Common Marketing Mistakes – and How to Avoid them!

Marketing is an essential part to running a successful small business, but it can take up a lot of time, energy, and money. This guide will help you avoid some of the common pitfalls that many business owners accidentally run into when they first start marketing their business.

Not marketing to your clients!

This is surprisingly common – many business owners think a certain way about their product, but it isn’t necessarily the same way that their customers think! This can manifest in a few different ways.

The most common is omitting what you might think is obvious, after working for so long on your product. This can be exactly the problem, however: your customers will almost never know as much about your product as you do – as such, it’s important to take a step back and think about how a person who has seen it for the first time might think. Have you left out key features, or a unique selling point? Sometimes what you might think is obvious needs to be stated outright!

Similarly to this, many business owners market their products in a way that would be effective, if they were the customer. The problem? They’re not the customer! Give careful consideration to how your target customers might perceive and use your product – this will save you time and heartache.

Choose your platforms wisely.

No, you don’t need to be on every social media, advertising, and sales platform. Pick a handful that are relevant to your customers, and focus on using those platforms well. Marketing is much more of a ‘quality’ medium than ‘quantity’. Think of the best marketing you’ve seen this year – you’re probably not recalling a bunch of low-quality Facebook posts. Quality wins the day, and this often means restricting your marketing presence to a handful of platforms.

Fading Away

Effective Marketing should build lasting awareness – a connection to your customers. Ideally, your customers return because they love your products, or they recommend your business to their friends.

This is what your marketing should be aiming for, through a continued presence in your customers’ lives. This can come in the form of an e-mail newsletter, physical mailing, encouraging customers to follow your social media pages, and so on. One time sales are fantastic, and we all love them – but there is so much more in recurring business!

Forgetting your Brand Advantage

There is a reason why your business is the one that customers choose. You might not yet be aware of it, but it does exist: whether it is a low price, fashionable choices, convenience, or something else – your existing customers chose your business for a reason. This is your Brand Advantage. Figure out what it is, and use it to build connections to new business, while consistently maintaining the great qualities that brought in your loyal customers in the past.

These mistakes are common, and once you get a good feel for what your business’ Brand Advantage is, most can be avoided with some concentration and planning. With these in mind, let’s move and start building your marketing efforts!