Sometimes marketing can feel like a crapshoot. It’s difficult to guess what will work and what won’t. But you’ll improve your odds measurably if you avoid these five marketing blunders.
1. Not identifying your ideal customer
Your ideal customer is the person or business whose problems your offering uniquely solves. Identifying your ideal customer helps you make better decisions — saving you time and money!
If your ideal customer is unlikely to see and respond to a marketing campaign or ad you’re considering, then just don’t do it! Spend the money elsewhere.
Don’t have an Ideal Customer Profile yet? It’s actually pretty painless to put together. Here are the five things you need to include in your Ideal Customer Profile.
2. Not setting a budget
A budget serves as a forcing mechanism. If you have limited dollars, you’ll need to decide between one campaign or another. Refer back to your Ideal Customer Profile to make the best decision.
Without a budget, ad campaigns (in particular) have a habit of running well past their useful date. This can get very expensive, very quickly.
3. Not experimenting
Deliberately set aside a portion of your budget to try new things with uncertain outcomes.
Marketing campaigns tend to become less effective over time, so it’s critical that you’re always looking for new ways to reach prospective customers.
Maybe try video marketing for a while and measure engagement? Host a new event and track sales leads? Sponsor a community organization and determine whether more people become aware of your business?
4. Not being consistent
Hmmm… sounds like maybe I’m contradicting #4 right? Not at all! You can make room for testing and variety, while ensuring the basic building blocks of your brand are consistent.
The key to successful branding is consistency. Consistency helps make your brand memorable.
Your brand voice and visuals should be immediately recognizable to those familiar with your business, regardless of the channel. Whether it’s how you represent your brand on social media, at events, or even in one-on-one conversations, consistency wins the day.
💡 WEBSITE INSIGHT: Having a consistent brand voice across all of your online business channels including your website will help your audience remember you more, helping you become top of their minds once they are ready to buy the product or service you provide.
5. Not having a website
What’s the first thing you do when you hear about a new business? If you’re like the rest of us, you Google it!
When someone Googles your business, you want them to find your website. Why? Because this is the space you own. It’s the one place where you can fully tell your story, communicate your brand and values, and guide prospective customers into your sales funnel.
You don’t want a prospective customer’s first experience with your business to be a comparison website, like Yelp, that also tells them who all your competitors are. Or a scrolling list of ephemeral activities and random musings, like your social media pages.
Need an easy, effective, and affordable website for your small business? Well, we know someone who can help you with that! Book a time to chat with us, here.
