Top 9 Marketing Challenges & How to Manage Them

Marketing isn’t easy. 

We’re each facing selling challenges owed to fiscal constraints, accelerated AI advancements, and rapidly changing user behaviors.

But the champion businesses are adapting. And you can, too. 

Keep speechmaking arsenic we locomotion done existent selling challenges and however you tin flooded them. 

9 Marketing Challenges and How to Address Them

1. Generating Quality Leads

Generating capable high-quality leads to enactment organizational goals is 1 of the biggest challenges marketers face. Because galore tactics (like paid ads) pb to diminishing returns implicit time.

There are besides level updates to consider. 

For example, Google regularly fine-tunes its hunt algorithms successful ways that tin impact your visibility successful hunt results. 

Just look astatine however overmuch volatility the Semrush Sensor detected successful the weeks surrounding the March 2023 halfway update.

This tin drastically interaction whether prospects volition spot your conversion-focused content.

And Meta likewise rolls retired updates that impact some the integrated (meaning unpaid) societal posts and societal ads users see. 

All of these tin pb to you needing to put much successful your selling efforts to thrust leads who are apt to go customers.

How to Solve This Problem

One bully mode to make high-converting leads is by creating and distributing prime contented crossed aggregate selling channels. 

This helps you scope much people. And trim the hazard of immoderate azygous transmission negatively impacting you excessively much.

For assistance creating search-optimized content, you tin usage Semrush’s SEO Content Template. This instrumentality automates the archetypal measurement successful the contented instauration process by generating SEO contented briefs.

First, benignant successful your people keyword(s), take a people geography, and click “Create contented template.”

Semrush past analyzes the top-10-ranking hunt results for your people keyword(s). 

You’ll past spot recommendations to assistance you outrank your competitors. For example:

• A database of related keywords
• A database of backlink opportunities
• A recommended readability score
• A suggested substance length

The instrumentality besides shows you examples of however your competitors usage keywords. To springiness you inspiration. 

Scroll down to the bottommost to spot basal recommendations related to your leafage title, meta description, and more.

With this contented brief, you tin present constitute a high-quality portion designed to fertile good connected hunt engines. 

Plus, you tin administer the completed contented portion crossed different channels similar societal media platforms and emails. To look successful beforehand of much imaginable customers. 

Business leaders cognize that AI tools similar ChatGPT and Midjourney are capable to make copy, images, and videos rapidly and inexpensively. Meaning marketers are present feeling the unit of having to support up with each the advances successful these tools arsenic they usage them successful their day-to-day work. 

This is hard for a fewer reasons.

First, marketers request to support up with the increasing database of state-of-the-art tools. And enactment connected apical of the changes that rotation retired crossed the ones they already cognize about.

Like erstwhile OpenAI announced that ChatGPT is present capable to browse the internet.

Second, marketers request to fig retired the champion mode to use AI to their enactment to trim costs without losing quality. 

For example, Google has warned that portion utilizing AI is not against their guidelines, it shouldn’t beryllium utilized arsenic a inexpensive method to make low-quality content. 

And Google has intelligibly stated they volition preferentially fertile high-quality archetypal content. So, marketers hazard losing hunt rankings if they usage AI incorrectly. 

How to Solve This Problem

Discover reputable AI tools successful our App Center. They’re utile for a wide scope of selling tasks.

For example, AI Social Content Generator lets you rapidly make societal media posts from your existing blog posts.

Open the instrumentality and click the “Create New” fastener connected the right-hand broadside astatine the apical of the page.

Then, prime the “Blog to Post” module.

You tin present transcript and paste your blog post’s URL successful the disposable tract and click “Submit.”

The AI instrumentality automatically creates transcript based connected your blog post. And you’re capable to edit the substance to further customize it. 

Then, click “Confirm.”

You’ll past click “Next.”

In the adjacent step, take a template based connected the format you privation to use. And click “Next.”

You tin past fto the instrumentality take assets for you. Or, you tin usage your ain images oregon the ones from the blog post.

Then, click “Generate.”

The instrumentality past allows you to edit the station by clicking the pencil icon. And modifying the copy, imagery, etc.

When you’re done making changes, you tin download the finished societal station to stock connected the due platform(s).

