Catawampus sounds like an adjective from another generation, right? Maybe, but its meaning and significance are not. Nor is its occurrence. In this context, catawampus describes an environment or situation in which marketing goals, culture and initiatives are misaligned or off-center.

How can you tell whether your company is operating in this mode? It’s easy. If one or more of these conditions exist, it’s time for a marketing overhaul.

10 Catawampus Marketing Conditions

1. Competitors are gaining market share.

2. Customers are choosing alternate vendors or simply not purchasing additional products or services from you.

3. The marketing budget has been reduced while sales goals have increased.

4. The website and other customer-facing promotional material haven’t been reviewed and updated in more than one year.

5. Marketing content is being created but not utilized.

6. Marketing communications initiatives fall short in terms of frequency of contact, effectiveness of messaging or use in appropriate marketing channels.

7. Little effort is spent on promoting your brand and positioning your company as an industry leader.

8. There’s no marketing plan, or if there is one, no one monitors or updates it throughout the year.

9. Marketing strategies are not created based on the company’s vision, mission and strategic goals.

10. The marketing department operates in a silo environment without input from others.

Strategic Alignment

In a perfect world, marketing works in seamless alignment with an organization’s strategic objectives. But in today’s fast-moving marketplace, it’s easy for things to get out of whack. The good news is that it’s never too late to harmonize marketing efforts and benefit from a synchronized strategy.