A failing product marketing plan can be a massive headache for any business owner. Unfortunately many fall under the ill-conceived notion that spending more money on the marketing plan will yield results. This, sadly, is false and often leads to more money being needlessly thrown away on a plan that obviously needs some rethinking. Before spending another penny on a failing marketing plan, check out these five simple tricks to help fix your marketing plan and get you back on track! 1. Look at Your Target Audience People change over time, so you may not have realized the needs of your target audience have changed as well. Consider being a fitness or life coach for the elderly. Many of the baby boomer generation absolutely refuse to accept that they are getting up in years and can be seen out on the tennis courts or swimming at local pools. Fortunately, the addition of interactive games has allowed for many who wish to stay active the opportunity to do so from home. Have you considered that your customer is looking for something else to suit their changing needs? Analyze your product and consider how your customers may have changed over the years. 2. Rethink your Marketing Venues Marketing options have drastically changed with the addition of the internet and advancement of technology. While many businesses have an online presence, they may not be taking full advantage of advertising opportunities online. Instead of just relying on a Yellow Pages ad, or a simple Sunday newspaper coupon for promotion, consider using Facebook, Google, and Yahoo! advertising opportunities to draw in new customers and promote your product! 3. Assess your Competitors While your product may be exceptional, if you are in competition with another business for the same target audience then you should definitely rethink your marketing plan. Analyze how your competition is connecting with their customers, review their product or service, and begin creating a new plan that will reach the customers better and highlight the positive features on your product. One thing you should avoid when dealing with competitors is mudslinging. Insulting and degrading competition in front of customers looks poorly upon a business and only reflects badly to customers. 4. Adjust your Selling Venues Another issue people run into when their product marketing plan is not yielding the profits it once was, is in the marketing venues. Customers’ buying habits change over time, and recently they have drastically converted to online sales because of the added convenience and ability to view many products and services at once. Unfortunately many businesses offer in person sales and services, however have not yet fully taken advantage of the opportunities online sales can provide. If your product marketing plan is failing, then consider joining the thousands of retailers and manufacturers online and offer your products and services there. Popular brands such as BestBuy, Bose, Verizon, and AT&T all offer their products and services on both their websites and through resellers such as Amazon.com. 5. Engage your Customers Engaging your customers is made easier than ever with the internet. You can create instructional videos, make interesting posts, and even put up polls for your customers on a variety of social media sites. Additionally you can work to engage your customers even more by having them send feedback about your business or product, and then turn to them about their feedback. Furthermore, a number of software options are available to help you engage your customers onscreen, without having to go on a massive customer support campaign. WalkMe, for example, an online guidance and engagement platform, is simple to include in your website to help you effectively engage customers. Direct contact with customers really makes a massive impact on their overall outlook on a company and product. Additionally, when customers are able to personally engage a business, they feel as if their opinion is heard and are more likely to be repeat customers because of the experience. Taking a few minutes each day to take a personal interest in customers will drastically improve sales and amp up your marketing plan. Unfortunately a failing product marketing plan can cost you untold amounts of money and countless wasted hours trying to fix the problem. Instead of simply spending more money or trashing the plan completely, why not try these five great tips that can help remedy your plan and get your sales back on track. Whether you need to adjust your selling venues, advertising locations, or you simply need to rethink your customers changing needs, you will be glad you took the time to change instead of investing more money into your current plan!