Two factors effect the length of testing a marketing strategy

Barring any economical catastrophes, or major shifts in the marketplace, the two main causes for determining the length of testing a marketing strategy are leadership and budget. Why? Leadership is easy — they pilot the plane. If leadership does not like the direction that the plane is heading, they can change course.

Budget, on the other hand, is the runway. The longer the runway, the more time you have to take off and land. Shorter runways increase the likelihood of crashing if the pilot lacks the proper skills. To be more literal, a shorter runway (smaller budget) leaves less time to run the test — if a strategy test runs too long, the budget is spread too thin. A longer runway (bigger budget) allows more time to run the test — if you try to shorten a marketing strategy test with a huge budget, you may not get the reach and frequency rates that you need in order to be effective.

In short, you have to show allow your test enough time and enough budget to hit your audience with your message the right amount of times over the right period of time.

Cool. What about creative?

Correct. Marketing strategy is not only targets, budgets, and time. Arguably the most important aspect of any marketing strategy is messaging and creative. The overarching, high level goal of marketing is to create familiarity in your ideal buyers, regardless of what you sell. Your marketing should be filled with a cohesive, parallelly branded experience for your customer.

How do you expect to build familiarity if your messaging and creative is constantly changing, too? It is impossible.

Your creative should stay the same for a while, too.

The downsides to repeatedly changing your marketing strategy

Too often, leadership wants to change course — especially in marketing. If leadership does not see the results they want or need right away, oftentimes they bail on whatever marketing strategy was set into place. With some leaders, this happens over and over and over…

Constantly changing marketing strategy based on short-term, insignificant results can have several negative implications:

1. Lack of Consistency: Changing strategies too frequently can confuse your audience and dilute your brand identity, making it harder for consumers to recognize and trust your brand.

2. Inefficient Resource Allocation: Frequent changes can waste resources on unproven strategies, leading to higher costs and lower returns on investment.

3. Missed Opportunities: Constant changes may prevent you from fully exploiting long-term growth opportunities that require patience and consistency.

4. Brand Erosion: Continuously shifting strategies may erode brand integrity and weaken consumer trust.

5. Ineffective Learning: It becomes challenging to analyze the effectiveness of a strategy if it changes too frequently. You need sufficient data to make informed decisions.

6. Internal Disarray: Frequent strategy shifts can demotivate your marketing team and lead to confusion and disarray.

In marketing, a balanced approach that allows for strategic flexibility while maintaining a core message and identity often yields better results.