Nine marketing mistakes you want to avoid

(Note: This post is a guest contribution by Jock Purtle from Digitalexits.com Read more about him in the author bio below the post)

Avoid These Major Marketing Mistakes Before It’s Too Late

Marketing is a whole lot more than getting the word out and enticing folks to purchase your product or service. There’s a whole lot of things under the hood, and if you want to rev up the growth engine for your business, it pays to know what to do and what not to do. Marketing is more than just taglines and slogans. Getting the right product to the right client with precision in timing and clarity of goals is essential.

The 4 Ps of marketing are price, place, product, and promotion. These are useful starting points for those who want to understand what it takes to satisfy the customer profitably. Multifaceted aspects of marketing include content, inbound, outbound and digital. Marketing encompasses brand management, market research, PR and marketing communications. Sales and customer care are integral to effective marketing, whether it is B2B or B2C. The right formula and tactics can make a world of a difference to marketing success. So can avoiding these nine simple marketing mistakes.

#1: Discounts/Promotions Overload & Lack of Self Promotion

On the one hand, too many discounts or a promotions overload can be deadly for your brand value, while on the other, lack of self-promotion could drive customers away. The trick is to find a balance. Special rates or discounts may not always work to attract clients and increase sales. Discounts blow up in your face as the mistake is steep cuts are offered when sales are stagnating, or the product is just being launched.

Like a quick shot of caffeine, these discounts temporarily pep up your sales only to leave you with a promotional hangover the next day. Discounts can impact brand value negatively by putting the focus on rates rather than value for money. It further weakens and devalues your brand and sets a bad precedent. Contrary to popular belief, discounts can actually leave the customer feeling the product is less than perfect.

While customers want actual value for their money, rather than a certain price, alternatives like volume quotas or other earned discounts may fit the bill. Early payment discounts or multiple-purchase options. Static values of products or services are the key to evoking appreciation. Self-promotion is essential to this. Marketing is not about being the “build it, and they’ll come” attitude. Noted marketing expert Rand Fishkin has cautioned that people will not realize you have a great service or product unless you tell them.

#2 Focusing on Leads and Forgetting About Customers

A lead is a lot like a dating prospect, in that you woo, entice and offer constant communication about why you’re the best choice. Once the honeymoon period is over, however, it’s time to make the marriage work! Your customers are your assets. Don’t take them for granted. In fact, existing and new customers are the lifeblood of a business. Retaining customers costs way less than acquiring them.

According to Adobe, for every 1 percent of buyers that return online, revenue rises by 10 percent. Consider that businesses could double their revenue if the percentage of repeat customers rises to 10 percent. Businesses spend a paltry 2 percent of the budget on creating a positive B2C relationship. While lead generation is important, customer retention is doubly so. Happy customers can be a great source of positive online reviews, glowing customer testimonials and brand advocates or social media influencers. Positive comments, likes, and shares can turn the tide in your favor. Satisfied customers are excited about your products, and you need to capture and share these powerful emotions for effective marketing.

#3 Committing Persuasion Biases and Errors

The Psychology of Persuasion by psychologist Robert Cialdini focuses on how we’re wired as humans to pay back favors, undergo escalation of commitment, get enamored of social proof and respond to those we like. Expert opinions from authorities and chasing after what is scarce are some other biases. If you are aware of these principles of influence and persuasion, it’s time to apply them. But using these principles for promoting the genuine interests of customers will stand you in good stead in the long run. Customers do not appreciate manipulative marketing, but they do value sincerity.

#4 USP is Missing

If your unique selling proposition is missing in action or AWOL, bringing products to the public will simply not work. Attracting customers is hard work. You need to get out there and make customers aware of why you are better than the rest or simply the best. A clearly defined and well communicated USP can help you to leverage your brand value. Be clear about what makes you special. It is crucial for brand positioning.

