Think back to a time when you carefully mapped out a B2B digital marketing plan—a strategic plan you were sure would work. You checked all the boxes and spent days, weeks, MONTHS slaving over your marketing efforts…but when you launched it, the results were nowhere near what you expected.

What happened? Where did it all go wrong? If you’re ready to rip your hair out with frustration, don’t worry. There are ways to improve your marketing and get the results you’re looking for. Here are the 4 top reasons why your B2B digital marketing may not be working—reasons we’ve discovered as a B2B marketing agency working with tech companies in all industries.

1. You’re ignoring your metrics.

Have you ever heard the quote, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”? Nowhere is this truer than your B2B digital marketing. Before you can improve your B2B digital marketing strategy, you need to know what isn’t working. That’s where your metrics come in.

You can learn a great deal from your analytics. They can help you better understand what’s working and where there’s room for improvement. It’s easy to get attached to a certain strategy, phrase, color, design style or anything you use to market your business. But if isn’t working, it’s time to move on and try something new.

Measuring the effectiveness of your marketing can be easy—if you have the right analytical tools that is. Analytical tools like Google Analytics, HotJar, SEMRush, Sumo and Moz Pro can be used to measure the impact of your B2B marketing. There are also automation platforms like HubSpot and Pardot that allow you to check on the effectiveness of your digital marketing efforts, including blogs, eBooks, email workflows and social media. Try different tools or platforms to see which ones work for you or ask your B2B marketing agency to recommend the best options for your marketing goals and budget.

2. You talk at your customers, not to them.

The point of B2B digital marketing is to open up the lines of communication between you and your customers and prospects, not shut them down forever. Unfortunately, most businesses today talk at their customers, not to them. They fill their content with technical jargon and product information that their audience can’t relate to.

Your customers want to be respected. They want to feel like you care about them and their needs and not just making a sale. Basically, they want you to treat them like they’re well…human.

Content offers you a chance to connect with your customers and prospects. Write as if you were having a conversation with them. Let them know that you understand their needs and challenges, and you want to help make their life easier and solve those challenges. Your content should say, “Listen, I know what you’re going through. Let us help you.” If you focus on the benefits of using your products or services rather than the features, you have a better chance of connecting emotionally with your audience.

3. You’re focusing on quantity over quality.

Consistently posting content is a great idea. Content helps you get found online, positions you as an industry expert and delivers value to your customers and prospects—but only if it has a purpose.

Before you write any piece of content, ask yourself, “Why am I writing this?” Does it answer a question your target audience keeps asking? Does it provide a solution to their challenges? If you’re writing content only for the sake of writing content, you’re wasting your customer’s time and yours.

Having quality content keeps your readers satisfied and builds trust in your brand. Aim to write content pieces around a relevant topic to engage your audience and maintain interest.

4. You’re trying to do too much.

When you try to be on every marketing channel, you run the risk of spreading yourself too thin. Be sure to focus on only the social media platforms, industry websites and news publications that matter most to your audience. If your potential customers aren’t spending time on Snapchat and Instagram, you will have more success on other platforms like LinkedIn or Twitter.

Dig around and see where your prospects and customers get their information and what social media platforms they’re using. You can find this out by visiting their websites or asking them directly. If you’re new to digital marketing, try to avoid doing too much too soon. Start off slowly by concentrating on only a few social media platforms and industry publications. Once you’ve mastered those, then you can branch out. Or, you could reach out to a B2B marketing agency for help.

In B2B tech marketing, tactics should be thought of as part of a larger whole, rather than separate pieces. By strategically integrating new and traditional marketing tactics, your marketing program become more effective and cost efficient. To learn more about how you can increase your lead generation and overall marketing, download our free eBook: Modern Integrated Digital Marketing—A Better Path for B2B Technology Marketers.