Five common marketing mistakes you need to stop making
Is your marketing not delivering the results you were hoping for? Read five common mistakes you need to stop making by marketing and PR specialist Samantha Crowe.
Have you ever wondered why your marketing isn’t working? Are you investing time and money, and are pretty sure you’re doing the right things, yet you’re not seeing the results – and are unable to put your finger on why?
It’s a common scenario to find that your hard work is not paying dividends. And often the answer lies not in the marketing per se, but in your business model.
This may sound strange but I know from experience that it’s quite common. I’ve worked with lots of small businesses that have come to me because they had stepped up their marketing and found it made little impact compared to the ad hoc advertising they did before.
Five common marketing mistakes you need to stop making
In these scenarios I find there are some common underlining reasons why a business’ marketing efforts aren’t working, and they generally they fall into five categories.
To help you avoid (or rectify) them, here are the five most common mistakes I see small businesses make that impact the success of their marketing activities.
1) You don’t know what you want to be famous for
When you are first starting out it’s easy to say ‘yes’ to all the proposals for work that come in, rather than the proposals that make commercial sense.
As a result you end up with a portfolio that’s so varied no one really knows what you specialise in or what makes you different from the competition. This can be a turn off for prospects. They don’t believe you have the specific expertise that will help them achieve their goal, even though you may.
2) You’re inconsistent
It’s absolutely vital that the way your brand is presented is consistent across all your marketing assets (website, advertising, brochures, leaflets, emails) and fresh. A dated brand, or one that looks different in print compared to online will give the impression that your approach to delivering work is inconsistent.
In the same way, you must make sure that every time you complete a specific process it’s done the same way. Customers expect consistency and if you are lacking they will go elsewhere rather than give you a second chance.
3) You’ve not thought through your business model
Easy is the new loyalty, so it’s really important you make buying something from you a breeze. If it’s too complex people will either not return a second time or abandon.
Make sure you don’t have a disconnect between how you want people to make a purchase and how people expect to make a purchase.
4) You’ve not considered the customer
When did you last review what you sell and asked customers what they want to buy? Keeping up with market expectation and new trends will help you attract customers and retain them.
5) You spend too much time worrying about the competition
You react so much to what the competition is doing that you never do anything brilliantly for long enough that it can have an impact on your bottom line.
If you’ve done your homework then your plan should work – you shouldn’t have to react to the market. You have to believe in your business before others will so stay the course.
Make changes now for long term results
Admittedly, some of these are not a quick fix. But knowing what you need to fix, and making a concerted effort to change things, will help ensure a return on your marketing investment in the long-term.
You can find out more about Samantha’s marketing and PR services on her website.
