Marketing is a long term relationship. It is not a one-night stand. No business can run successfully without marketing. The thing about marketing is that it holds the secret power to either prosper one’s business or ruin it harshly.
Though marketing has been there since ages uncountable, the concept of marketing has always kept changing. What would sell your product today is not a booklet or a brochure. It is the story that you tell your customer that will get him excited. As a good marketer, or as a CEO of your company, you have to be able to convince your customer that he needs your product. Marketing today, is all about creativity.
What I have observed about successful marketing is that it gives out a strong, beneficial message to the customer, right from the word Go. Also, what makes marketing fail is the inability to connect with the customer and not being able to tell the story well. In this article, let me point out the most unwelcome marketing mistakes to avoid.
Thinking of Marketing as an Expense
This is one big mistake that you would be doing if you think that marketing is an expense for your business. All businessmen try to avoid expenses and marketing sadly, is no expense. It is an investment, worth making.
Marketing has the power to grow your customer base, maintain existing customers and speak good of your business. It benefits you in multiple ways and adds to your revenue. Entrepreneurs who treat marketing as an expense only spend into it for the heck of it. And there they have the results.
Not Telling a Captivating Story
Why would a customer be interested in your advertisement? Why would he want to buy your product? You should be able to deliver a message in your marketing campaign that it is your product that the customer had always been looking for.
Make them realize that using your product will make their lives so much better. Attract them, lure them. Nobody is going to even look at your product if there’s no underlying benefit with it. And trust me, people get convinced by the way you sell, not by what you sell.
Not Introducing Yourself
When I say not introducing yourself, I mean not promoting yourself. Many businessmen fail to promote themselves and create a personal brand. They remain anonymous and deal from behind the curtains. In an awe to promote their products and services, they forget to let the world know who is the man behind it all.
The importance of creating a personal brand cannot be denied. People love to interact with humans and not websites or pop ups. They want to know you, and know your business from none other than you. Promoting yourself is a great way to build relations and attract potential customers. If you’ve decided to promote only your business and not yourself, you’re sadly doing a big fault.
Ignoring Content Marketing
Great content attracts great traffic. In today’s marketing world, content is the king. Not having a blog and recognizing the importance of content marketing is something that you would regret big time. Blogs are a great way to increase the traffic to your website and eventually your customer count.
If you still think having a blog is just a waste of time, you would just lose hundreds of latent customers to your competitors who are exploiting the benefits of content marketing.
Not Knowing Social Media Marketing Well
Ever wondered why your social media page is not able to draw in the required traffic and fandom? And why is it that a few pages have millions of likes and following? It is because they know how to exploit the benefits of social media for promoting business on Facebook, Twitter, G+, LinkedIn and other sites.
Merely having a business page on social media is not enough. You have to make sure people know about it and whatever you post on social media relates to your business and is compelling for the viewers.
Overlooking Existing Customers
If your existing customers are satisfied and happy with your service, they are certain to be loyal to you. Additionally, they will refer you to family and friends, increasing your sales. Word of mouth is an excellent medium of marketing. However, it will happen only if you know how to keep them satisfied and glued to you.
In an attempt to charm new customers, if you are ignoring the demands of your existing clients, be sure to lose them. There are hundreds of competitors out there who would be dying to provide great service to them. A skilled marketer knows how to fish new customers while his existing customers are content with him.
Summing Up
Marketing is an art of building relationships. It is a competition where everybody is trying to grab the most attention of the people. Don’t be ashamed to go crazy with your marketing ideas. People love creativity and are fond of new methods of selling.
Yes, we are humans and we learn from our mistakes. But isn’t it a good idea to make new mistakes and not try the ones that are already old and tested?