Introduction
Marketing is one of the most important aspects of running a business. It can help you build your brand, generate leads, and increase revenue. However, if you don’t know what you’re doing—or worse yet, don’t have a plan at all—marketing can be more likely to hurt than help your business. Here are five common mistakes that businesses make when it comes to marketing:
1. Not Having a Defined Strategy
Now that the stage is set, it’s time to develop a strategy. The first step in developing a strategy is identifying your target audience and defining your goals. You can use these two pieces of information to create an approach for reaching those goals. Once you’ve completed this step, implement the plan by creating marketing materials, ad creatives (both image and video), and campaigns that align with your strategy.
Let’s continue taking some time to discuss what makes for a good marketing strategy.
2. Using “Spray and Pray” Tactics
Don’t use “spray and pray” marketing tactics. The idea behind this type of marketing is to throw as many ads at your customers as possible in the hopes that one will stick, so to speak. The problem with this strategy is it doesn’t take into account who you’re actually sending your message to; what are their interests? What do they care about? You might have a product or service that’s perfect for them, but if it’s not presented in a way that resonates with them, then all the work you put into creating those ads was pointless from the start.
Instead of trying to hit everyone with any message you can think of (which often means going after niche audiences), identify who will benefit most from your product/service and focus on reaching those people directly—then tailor everything else accordingly!
The key takeaway here is conducting enough consumer research before launching ads in order to preserve capital.
3. Not Keeping an Eye on Competitors
A competitor is anyone who sells a similar product or service as yours. You should frequently monitor them to see what they’re doing well, and where they’re struggling.
If you know your competitors are using social media, for instance, you can focus on building your own social presence rather than relying on traditional advertising. If a competitor has a strong email marketing campaign for their customers, it might be worth hiring someone with those skills to improve that area of your business. At the end of the day, you want to stand out and that requires going above and beyond.
Keep an eye out for your competitors’ weaknesses too. Doing this will give you intel on how you can improve your own business and avoid their pitfalls by observing from the outside. That way you don’t have to make the same mistakes in your own business.
4. Failing to Test, Measure and Optimize Marketing Campaigns
You don’t get to be a successful business without making mistakes. But some mistakes are more costly than others and could even sink your business if you’re not careful.
To help avoid these marketing mishaps, we rounded up some of the biggest problems businesses make when it comes to testing:
- Failing to test, measure and optimize campaigns
- Over-spending on advertising without knowing how much money is coming in from those ads or how much of that revenue is profit
Lacking a clear understanding of what ad metrics mean specifically: For example, your click-through rate, cost per click, cost per impression, LTV (lifetime value of a customer), and so on.
5. Ignoring Customers
Ignoring customers is a mistake that can cost you dearly. You need to actively listen to your customers and actively ask them for feedback. Ask them what they want and why they want it, as well as what they dislike about your product or service. If you don’t know what people think of your company, how will you ever improve?
Customers are your greatest asset—don’t ignore them! You want to maintain as many repeat customers as possible and increase their lifetime value (LTV) to your company.
6. Bonus: Having a Website Without a Blog
You’d be surprised at the amount of businesses in a specific niche that do not yet utilize a blog. If you have a website, it’s important that you make sure it has a blog.
If you don’t have a blog, you’re missing out on the ability to attract visitors, convert them into customers and build your brand. A website’s blog is a free marketing tactic as it helps your business build trust, gain credibility, and improve your SEO (search engine optimization) free of charge.
A blog can help your business in several ways:
- Attract visitors by providing useful information about the products or services that you offer. Your website is oftentimes the first thing potential customers see when they search for you on Google; therefore, the content needs to be interesting enough so that they come back again and again!
- Convert visitors into customers by providing valuable information about topics related to your industry. This includes content that people want to know more about but may not be able to find elsewhere (e.g., tips on how to use a new software, updates in your sector, etc). When readers find helpful articles on these topics on your blog then they will sometimes share via social media, like Facebook or Twitter, thus attracting more visitors and interest.
- Build brand recognition by establishing your business as an expert in the space/niche.
If You Avoid These Common Mistakes, Your Marketing Will Be More Effective.
If you avoid these common mistakes, your marketing will be more effective.
You can avoid these mistakes by implementing a strategy, keeping an eye on competitors, testing and measuring campaigns and continually listening to customers.
Final Thoughts
If you’ve been guilty of making any of these mistakes, don’t beat yourself up. It’s easy to get distracted by new technologies or strategies, and it’s tempting to jump on board with what is trendy at the moment. The most important thing is that you keep learning and growing as a marketer so that you can always stay ahead of the curve and maintain your business’s competitive edge. Don’t forget to share this article if you learned something new.
