I was in Las Vegas recently. I needed to catch a flight out of the airport early in the morning and thought I knew the roads I had to travel to get there. However, I made a wrong turn and ended up going north when I should have been traveling south. When I got to the north side of the city, I realized I needed to turn around. I did a U-Turn and corrected my problem.

I received a message the other day from a distraught business owner who felt like his marketing was headed in the wrong direction. He wanted my opinion about it. Good marketing will bring business in the door, so was his reasoning, but things had shifted in the marketplace and consumers were no longer buying what he was selling. Once you realize you are heading in the wrong direction, to keep moving ahead is insanity. He also needed a U-Turn.

When should you make a U-Turn with your marketing? The easy answer is when it stops working for you. But how do you know it has stopped working? Here are some common signs that you should change the direction of your marketing.

The market has changed

Things change rather rapidly in our society. That impacts the way business is done. Think back to the technology you were using 10 years ago. It is likely obsolete now. There comes a time when the world around you has changed. Have you changed your marketing to keep up? Do you remember the story of Rip Van Winkle, the fictional character that fell asleep for 20 years and found that everyone around him had changed and he was stuck in an old world. The same thing can happen to your marketing. For instance, you might find that a certain age demographic used to buy your brand, but doesn’t need you any longer. It could be that your competition has new products that are better than your old products. More competition can also cause your market share to dwindle. Your marketing has to change with the times.

Your brand is looking old

Sometimes you just need a new look. Styles come and go. The new thing typically catches the attention of the marketplace. Stay relevant to them with your brand design. But you may need more than new dressing, you may need to re-brand altogether. If your brand is looking old, you might need a new name to reflect a new focus.

Your offerings have expired

It also could be your products and services are no longer needed. This is a harsh reality, but most items we purchase have a limited useful existence. If you’re driving a horse and buggy in a high-speed-freeway world, it might be time to expand your products and services to something more relevant.There are very few things in life that last forever. Products come and go. Services do the same. Where are your offerings in their lifecycle?

Trust your measurement devices

One more thing, get ahold of very reliable evaluation tools and trust them to help you know when to make the U-Turn. What am I talking about? Certainly, the income on your financial statements is a good place to start. Also, track engagement with consumers of your brand. How interested are they in buying from you? Do your customers come back for more or do you lose them to your competition? Is your marketing attracting new business? Is it helping you to retain your current customers? Don’t fall for smoke and mirrors that pass for marketing analytics and paint too rosy of a picture. Find resources that measure how effective you are at marketing your brand and trust this information. If it shows that you are in decline, it may be time to turn around.