.

Carrie Cousins is the Director of Digital Marketing at LeadPoint Digital in Roanoke. For 15+ years, she has helped businesses tell their stories and get better results online with practical digital marketing strategies. She also an active leader in AAF, serving on the local and district boards, and is an adjunct professor at Virginia Tech.