Marketing Mistakes 14 You Must Avoid

Every business needs marketing to grow and survive and every business owner knows that. Many are simply making mistakes that can be avoided. Pay attention to these to avoid these common mistakes and make your marketing work hard for you to increase sales and profits.

1. Focusing your marketing on you or the company. Don’t assume that prospects will be impressed by statements like, “ we have been in business for 25 years, we are an award winning firm, we are equipped with some widget.” These phrases invoke the following response, “so what, who cares, big deal”. This information should support your message not be the main message. Customers want to know what you will do for them, how you will solve their problem.


2. Forgetting that slow but sure wins the race. If you spend all your marketing money on one event or at one time what are you going to do next? Marketing is about building a reputation over time through ongoing activity and exposure.


3. Lack of USP. Can you and all your team identify both your USP and 10 reasons why customers should buy from you? Do you communicate these in a clear message that is convincing, not confusing or too subtle and long? Remember not to over hype the message, if it sounds too good to be true it probably is.


4. One size fits all and no one. Marketing is all about focus and targeting. You need to decide who your best prospects are and how to reach them. Then developing a consistent message to each group. Not everyone wants your product and you may not want everyone as a customer. Targeting will ensure you do not waste money marketing to those who have no need or little interest in your product.


5. Promoting features not benefits. Remember people buy what the product will do for them. Features are what a product or part of a product is, benefits are what the product will mean or do for the customer.


6. Lack of a plan. A good marketing plan ties all your marketing activities together into a co-ordinated, consistent programme of activity over a period of time to achieve goals. Your plan should be a blueprint like the architect’s drawing for a house which the builder needs to ensure money and time are not wasted.


7. Wasting money on advertising. The only action you should be looking for from your advertising is that clients contact you or buy your product. Think like the customer and what will attract them and what words should you use. Avoid any thoughts of putting your business name at the top of the ad; this is for the headline to get attention. Make sure your adverts follow the Attention Interest Desire Action format. Remember white space sells just because you have paid for the space you do not have to fill it.


8. Ignoring existing customers. Marketing campaigns are often focused on attracting new clients and customers not on building long-term relationships with existing customers. Satisfied customers are the best form of advertising and recommendation of your services to others.


9. Relying on just one or two forms of marketing activity. Just advertising in Yellow Pages or on the Internet will only reach a proportion of your prospects. Plan to market with a cross section of methods so customers become familiar with your brand in different places and times. There are dozens of low cost marketing ideas you can try that will increase the effectiveness of your marketing efforts. See our articles, Increase your sales and Low cost marketing.


10. Failure to monitor and track Test your marketing ideas. Ask customers and prospects for feedback. Every business is using a number of approaches at any one time. You must know which of your marketing methods works best for you and invest more in theses and eliminate money and time wasting tactics.


11. Not having a system to generate leads. A small business will spend some time and money on marketing and generate some leads. Then they concentrate on those clients and forget about marketing. Sound Familiar? To keep the busines going each month establish a plan and a system to continually market for new prospects.


12. Giving up too easily, quickly or changing your marketing often. Most sales people know that you need 7 or 8 contacts with a customer before you get the order. Customers will only buy when they are ready so you must follow up repeatedly and keep your company in their minds. You should not change or stop using a marketing activity that is working because you are bored with it, or you think it has been around for a long time. Familiarity breeds confidence.


13. Everyone does it, it must work or following your competitors. Marketing is about being different and standing out from the crowd. We all assume that because someone else does something it is working for them and it will work for us. Success comes from a number of marketing factors.


14. Relying on guesswork or friends. Use the knowledge, experience and skills of GAP Management who have already discovered the marketing approaches that work and those that do not.
    
    

About GAP Management

GAP Management helps business owners and managers to focus their sales and marketing efforts to be more effective and to find win and keep customers, to grow their businesses and be successful whether they market in person, in print or on the web.

For personal help with marketing and sales to grow your business contact us on 01226 290288 or email Gareth@gapmanagement.co.uk