3. Increased Competition 

Nearly each concern faces increasing contention arsenic others recognize they could supply what those customers are looking for. Which means it tin beryllium hard to basal out.

Just see however casual it is for competitors to look astatine the ads you’re running.

Meta’s Ad Library lets you presumption immoderate advertisers' selling campaigns crossed Meta. 

Here’s an example:

And Google launched thing akin called Ads Transparency Center successful March 2023. 

Competitors tin usage this instrumentality to instrumentality a look astatine the ads you’ve published done Google. 

When your competitors are capable to truthful easy spot precisely what you’re doing, it tin beryllium tricky to amusement prospective customers what makes you unique.

How to Solve This Problem

You basal a amended accidental of occurrence by focusing your selling efforts connected a circumstantial niche—meaning a peculiar conception of your people audience. Because it helps you talk to their circumstantial needs.

Focusing connected a smaller assemblage tin adjacent assistance you trim your budget. 

But however bash you cognize which assemblage to absorption on? 

Use Semrush’s One2Target instrumentality to place immoderate cardinal groups you tin absorption on.

First, take a location. 

Then participate up to 5 competitors’ domains. And click “Analyze.”

In the “Demographics” report, you’ll spot an overview of the audience’s age, country, and more. 

Next, spell to the “Socioeconomics” tab. Here, you tin spot the audience’s household size, income bracket, employment status, and acquisition level.

Go to the “Behavior” tab to observe the audience’s interests, instrumentality preferences, and often utilized societal media platforms.

Let’s accidental you find that your competitors are chiefly targeting radical who enactment afloat time, are betwixt the ages of 24 and 44, and person a household size of 3 to 4 people. That suggests they’re focusing connected moving parents.

Perhaps this helps you admit you could basal retired by appealing to retired joined couples who don’t person children astatine home. 

Further reading: Target Audience: What It Is & How to Find Yours [+ Examples]

4. Changing Customer Preferences

Customer buying habits are ever evolving. And marketers person to enactment connected apical of emerging trends to stay relevant.

Consider the increasing involvement successful “clean skincare.” Data from Google Trends shows that this hunt word grew steadily from 2018 to 2023.

Or the rising popularity of the athletics “pickleball” from 2020 to 2023. 

Changes similar these mean you can't proceed to marketplace however you ever have. Doing truthful volition effect successful decreasing conversion rates and increasing lawsuit acquisition costs.

It’s besides hard to place trends erstwhile they’re conscionable opening to instrumentality off. Meaning it’s casual to miss retired connected opportunities. 

How to Solve This Problem

Tracking your competitor’s integer activities successful existent clip tin assistance you uncover caller trends you whitethorn different beryllium unaware of. 

For example, Nike precocious created a Pickleball Shoes merchandise category. Which indicates increasing popularity for the sport.

But manually tracking everything your competitors bash is time-consuming. 

Instead, usage a instrumentality similar EyeOn to bash it automatically. 

Simply participate a database of competitors’ URLs and click “Start escaped monitoring”

You’ll past beryllium taken to the “Overview” tab. Where you tin spot aggregated accusation connected your competitors’: 

• Google hunt ads
• Newly published webpages
• Newly published blog posts
• Social media posts
• Social engagement 

You tin past click connected a rival to analyse precisely what caller initiatives they’re moving on. 

You tin adjacent acceptable up play emails to get reports delivered straight to your inbox. And adjacent specify which countries you privation to absorption connected for ads.

5. Communicating Marketing’s Contributions to Leadership

Communicating marketing’s publication to concern maturation is hard. Because it’s hard to measurement successful the archetypal place. 

A survey of 316 selling leaders reveals that implicit 61% of them said showing the interaction their actions person connected the business’s fiscal outcomes is simply a apical challenge.

Being capable to measurement the interaction of selling connected your concern is important for 2 reasons. 

First, linking selling occurrence with accrued gross increases the likelihood of enactment allocating a larger selling fund successful the future. Which tin beryllium utilized to turn your squad and put successful caller channels. 

Second, your selling efforts are much apt to beryllium palmy if you cognize what’s working. 

Semrush’s 2023 State of Content Marketing study reveals 70% of businesses that were precise palmy successful contented selling actively measured selling instrumentality connected concern (ROI). 

How to Solve This Problem

Try measuring however effectual each idiosyncratic selling subject is. Then, you tin make a maestro study for leadership.

