Don't Panic Over Performance Dips

In March of 2020 alone the S&P 500 had three days where the closing price was at least 7.5% lower than the closing price the day before. As far as trading goes, that’s pretty bad.

Since March of 2020, the price of the S&P has increased by 88%.

I know, I know… what does this have to do with marketing?

The lesson here is: don’t panic.

I’m sure many of you that work in paid media have had at least one experience where you’ve gotten a similar message from a client or boss:

“Leads have taken a dip today, can you look into what’s going on??”

Yes, sometimes tools and technologies break which might require some speedy investigation. However, I’d argue that intra-day changes, or sometimes even weekly dips in performance don’t warrant a fire drill.

These can be tied to market conditions that are out of your control, or better yet, a drop in week-over-week performance can be part of normal fluctuations. Even the world’s best businesses see down weeks every now and again.

By jumping in and making immediate changes, it’s possible you’re actually doing more harm than good. Especially in the B2B world where changes take time to play out.

Instead, I recommend following up with your client or boss and letting them know that you’re checking to make sure nothing is broken, but don’t recommend taking any immediate action at the moment. Even better if you can be the one to flag the dip in performance then call out that you’re monitoring this trend, and are preparing to make ABC changes by X date if the trend persists.

Taking this approach has helped me to navigate these conversations, and better align expectations moving forward.

Have questions, considerations, or critiques? I’d love to hear them! If you’re reading this via email, just hit respond. Otherwise, you can find me on LinkedIn.