12 marketing red flags that could be killing your content

Red flags: they're not just for swiping left on dating apps or being warned about by your friends anymore. 🚩

Just like that person who always 'forgets' their wallet, constantly talks about themselves, or doesn't make their bed before they leave the house (shame on you), the marketing world is riddled with warning signs that can send potential customers running in the other direction.

These marketing red flags aren't minor quirks—they're full-blown strategy saboteurs. Even a "U up?" won't get them back. Some may be spotted a mile off by your target audience, some are more subtle cries from marketers but either way, they're going to impact your marketing efforts.

Here are 12 common marketing red flags that could be killing your content strategy:

Creative processes being micromanaged

This is your ticket straight to the Good Vibes graveyard; where cool, creative flows and ideas go to die. 🪦

Constantly hovering over your marketing team or colleagues is hardly motivating, is it? Instead, it screams distrust. Set clear expectations and goals from the beginning, provide constructive feedback where necessary, and give these creative professionals the space they need to do their thang.

Inconsistent messaging across channels

If you're saying one thing on your landing page, another thing in your most recent eBook, another thing across your social media, what does that lead to? Brand 👏 confusion 👏, that's what.

When you've got conflicting messages—whether that's down to different product focus, tone of voice, or target audiences—you make for a very confusing user experience. It's kinda like, who even are you?

So, getting your messaging right across all channels is crucial for building trust and recognition.

Copy-pasted content across channels

Same same, but different. This time we're talking about more about the big marketing red flag of not considering how your target audience or tone of voice should differ across different marketing channels. Because spoiler alert: it should.

Each marketing channel has unique characteristics (eg. LinkedIn is for professionals, Instagram perhaps gives you more room to play around with silly, BTS content) so avoid generic, copy-pasted content. Understand the expectations of each audience, and adapt the content, while maintaining the brand voice.

A website that isn't mobile-friendly

BRB, just need to go scream in horror.
Mobile searches take up an average of 58% of web searches, so you need to make sure the mobile experience does your brand justice. And FYI: a non-responsive website does not do your brand justice. Here are just a few things to prioritize:

👉 Responsive design
👉 Fast-loading times
👉 A mobile-first approach to web development

Long-time customers being forgotten about

If all your content is geared towards new customers and potential customers, you're missing a trick.

What about your treasured existing—or even long-time—customers?

Acquiring new customers is expensive work and time-consuming so sure, spend time on that, but don't forget about the loyal ones. Some ideas you can steal from us to do this include loyalty programs, personalized communication and maybe some VIP treatment, and always keeping an eye on those retention rates. 👀

Pop-ups poppin' up all over

Aggressive pop-ups all over your website can seriously destroy your user experience—in fact, they can drive customers away. If your customers want to read a blog or find out more about your product, the last thing they'll want is a pop-up on every page.

To prevent your audience from clicking X, you should consider:

👉 Using targeted, time pop-ups
👉 Offering up genuine value
👉 Provide a (really) clear way to exit it

Old skool departmental silos

We're just not about those traditional team silos anymore—and you shouldn't be either.
For a winning and truly integrated marketing strategy, you need to break down those (made-up) barriers to encourage more creativity, productivity, and efficiency. "How?" we hear you ask. Well, for one you need to promote open communication and encourage cross-departmental collaboration.

At Optimizely, we use the tiger team approach for marketing campaigns; this means a small, cross-functional group of experts who come together to work on problems, projects, or product.

Tiger team benefits — Image source: Optimizely

Poor comms between your team

Tell you what's not going to help team alignment, and that's poor communication between your team.

You need to make sure you have implemented unified communication platforms for your team so that key pieces of information aren't scattered across emails, Teams or Slack messages, separate docs or decks, and so on. It's also really important that everyone is trained up on how to use these tools to ensure everyone is using them in the same way.

Copycat marketing

It's not uncommon for some people (cough cough leadership) to see something your competitors are up to in their email or social media marketing, and land straight in your inbox saying: "Let's do the same".

Blindly following your competitors only leads to bland, already-been-done, and generally ineffective strategies. Instead, you need to shout about your unique value propositions to develop original marketing that makes you stand out from the rest.

Resistance to change or new, fun things

Nuh-uh, this one's a big no from us—and most marketers out there, tbh.

As creatives, marketers don't love restrictions; especially restrictions that revolve around what's already been done. We're huge advocates for experimenting with new, fun things to get (yep, that's why we have an Experimentation platform).

Sometimes, you’ve got to convince leadership that your idea's worth it.

Anyways, when there's pushback on our creativity, it makes us all very, very sad and that is why it's a big marketing red flag.

Reactive decision-making without the data

Would you throw darts blindfolded? No. Well, at least we hope not—and the your target audience hopes not either. They want to feel heard, listened to, catered for; they want personalized digital experiences.

And what you, as marketers, want is consistent messaging, consistent user experiences, and consistent results. If it goes against the data, don't be afraid to speak up. Time is precious, and data-driven decisions make for (way) more efficient marketing.

Spam emails with zero value

Email marketing isn't something that anyone can do. It's not about writing up content and sending it to hundreds or thousands of people that may (or may not) have signed up to hear from you way back when.

You need to understand who your emails are going to, how you can segment your email marketing campaigns, and how you can provide genuine value through these communications.

If you’re looking for examples of how to make your emails more valuable, our marketing newsletter has you covered.

More green flags in your marketing strategy

Sometimes, those marketing red flags are out of your control so not easy to get rid of. So instead, you should focus on building more green flags within your marketing strategy.

The ultimate marketing green flags? 🟢 Creativity 🟢 Productivity 🟢 Efficiency 🟢 Teamwork 🟢 Vibes.

With a more integrated marketing approach, you create an environment where those green flags thrive—and so does your team as a result.

12 marketing red flags that could be killing your content strategy