Let’s locomotion done however to bash this for SEO. 

First, you’ll request to acceptable up conversion events for lead-generating activities successful Google Analytics. That could beryllium downloading a template oregon filling retired a form.

Navigate to “Admin” successful the sidebar to the near and prime the “Events” section.

Then, prime “Create event” to make an lawsuit that aligns with the enactment you privation to track.

You’ll request to bash this for each conversion you privation to measure. 

But here’s however you tin make an lawsuit for a signifier submission. 

First, take a sanction for the event. And past acceptable the “Parameter,” “Operator,” and “Value” fields to bespeak a signifier submission. 

The lawsuit should present look successful your “Existing events” table. Find it and prime the toggle nether “Mark arsenic conversion.”

After astir 24 hours, Google Analytics populates this accusation successful the “Conversions” report.

You tin past filter this study to lone amusement you conversions that originated from your SEO efforts by clicking “Add comparison” astatine the apical of the report.

Then, prime “Session medium” successful the “Dimension” drop-down menu, “exactly matches,” successful the “Match Type” drop-down menu, and “organic” successful the “Value” drop-down menu. And click “Apply.”

Now, you’re capable to spot however SEO selling activities make conversions. 

If you delegate a numerical worth to each conversion (which you tin find by multiplying your emblematic lawsuit beingness worth by your pb conversion rate), you tin past find the wide worth of each your conversions. And usage that to cipher your SEO ROI.

Here’s the look to bash that:

SEO ROI = (total conversion worth - outgo of investment) / outgo of investment

You tin past bash this for different selling disciplines, populate the information successful a report, and stock with your enactment team. 

6. Training Marketing Team Members

Training is time-consuming and tin divert resources from selling activities that much instantly make revenue. 

This isn’t conscionable for getting caller hires up to speed. Helping your existing squad members sharpen their skills besides takes clip and resources.

But bully grooming is indispensable for ensuring everyone connected your squad is capable to execute their jobs to the champion of their abilities. It besides helps trim attrition, according to a study from LinkedIn. 

How to Solve This Problem

Setting speech dedicated grooming clip successful your team’s calendar ensures grooming is ever prioritized. And lets you program for it successful a mode that won’t get successful the mode of achieving your goals. 

If you’re abbreviated connected elder squad members who tin thatch others, delegate self-taught courses for your squad to complete. Like those successful Semrush Academy. 

7. Marketing with a Reduced Budget

Many selling teams person had their budgets chopped successful caller years. Meaning they’re trying to present comparable results without arsenic galore resources. 

In fact, a Gartner survey reveals selling budgets fell from 9.5% of gross successful 2022 to 9.1% successful 2023. And 71% of CMOs present judge they deficiency capable budgets to execute their strategies. 

In short, selling teams are being forced to marque hard decisions. Often putting disconnected plans for experiments and adjacent cutting backmost connected freelance contributions. 

How to Solve This Problem

Focusing connected your best-performing selling activities and simultaneously cutting fund for inefficient channels tin assistance you maximize gross portion minimizing your wide spending.

Let’s accidental you place that your SEO efforts thrust acold much income than your integrated societal media efforts. 

Even if you don’t person capable fund to make arsenic overmuch net-new contented arsenic you’d like, you tin get much retired of your SEO enactment by optimizing your existing content. 

A Backlinko study shows that improving a page’s keyword ranking from presumption 4 to presumption 1 tin summation clicks done to your leafage by much than 3 times. 

First, place which pages are worthy investing resources into improving.

You tin bash this utilizing Position Tracking. 

Follow the Position Tracking configuration guide to acceptable up the tool. 

Then, caput to the “Pages” tab. And click the file with the day underneath “Average position” doubly to benignant the results from highest-ranking pages to lowest-ranking pages.

Now, scroll down to find pages wherever the mean ranking is betwixt presumption 4 and presumption 10.

These are pages you tin easy optimize to thrust amended results.

For circumstantial recommendations connected however to amended these and different important pages, spell to Semrush’s On Page SEO Checker. 

Follow the On Page SEO Checker configuration guide to acceptable up your project. And marque definite to prime the “Manually” tab erstwhile adding pages to marque definite each the ones you identified from Position Tracking get included. 

Then, click “Collect ideas.”

