Common Marketing Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

Marketing can truly make a difference. However, it is easy to be led astray by false assumptions or to rely on “get rich quick” schemes and not invest in quality marketing.

Genuine communication with your customers can provide abundant results, genuine leads and help foster that communication and relationship with your clients and customers that will make your business stand out from the crowd.

Here are five common marketing mistakes to avoid so your organization can be well on its way to more leads and improving your bottom line.

Lack of Research

Before embarking on a marketing campaign you have to ensure that you know your customers. Research is a vital part of the marketing initiative. Survey your customers to uncover what resonates with them regarding your brand. Conduct a/b testing to determine what sort of messaging works best with a given audience.

Assuming that you have 360 degree insight into your customers and their preferences, and that you understand your competitive environment is a costly mistake. Marketing is an ongoing process and there are plenty of tools to help you better target your customers.

Lack of Personalization

In the past few years we’ve seen an increase in personalization of marketing. Ads are hyper-targeted to audiences through the miracles technology. Customers want to be spoken to like they are a unique individual with particular likes and dislikes. Cover-all marketing no longer cuts it. No one likes to be just a number.

Put yourself in your customer’s shoes and take a look at all your customer interactions. Data analytics makes this easier, now with an abundance of digital devices gathering all sorts of information on buying habits and choices it is easier than ever to tailor your content to fit buyers’ specific needs.

Lack of Investment

Many businesses hesitate when it comes to investing both money and time into their marketing initiatives. However, recent studies show that at every life stage, business owners wish they invested more in marketing.

Marketing is worth the investment. It provides a direct line of communication with your customers and allows you to inform customers and clients on promotions, deals, and new offerings. This communication helps build a relationship with your audience. Invest in your customers through your marketing initiatives and you’ll be well on your way to that client-customer relationship that brings in new business and repeat customers.

Expecting Instant Results

Our world is more and more centered around instant-gratification. With the prevalence of viral content and so-called “overnight successes” many people expect that as soon as their website launches or the second they post to Twitter they will be overwhelmed with new sales opportunities. The truth is, that like most things in life, marketing results take time and dedicated effort.

Even with search optimization and a social strategy with phenomenal content you still have to wait for Google/Yahoo/Bing and the rest of the world to take notice.

Success in marketing cannot be achieved with shortcuts. Attaining measurable results could take months. Marketing is a managed investment that pays future dividends.

Failure To Track Results

Like all business investments, the proof is in the pudding. None of the above mistakes can be improved upon if you aren’t tracking your marketing metrics. Thankfully there are many ways that you can measure the success of your marketing initiatives.

Whether it’s tracking goals on your website with Google Analytics, or keeping track of conversions through your pay per click ads and email marketing, measuring the success of your investment in marketing is essential. Tracking your results allows you to improve upon marketing efforts. You can review the success of last month’s conversions and redirect your efforts to your best performing areas.

Market Your Business With Precision

Start small and track your success all the way through. Marketing is a measured investment and requires dedication and commitment. If you stay away from these pitfalls and experiment with trends and strategies, you can reach a wider audience and grow your business. Contact us to learn how we can help.