🧢 Coach T’s Recap
When you spot a decrease, start by checking whether the change is statistically significant. If it is, get curious. Look at what may be driving the shift: changes in your marketing activity, louder or newer competitors, a strategy that’s leaning too hard into the lower funnel, or shifts in who you’re reaching. Each of these clues helps you understand what’s really happening so you can take action with confidence.
Step 1: Check significance
Before jumping to conclusions, check whether the change is statistically significant. Use the tool tips and red arrows to understand if declines are mathematically meaningful or simply due to sampling variation.
If the shift is significant, that’s your signal to dig deeper. If it’s not significant, keep an eye on it over the coming months, and only dive deeper if it starts to form a real trend.
Step 2: Look beneath the surface
Once you’ve confirmed the change is real, zoom in on who is moving.
Use the demographics filters to:
Identify which segments are contributing most to the decline
Spot any groups that are holding steady
Look for segments that are still growing and may be offsetting declines elsewhere
Where’s the opportunity to maintain your position, and where’s the opportunity to build momentum?
Step 3: Look at what’s happening inside your brand
Has your marketing activity dropped?
When you pull back on marketing, mental availability can fade - particularly if competitors stay active.
Ask yourself:
Has spend decreased?
Has your media mix changed?
Are you showing up less consistently than before?
Has your strategy shifted too far down-funnel?
If campaigns lean heavily on conversion messaging, you may not be building the top-of-funnel signals that feed long-term growth.
This can look like:
Conversion-focused campaigns replacing awareness-driving ones
Messaging that isn’t distinctive or is too tactical
Creative that doesn’t reinforce brand assets
It’s worth asking whether your current investment mix is truly setting you up for the outcomes you want.
Is your messaging resonating?
Sometimes brand health declines because messaging:
Isn’t distinctive
Doesn’t cue important brand associations
Has shifted too suddenly
No longer aligns with what people care about
A quick check:
Did your creative or brand platform change?
Are your key messages still coming through clearly?
Are you reinforcing the perceptions that actually drive consumer behavior in your category?
Has your audience mix shifted?
If your targeting changes, intentionally or not, your brand health may reflect:
A new audience with lower baseline awareness
A segment with different needs or preferences
Media that’s reaching different demographics than usual
Small shifts in who you’re reaching can create meaningful shifts in funnel metrics.
Step 4: Look outside your brand
Has the competitive environment heated up?
Even with steady spend, performance can decline if:
Competitors are outspending or outshouting you
A new entrant is stealing attention
Competitors are running big campaigns or promotions
Category behavior is shifting
Are you keeping pace with how the category is operating?
Step 5: Diagnose with curiosity, not panic
Brand health declines aren’t always bad news; they can be leading indicators of what needs adjusting before sales are hit.
Use this as your checklist:
Marketing: Has spend, reach, or presence dropped?
Competition: Is someone else louder, more active, or newly relevant?
Strategy: Are brand-building fundamentals being overshadowed by conversion work?
Creative & Media: Is your creative still distinctive? Are you present across the right channels?
Audience & Targeting: Has who you’re reaching changed? Does that audience behave differently?