I have been cleaning out things lately. Today it was my briefcase. I carry a briefcase with me just about everywhere I go. I call it my man purse. It holds my laptop, a notebook, my phone and all kinds of objects and gadgets that I need from time to time. It had been a while since I cleaned it out thoroughly and, as I found out, I had been packing around items that I really haven’t used for quite some time. I found a prescription for glasses that expired four years ago. I also found an ethernet cable, a lapel pin from an organization I belonged to eight years ago, about 100 writing pens, eye drops, paper clips, rubber bands, a computer power cord and the shoulder strap from the previous briefcase I owned. The process was grossly overdue.

Is it time to clean out your marketing? Marketing campaigns have a shelf life. Messages become stale. Catchy taglines no longer attract anyone’s attention. Images become outdated. If you want to remain relevant, your marketing has to change every now and then.

How do you know when to make the change? The easy answer is to watch the results you get in engagement with your target audience. If you are measuring your effectiveness through analytics, this is easy enough. But another way to gauge your marketing is to ask and listen to your customers. When they ask for your brand by name or when they repeat your key marketing points back to you, you know you are being effective. When your customers have trouble remembering what your marketing says, it is time for a change.

Should you throw everything out and start over with your marketing? Before you do so, I would recommend you do a little test with your customers. To make this test accurate, you will need to do a little research and find out four things:

1. What is trendy right now that has caught your customer’s attention?

2. What do your customers value?

3. What is your competition doing that you are not?

4. What other factors are competing with you for customers’ attention and dollars?

Let’s go through these briefly. What is trendy? Online sales and the speed of delivery. It is not only the Christmas season, but our marketplace is dominated by the convenience of shopping online and having products delivered to your doorstep. How is your marketing changing to reflect these new trends? If you are not addressing the trend, you should be.

What do your customers value? This goes beyond building a quality product and selling it at a reasonable price. Value also signifies you align with their worldview in today’s economy. The transparency of how you do business and with whom you do business is important. Those who push over a line that violates their customer’s values can expect a huge push back. It challenges large and small enterprises. When your brand reflects your customers’ values, your marketing should promote it.

What is your competition doing that you are not? Maybe a better question is, what is your competition doing to gain more customers that you are not? Copycatting is never a good idea in marketing (see my previous post), but it is good to assess where your competition is beating you and do something to counter it. Your marketing should be reflecting your best features, especially those that your competition cannot do well. In doing so, it may be that you need to come up with a sub-brand to reflect your best foot forward. Sub-branding is done all the time for new offerings. It ties the new idea to the established brand. It gives your customers a reason to take a new look at you. Marketed well, this will push back on your competition.

What other factors are competing for your customers’ attention and dollars? The economy is tight right now. How will that impact your business? Your marketing should change to make your products and services essential in the minds of your customers. When it comes to one thing over another, you have to make your case that your brand is the wise choice. Otherwise, you will find declining sales, not to your direct competition, but for the most indispensable product.

Is it time to clean out your marketing? Now may be the time to do so. If your marketing is not as appealing as it once was, clean it out and come up with something new.