Whether you’ve just started a business or you’ve been in business for decades, it can be incredibly easy to fall into the pitfalls of bad marketing. You want and need to get your name out there in order to stay in business, but you should also recognize that there are good and bad marketing techniques. Becoming complacent in your marketing strategies will slow the growth of your company, so check out some advice on switching it up and staying with the times.

When it comes to marketing, there used to be basic methods of reaching out to potential customers: direct mailing lists or consumer mailing lists, phone lead lists, residential address lists, or broadcast emails. However, those methods are now history, and can send out the message that you’re not innovative enough to potential consumers. Things like consumer mailing lists have now been replaced with personalized emails, content marketing, search engine optimization, and social media sites. With the rise of the internet and other technology, it can be hard to keep up. The problem is, if you can’t keep up, you’ll likely be overtaken by those who can.

The statistics have spoken on this topic as well: broadcast emails drive 18 times less revenue than relevant emails. Going even further, personalized emails can create 14% more click-throughs, and convert 10% more! Even with this numbers however, 37% of business-to-business marketers insist on sticking with automation to generate their leads. While this may seem tech-savvy, it’s missing an essential part of marketing: personalization. Consumers want to feel like they matter to the businesses they choose to purchase from or work with.

Improving your marketing strategies will translate into more business– it’s a fact. Many businesses have done a complete overhaul in their strategy in the last few years, so if you haven’t made the jump, you should probably get started.

What do you think? Are your current plans working or do they need updating?