The “Overview” tab volition amusement you a high-level look astatine immoderate ideas to amended your pages. And however overmuch postulation you could summation by implementing them.

Click the “Optimization Ideas” tab to spot circumstantial recommendations for idiosyncratic pages.

All recommendations are highlighted with wide instructions. 

You tin travel these recommended steps to amended SEO rankings for cardinal pages. To get much worth retired of them. 

8. Recruiting Top Talent

Hiring top-tier marketers is difficult. Because imaginable hires person caller moving preferences and options that align with those. 

For illustration McKinsey & Company recovered that 87% of employees would take to enactment remotely if fixed the option.

If a campaigner has the prime betwixt a distant relation astatine different institution and an in-office relation astatine your company, it’s apt they’ll opt for the former. 

It’s important to admit worker preferences similar this. And find ways to accommodate them oregon supply different incentives. 

How to Solve This Problem

Maybe you’re capable to connection flexible enactment environments. If so, that tin assistance successful your recruitment efforts.

But what astir erstwhile you can’t conscionable each worker preference? 

You tin promote your existing employees to station astir unfastened roles connected LinkedIn. Or adjacent reward them with a referral bonus if their promotion leads to a hire. 

Here’s an illustration that Zoë Hartsfield posted connected LinkedIn. The station praises the Apollo.io squad and promotes assorted unfastened roles.

For a imaginable candidate, Apollo.io looks similar a large spot to work. And for Apollo.io, this is an authentic and low-cost mode to advertise unfastened occupation roles. 

9. Testing New Marketing Channels Efficiently

Trying caller selling channels is simply a bully mode to observe opportunities and enactment up of the competition. But it takes a batch of experimentation to observe what works. 

This tin beryllium problematic erstwhile you see however risky the imaginable of wasting resources connected thing that mightiness not enactment sounds to leadership.

CallRail’s survey of much than 600 marketers astatine small- to medium-sized businesses shows 67% find it’s hard to get buy-in from enactment connected imaginable caller channels. 

How to Solve This Problem

Analyzing what’s moving for competitors connected caller selling channels and presenting those findings to enactment is much apt to assistance you get buy-in. And to assistance you succeed.

First, you’ll request to place selling channels your competitors are utilizing that you aren’t.

Enter their domains into Semrush’s Traffic Analytics instrumentality and click “Analyze.”

Go to the “Traffic Journey” tab to spot a wide breakdown of the channels driving postulation to your competitors. 

Next, scroll down to “Traffic Journey Details” to spot circumstantial postulation sources. . 

Let’s accidental you admit that your competitors are receiving a sizeable magnitude of postulation from Google paid hunt ads, which you aren’t leveraging. This is simply a bully denotation you could likewise benefit.

Real-Life Examples of Marketing Challenges That Brands Overcame

Launching New Products to Meet Changing Consumer Preferences

Starbucks ever features its Pumpkin Spice Latte successful the fall. But they besides motorboat a bid of different caller products informed by customers. 

One illustration is the Iced Pumpkin Cream Chai Tea Latte, which the institution reports is inspired by a fashionable lawsuit and barista combination. 

This is simply a cleanable illustration of however Starbucks is adapting to changing lawsuit tastes. If it works well, Starbucks whitethorn re-release it successful the coming years. 

Recruiting Top Talent with an Unorthodox Method

Mark Kosoglow got originative erstwhile searching for apical talent—something that’s becoming important fixed however galore choices prospective employees have.

Instead of utilizing a accepted occupation posting, Kosoglow posted a situation connected LinkedIn for a income improvement typical (SDR) manager.

Anyone who could get his attraction with thing compelling would person a accidental astatine an interview. And Kosoglow made the situation compelling by mounting the code with edgy connection that conveyed the benignant of idiosyncratic helium was looking for. 

And it seems to person worked. Kosoglow followed up soon aft successful different station to notation helium was capable to publication 4 interviews with large candidates.

Tackle Your Biggest Marketing Challenges

It’s apt astatine slightest 1 of these cardinal selling challenges is affecting your business. And you whitethorn beryllium considering which solution you’re going to effort first. 

Regardless of your choice, utilizing the close tools is indispensable to success.

With a Semrush subscription you’ll summation entree to everything you request to lick your apical selling challenges.

Sign up for a free Semrush account to get going.