Top Marketing Mistakes Most Businesses Make (And How to Avoid Them)

Marketing can be difficult to say the least. You may feel as though you are constantly having to guess the next step that you need to take and at times, you may even not know if what you’re doing now is working. If you want to get some useful hints and tips then you can take a look below to find out more.

Self-Promotion

The main mistake that you can make when it comes to marketing is not doing it at all. You may think that you have a fantastic product and that over time, people will know about it. This is not the case at all because people are not going to learn about your product unless you take the time to tell them. Other people avoid marketing because they just don’t feel comfortable really promoting themselves, and this can be a shame, especially if you have a fantastic product. You need to put yourself out there and you also need to prove to people why you are the real deal.

Ignoring SEO

Start-ups and even small businesses are in a fantastic position for SEO, but if you keep on putting it off then you may be putting your own success on the backburner. This is a real shame because a high Google ranking can lead you to getting more visitors on your site and you may even find that you are able to generate more revenue as well. The great thing about SEO is that there is so much information out there about it, and now it is more than possible for you to do it yourself. Sure, when it comes to the more advanced tactics, you may find that you have to hire a marketing firm to help you out, but it is more than possible for you to at least get started.

Not Having a Blog

It doesn’t matter what type of business you are in because you can easily benefit from blogging. There are so many companies out there who use their blog as their main source of marketing and it is more than possible for you to do this as well. If you want to get started, then you need to host the blog on the same site as your domain. You also need to make sure that your content is 90% useful and 10% promotional. It also helps to respond to each and every blog comment. This will help to build a high level of trust and it will also help you to create an online community too.

Not getting Local Searches

Google is now hyper-personal. Your results are now more than tailored to your location. If you want to try and leverage your local search, then you need to target local keywords. You also need to make sure that you are continually updating your content so that it reflects the new locations that your business serves too. This can really help you to make the most out of your efforts and it will also help you to take advantage of new and bigger customers.

Not Embracing Phone Contact

Believe it or not, sometimes calling your customers can be a good thing. People think that cold-calling is a thing of the past, and in some instances, it is. That being said, there are ways for you to utilise this marketing method efficiently and without annoying your customers. For example, you could go straight to their voicemail. If you want to find out more about that then why not check out slybroadcast?

Snubbing Social Media

Most people who are not in marketing will assume that social media is a complete waste of time. They may even think that work never gets done on there either. This is not the case at all because building a powerful profile on social media can lead to a ton of new traffic and even new opportunities as well. You can build your profile very quickly and you can even share great content online too. Sure, it may take a year before your profile becomes super popular but that being said, you can still take advantage of all the benefits that it has to offer.

Guest Author

One of the easiest and even one of the most popular ways for you to get exposure would be for you to write some guest posts for other blogs. There are so many opportunities out there, and you can make a serious amount of profit by doing this too. This will boost your SEO efforts and it will also help you to become an influencer in your chosen industry too.

Misusing your Customers

Too many companies are creating happy customers and then not leveraging them properly. This ultimately means that you miss out on an opportunity to turn them into advocates. If you want to help yourself the most then you need to ask them if you can do a case study. This will generate more interest for your company and it will also help them to see the success that you are having. If you can, you should also use reviews to build your company too.

Ignoring Beginners

Some companies have an elite attitude. This means that they end up ignoring beginners. They believe that by going after the experts, this will help them to grow faster and that it will also help them to become a big-time player themselves. This strategy usually backfires immensely. If you want to avoid this then you need to treat even your smallest customers like royalty. You also need to make them feel valued too. One way for you to do this would be for you to create beginner guides on your blog. They can be short or long, but either way, they can help you to generate a ton of traffic with ease.

Not Speaking at Conferences

Conferences can be a fantastic way for you to reach out to new customers. They can help you to branch out and they can also help you to connect with other businesses too. If you want to benefit from this the most then you need to try and search for opportunities that are in your local area. Try and focus on small audiences at first, and then gradually branch out. You may also want to try and build this up over time. You will be more comfortable before you know it, and you would be surprised at what a huge impact this could have on your company.

Affiliates

Affiliate programs are ideal for start-ups. They are also ideal if you don’t have a huge budget. You can ask other people to promote your product for you and you only need to give them a cut of the profit that you make. This will help to keep them motivated and it will also help you to really get your name out there. The best thing about affiliate marketing is that it does not cost you anything to run, and you can shut it down at absolutely any time.

Not Tracking Your Results

If you do not track your results, then you really can’t hope to get anywhere. You may find that you are not able to invest in the right marketing techniques or even that you just don’t know where your customers are coming from. This can really impact your company and it can also cause you to lose out on money as well. If you want to get around this then you need to try and use Google Analytics and various other tracking programs to try and find out what you can do to boost your sales. This won’t cost you much at all, but it has the potential to rocket your revenue.

Sending Too many Emails

If your customers are getting far too many emails from you then this can cause them to lose trust in your company. You have to make sure that every single email you send out benefits your customers as well as you. This can include offering them discount codes or even vouchers. This way, they can save money and it also means that you get the bonus of getting a sale. Of course, if you are just sending out promotional material then your customers won’t be benefiting from this at all and they will eventually lose trust in your business.

Not Replying to Customers

It’s so important that you reply to your customers as soon as you possibly can. You need to make sure that they are your first priority at all times, and you also need to make sure that they are at the forefront of what you do as well. So the next time you get an email from someone, make the effort to reply to them within the hour. This will mean more sales, profit and customer trust too.

Of course, it is very normal for you to make a mistake when you are marketing but by following the above tips, you can be sure to benefit your business.