We’re halfway through the year—a perfect point at which to pause and assess your annual marketing plan. Delaying your marketing review until year-end can mean missed opportunities and unnecessary spending on ineffective tactics. The summer is an ideal time to reflect on what’s working (and what isn’t) and make sure you’re still heading in the right direction to finish strong.
Here’s how to take a closer look at your strategy and realign your efforts to drive better results in the second half of the year.
Revisit your marketing plan, goals, and budget
Begin by referencing your original marketing plan. Are you on track to meet your KPIs? Are your campaigns aligned with your broader business goals? A lot can change in six months—both internal and external to your business. Maybe you’ve launched a new product, entered another market, or adjusted your sales strategy. Perhaps your competitors are shifting gears, or market conditions have evolved. All of these factors may require you to reassess your priorities and retool your marketing match.
Also consider how you’re pacing against your budget. Don’t just evaluate what you’ve spent, analyze your ROI. Are you getting the returns you anticipated? Are certain channels underperforming while others are exceeding expectations? This is your opportunity to make informed decisions: reallocate budget, double down on what’s working, and cut back where the impact is low.
Dig into the marketing data
A strong mid-year marketing review should be rooted in marketing data. Thanks to the rise of digital marketing, there’s more of it available than ever before. Every click, scroll, open, and conversion offers a valuable clue about what’s working and where there’s room for improvement.
Here are a few key areas to evaluate:
- Website traffic: Are you attracting your audience? Are visitors converting?
- Email performance: Clickthrough rate (34%) and open rate (31%) are top metrics marketers track to evaluate emails. What are yours?
- Social media metrics: Which platforms are gaining traction? What marketing content is resonating?
- Paid media and SEO: Are your ads driving leads? Are you ranking for key search terms?
Compare these metrics against the benchmarks you set at the beginning of the year. The more marketing data you can collect and analyze, the better equipped you are to make informed, strategic decisions. With the right tools and dashboards in place, marketers can spot trends early, identify top-performing channels, and course-correct in real time.
Evaluate your marketing content
Your marketing content is one of the most powerful tools you have to engage prospects and move them through the sales funnel, so it’s worth taking a close look at how it’s performing. A mid-year marketing review is a great time to assess both marketing and sales content to see what’s gaining momentum with your audience. From blog posts and videos to case studies and pitch decks, identify which pieces are driving engagement and which may need to be refreshed or retired.
Your website deserves similar scrutiny. Make sure it’s delivering a seamless, intuitive user experience and providing the information your customers or prospects are actively seeking. This might mean updating product or service descriptions, adding new imagery, optimizing for mobile, or publishing new resources like white papers or ebooks. Even small updates can go a long way in improving site performance and credibility. If a larger redesign is needed, flag it now so you can plan for it in your year-end roadmap.
Media coverage and press outreach are also important to review. Look back at what’s been published so far this year—press releases, media hits, and other earned coverage. Are there opportunities you missed or stories that could have gotten more exposure? Use this insight to identify gaps and refine your PR strategy moving forward.
Refocus on your audience
As your business evolves, so do your customers. Staying connected to their needs is essential. A mid-year marketing review is a chance to bring it back to basics by reevaluating your audience’s core pain points and how your brand is positioned to alleviate them.
Start by gathering feedback from the front lines. Your customer service and sales teams are invaluable sources of insight, as they’re speaking directly with your audience every day. Look at common questions, objections, and recurring themes. Social media interactions can also offer a window into what your audience is thinking, asking, or struggling with.
With this information, assess whether your current messaging is still resonating. Are you clearly communicating your value? Are your campaigns aligned with what your audience actually cares about right now?
It may be time to update or expand your buyer persona(s). You might discover new audience segments emerging through different platforms, channels, or offerings. For instance, if you’ve introduced a new product line or entered a new vertical, your ideal customer profile may have shifted—or expanded. Refining your personas helps ensure your content, targeting, and tone stay relevant and effective.
Identify gaps and opportunities
This is where the true value of a mid-year marketing review comes into focus. As you evaluate your progress, you’re likely to uncover areas where things aren’t quite hitting the mark or where new options have emerged. That’s not a sign of failure. It’s a natural and important part of staying competitive in a fast-moving segment.
With a changing marketing landscape, flexibility is key. For example, 44% of marketers report they are focusing more on the customer experience, while 35% say they are creating more content that reflects their brand’s values. The strategy you built six months ago was based on the information and goals you had at the time. But priorities shift, trends evolve, and new tools emerge. A review gives you the space to reassess and adapt.
Maybe you’ve been interested in exploring how AI could help your business run more efficiently or deliver more targeted marketing? Perhaps, you’ve considered working with influencers or testing short-form video content to boost engagement on social platforms? Or is a new product offering or customer segment creating opportunities you didn’t anticipate at the start of the year?
This is the time to acknowledge what hasn’t moved forward and why. If something still feels like the right move, now’s your chance to make room for it. Don’t be afraid to adjust your goals or shift your approach to align with what matters most today.
A successful marketing plan isn’t set in stone; it’s a living, evolving strategy. Recognizing where to pivot or experiment can help you make the most of the months ahead and build momentum into next year.
Assess resources
There’s plenty of runway left, but sometimes the biggest obstacle to progress is bandwidth. If your in-house team is stretched thin or isn’t sure how to implement new strategies, it might be time to bring in an agency partner. A fresh perspective—along with experience in the latest tools, channels, and creative approaches—can help you bridge the gap between where you are and where you want to go.
Learn how Palmer Ad Agency can help you finish the year strong. Get in touch with us for a free 60-minute consultation.