To effectively market a product or service, you have to convince the customer that you are offering something no one else can. Only then can you expect to attract your fair share of loyal clients.

#5 Failing to Strike a Balance

Like Cinderella, you have to find the right fit. The easiest marketing mistake to make is to choose a campaign or promotional strategy that fails to strike a balance between nonexistent, minimum or surplus. Small startups or big businesses alike cannot afford to miss out on marketing. Digital marketing may have cut the costs, but having a quality product to sell is simply not enough. Brand building to promote instant brand recall and an effective brand building is the key.

Investing in an effective marketing campaign is the key to ensuring a positive impact. Too many marketing messages and your audience will leave you. Too limited an outreach, and they won’t be attracted to your brand in the first place. A key to staying being connected is available by phone, fax or email. For better returns, invest in call answering services like AU eVoice. Staying connected matters.

#6 Failing to Target The Right Audience

Marketing is not about appealing to everyone. It’s about the universal appeal for a customer segment you want to target. For effective marketing mass appeal does not matter, a personalized approach does. You need to be clear about who your perfect customer is in terms of values, goals, motivations, demographics, interest, beliefs and lifestyle choices. Thinking about your market share relative to competitors and the overall value matters too.

#7 Marketing Begins With a Sale, and Never Ends!

Effective marketing is not about closing the deal; it is about growing a relationship with your customer. Too many companies make the mistake of thinking marketing ends with the sale. Post-purchase evaluation can be the key to repeated purchases, brand advocacy, and more clients. Reviews, thank you notes and staying connected matters. Negative social proof can kill your business, but a satisfied customer can bring it alive.

For those who are unconvinced by the facts, here are the figures. A key influencer in decision making for 74 percent of customers in a survey was word of mouth publicity, with 84 percent trusting positive recommendations from those they rely on. Around 91 percent of B2B buyers are also influenced by word of mouth, and 72% say it raises the level of trust in a business.

#8 No Website, Blog or Social Media Presence

This is a glaring mistake which many businesses make. Consider that half of the US-based small businesses lack a website! Not having a website can be disastrous, because it is your digital calling card, brochure and catalog, virtual storefront and digital outreach altogether. Statistics show that 97 percent of customers research products and services online. If you don’t invest in SEO, ORM, SEM, and CRO, don’t expect to succeed. Close to 78 percent of local mobile searches result in purchases within 24 hours. Going digital is the best thing for your business. Online resources like Digital Dimensions 4U can point you in the right direction. Google ranking matter, SEO counts.

The same holds true for a blog. Writing high-quality content and promoting your products and services is so much easier through blogging. Take it from leading brands like Coca-Cola and Marriott which have excellent blogs to attract, retain and interest customers and prospects. Guest blogging on popular sites can also be a great way to direct traffic to your business site and earn more customers.

#9 Ignoring Network, Referral or Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing programs work out great for partners who get commissions for promoting your products and services. But it also works out great for you. Consider that stock trading expert Timothy Sykes uses affiliate programs to generate USD 13,000 per month through this form of marketing. Or Groupon, which grew from 2009 to 2010 based on affiliate marketing alone.

Failure to network can be another big marketing mistake. By dropping comments on their blogs, top sites like Mashable have networked their way to success. Missing out on message boards like Quora is another common marketing blunder. Refusing to tap the power of referral marketing is equally short-sighted.

Final Word

While there are many marketing mistakes you can make out there, these are the most important ones. The key to succeeding is to learn from errors and more importantly, not make them in the first place through effective knowledge building. This ready resource on marketing errors and how to avoid these could serve as a useful starting point, as you set about to close the sale and establish a positive working relationship with your clients and customers. Market like a pro with these tips and get the outcomes to enable your business to thrive, not just survive.

Author Bio

Jock is the founder of Digital Exits. He has been featured in Forbes and contributed to numerous websites and podcasts. He specialises in appraising and buying/selling online businesses and enjoys helping other entrepreneurs do business online.

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