Pivoting in business can feel like an intimidating word. It often carries a sense of uncertainty—throwing out the plans you’ve carefully laid out and diving into unchartered waters. But let me tell you, when it comes to inbound marketing, knowing when and how to pivot can mark the difference between stagnation and exponential growth. From my experience working with countless brands and businesses, adjusting your strategy isn’t just beneficial—it’s absolutely necessary in an industry as dynamic as inbound marketing.
Today, I want to break down what pivoting in your inbound marketing approach looks like, the signs that it may be time to make a change, and how to go about it in a way that ensures lasting results. By the end, you’ll feel empowered to embrace pivots as opportunities, rather than obstacles, to your marketing success.
Signs It’s Time to Pivot Your Inbound Marketing Strategy
One of the biggest challenges marketers face is recognizing when a change is needed. Too often, businesses stick to a strategy that's no longer effective, simply because they’ve invested time, energy, and resources into it. Let me share some of the key signs signaling it’s time to pivot your current inbound marketing approach:
- Plateauing Growth: If your website traffic, leads, or conversions have hit a plateau despite consistent efforts, it may be a sign that your strategy is no longer resonating with your target audience.
- Poor Return on Investment (ROI): Are your ad spend and content creation costs outweighing the revenue generated? It’s not just about volume; effectiveness matters.
- Shifts in Audience Behavior: Consumer habits change—maybe your audience has moved away from email and prefers instant messaging platforms, or perhaps they're now gravitating toward short-form video over blogs.
- New Competitors in the Field: A sudden influx of competitors can mean you must refine your niche, differentiate your offerings, or adjust how and where you engage with your audience.
- Evolving Technology: New tools, platforms, or algorithms—think Google updates or new social platforms like Threads—regularly shake up the inbound marketing landscape.
These shifts aren’t failures; they’re indicators that your strategy needs to evolve. But how exactly do you do that?
Steps to Pivot Your Inbound Marketing Approach
1. Reevaluate Your Goals and KPIs
Before charting a new course, analyze your current performance and revisit the objectives you set at the start of your campaign. Are those objectives still aligned with your business’s overall mission? For example, if you initially focused on brand awareness but now need sales-driven results, your approach must pivot accordingly.
Leverage tools like Google Analytics or HubSpot to measure KPIs such as traffic, conversions, and customer acquisition costs. What these numbers reveal will inform the best ways to revise your strategy.
2. Deep Dive Into Audience Insights
At the core of any inbound marketing strategy is the customer. When was the last time you reviewed your buyer personas? Audience needs and pain points shift over time, often prompted by economic changes, industry developments, or even trending topics (hello, NFTs and the rise of Web3!). Conduct surveys, analyze search intent with tools like Semrush or Ahrefs, and monitor interactions on your social channels to uncover what’s currently driving their decisions.
For example, I once worked with an e-commerce brand targeting millennials, only to discover through analytics that Gen Z was increasingly engaging with their content. After shifting our tone and creating TikTok campaigns, their engagement skyrocketed.
3. Upgrade Your Content Strategy
Content is the lifeblood of inbound marketing, but outdated or irrelevant content can weigh you down. Review your current content inventory to identify what’s still performing well versus what’s underperforming. You may need to:
- Repurpose High-Impact Content: A blog post that performed well a year ago can be reimagined into a video or infographic for new audiences.
- Address Fresh Topics: Monitor keyword trends to address emerging questions your audience is asking right now. Tools like Google Trends or AnswerThePublic are fantastic for this.
- Diversify Formats: If written blogs dominate your strategy, consider branching out. Podcasts, webinars, or social-first video content can help engage audiences across varied platforms.
One of my favorite projects was partnering with a finance startup. They went from publishing dry articles to creating themed Instagram stories that simplified investment tips. The result? A 30% increase in followers—and higher engagement across the board.
4. Leverage Automation and AI Tools
The inbound marketing tools at your disposal are more powerful than ever. If your current strategy doesn’t incorporate automation or artificial intelligence, now might be the time. Platforms like HubSpot, Zapier, or Buffer allow businesses to streamline time-consuming tasks like publishing and lead nurturing.
AI, in particular, has revolutionized inbound marketing. Tools like ChatGPT (and more specialized AI like Jasper or Clearbit) can aid in creating scalable, quality content while analytics models bring deeper personalization to email campaigns or product recommendations.
5. Experiment with New Distribution Channels
Your content may be stellar, but if it’s not reaching the right audience at the right time, it’s underutilized. Don’t hesitate to test new channels. Maybe your audience has migrated from Facebook to TikTok, or from long-form blogs to Spotify podcasts.
For an example, working with a crypto-focused client made it clear that traditional LinkedIn posts weren’t cutting it. Instead, short, high-energy tutorials on Twitter Spaces and YouTube Shorts drove the engagement they needed—proving that your content deserves the platform that suits your audience, not necessarily your comfort zone.
Maintaining Momentum After Pivoting
Pivoting isn’t a one-and-done solution. Once you implement changes, you need to monitor their performance closely. Set shorter review cycles—monthly instead of quarterly KPIs—to keep a pulse on what’s working and what’s not. Be flexible and open to iterating further as new data emerges.
Changes can be met with internal pushback, whether from your team or stakeholders. Be prepared to communicate the “why” behind your decisions. Tie your pivot back to clear data and insights that illustrate how it will better serve business goals.
Remember, building a sustainable inbound marketing strategy is a marathon, not a sprint. The faster you learn to pivot when needed—and do so with precision—the stronger your foundation will be for long-term success.
