Okay, you had a great idea, you started your own business, and have started marketing your product but, surprisingly, you’re not gaining the traction that you thought you would! If this sounds like you, might be making some of these common marketing mistakes.
Marketing is tough – especially when you’re just starting out. We here at CANDESCENT have made a few marketing mistakes ourselves! That’s why we created this little guide to recognizing, avoiding, and fixing common marketing mistakes.
1. Trying to please everyone
Have you ever heard the saying, “find your tribe”? The quote is referring to friendships but we think that it applies to business, too! No matter who you are, you’re never going to please or appeal to everyone in your life, and your business is no different.
Find your niche and focus on a specific demographic. You might find that you actually appeal to a broader audience than you think so don’t be afraid that you’re leaving people out. The perfect clients will find you because they’re already looking for you! Plus, if you can work out the kinks with a smaller demographic, you’ll perfect your business model in no time.
2. Not having a website
If you have a business, you have to have a website! That’s just the way it works in today’s digital age. When people hear about you, the first thing they’re going to do (most likely) is type your name or your company’s name into a search engine. You want them to be able to find all of the information they need to get to know you as well as your products and services.
It’s a common marketing mistake to think that social media is a substitute for a website. Social media accounts are great, but websites can really help to tell a complete story. You have so much more room to captivate an audience! With website building platforms like WordPress and Wix, it’s really never been easier to build your own website. You don’t need to know any coding at all!
3. Spending too much money on marketing too soon
We know that you want to get the best of the best to create a marketing strategy right away, but it’s not a good idea – almost 1/3 of all start-ups fail because they run out of cash. You want to start small (financially) with your marketing efforts and really stretch your strategy as far as you can while spending as little as possible.
If you find that you absolutely do not have the time to continue your own marketing efforts because your business has started to really take off, then you know that it’s time to bring on another person to help you. Still, it’s good to keep costs low so consider working with an agency, freelancer or intern. You’ll find that it’s much cheaper (and easier) than hiring a full-time staff member.
4. Not using analytics
It’s really important that you know how to track the results of your marketing campaign. Analytics allow you to see exactly which marketing methods are working and which aren’t. They also let you see where the eyeballs are that are looking at your content. For example, without analytics you could be heavily marketing a certain message only to never know that it isn’t reaching people.
Analytics also help you to see:
- Unique visitors on your website
- Page views those visitors are clicking on
- How many users use search engines (and which ones) to find your website
- The rate at which visitors visit and leave your website (bounce rate)
The rate at which visitors are taking action on your website (conversion rate)
5. Pining for the media early on
Everyone wants to be the best of the best and get the recognition they deserve. It can be tough to see people who are in the same industry as you rising to fame with their name on this news site and in that magazine article. However, it’s important to understand that even if they were at the place where you are right now, and they would tell you that these things take time!
A really common marketing mistake is attaching media attention before you’re ready. You want to make sure all of your ducks are in a row before a big media launch!
6. Striving for perfection
To be frank, perfection is boring. To be imperfect is to be human and beautiful! If you spend too much time on making your brand image “perfect” you’re going to lose sight of other things that matter. The best way to really “perfect” your brand image is really to focus on your products and services and putting those at the forefront of your marketing campaign.
Your brand image will naturally develop and solidify overtime into something that you will know is perfect when you get there. Just stay true to yourself and your message and everything else will fall into place!
7. Not gathering and responding to feedback
As important as it is to stay true to yourself, especially in the business world, there is still that aspect of the customer always being right. Ignoring feedback or just closing yourself off to it is a common marketing mistake that is very detrimental to many businesses. If a customer or client offers a suggestion for improvement, you have to listen to them and take what they say into consideration. Not only does this help improve the quality of your business, but it helps to gain customer trust, too.
A really easy way to open your business up for feedback is to leave a feedback or comment box on your website. You can also send an email out, after you know they have received their product or service, asking them what they think. There’s nothing wrong with asking for a review as long as you aren’t asking for a positive one!
Hopefully knowing these 7 common marketing mistakes helps you to avoid making them! Do you have any marketing mistakes that you made when you were just starting out? Share them with us @WeAreCandescent