The solar eclipse is over, so what should I do with my eclipse glasses? They are too opaque to work as sunglasses. Outside of staring into the sun, they don’t really have any meaningful use. What seemed essential just a few days ago is pretty worthless today.

The same might be true of your marketing strategy: what once was essential to your marketing effort is now obsolete. What has become worthless in marketing? Let’s talk about specific mediums and techniques. It appears there are more marketing mediums than there is sand in the desert! There are countless places to place ads, display your logo, sponsor a cause/event/group, etc. However, the marketplace has changed. Attitudes towards where people will spend their time has drastically shifted. For instance, from 1926 to 1963, six roadside signs that formed a whimsical rhyme advertised Burma-Shave along two-lane highways across the U.S. They were highly effective in promoting the Burma-Shave brand and making it the second highest selling shaving cream of its day. What happened after a 37-year run that caused the medium to become obsolete? Interstates and higher speeds. When I was in my youth, people went to enclosed malls to do their shopping. Mall kiosks and direct-mail ads were all the rage to advertise your wares. What happened? Everyone shops online now. The first question you need to ask yourself about any marketing medium is this: where does my target market – those who I think are prime candidates to buy my brand – spend their time? Choose the medium that promotes in that space if you want to be noticed by them.

The second thing to consider is what you are promoting compared to two things: the needs of your target and what your competition is saying. In some cases, a marketing message has been heard so many times that it has lost its effect. In other cases, the feature you are promoting has become so commonplace that it is no longer special to consumers. For instance, automobile sales are typically based on the latest technology and the attitudes of the marketplace. Right now, you are seeing a lot of hands-free driving options being promoted by car makers. It is the latest thing. There was a time when power windows and locks were the new thing. No car manufacturer is advertising these power features any longer because they are considered conventional and expected by consumers as standard features. As hands-free driving becomes offered by all the competitors, it too will become unexceptional in the eye of the consumer.

But what should you do if your products and services are unchanging? Find out how they meet the needs for your current customers and make a big deal of this in your marketing. Notice I said your current customers. Here is where companies make a big marketing mistake. They may have built their brand on a need, but needs change. Consumers want to know what you are doing to fix their problems now, not a decade ago. Repackage your approach by playing up your current fix to their problems. That will keep your marketing and your brand relevant.

Don’t let your brand become as obsolete as my eclipse glasses. Stay relevant with your marketing by strategizing around existing needs of consumers and the attitudes that are circulating in the marketplace right now.