8 Marketing Mistakes Your Company Is Making Right Now

No one is perfect but every day we strive to improve. Businesses are the same way as they try to find ways of improving, reaching more customers, saving money, being more efficient or offering the next great thing that people will love. When it comes to marketing, whether it’s social media marketing, SEO, email or something else, there are dozens of ways that you can do things, but the truth is, you have to be sure that you are doing it right. Otherwise, you are just wasting time and money. These are some common mistakes businesses make and why you need to correct them:

1. Poor content: It starts with content, no matter what you are doing. You can have a huge budget, great targeting, a flashy promotion but if the content is not good, no one will take your business seriously or trust it enough to give you their money. Poorly constructed or functioning ads, websites and landing pages have cost businesses millions of dollars as owners are in a rush to get the ads out and start generating sales. You have to put real time into the development of your content because it builds up the image of your brand and your promotion.
2. Poor targeting: Targeting is key to having a successful advertising campaign. Improper targeting leads to wasted ad budget, lower conversion rates and wasted time. Imagine if you were selling Medicare services in Orlando and you were marketing towards people between the ages of 50 and up. Because Medicare is not offered to people under that age of 65 you are wasting a large part of your budget on an audience that will not be interested in your services.
3. Unrealistic expectations: You send out an ad via social media marketing and it’s seen by 1,000 people in your area. That’s great, but it doesn’t mean you are done. You have to hit that audience with ads again and again before you see results. There are too many examples of businesses doing a campaign, not seeing results and giving up.
4. Small budget: If your competition is spending $100 per acquisition, you cannot expect to spend a tenth of that budget and get results. For example, if they are spending $5,000 a month to get 100 new customers, you cannot expect to spend $2,500 to get 50 customers. It doesn’t work that way and you need to be ready to compete with your competition on the same level.
5. Ignoring platforms: While your audience may not be looking for your products or services on Facebook, they are still on there. Do not look at social media marketing, SEO and other options as a way to generate sales. Look at it as a way of being found by the right audience on sites like Facebook and Google. This introduces your brand to them and also establishes you as an authority in your industry.
6. Ignoring the competition: Don’t hate the competition, learn from them. Your competitors are literally drawing you a road map on how to be successful and what not to do. You can still try things your own way but if you have three competitors in your area who are doing SEO and you are not, it may be time to consider it.
7. Not networking: There are other businesses that are in your industry who deal with customers who would be interested in your products or services. These are not competitors, they are vendors or subcontractors. For example, you are a contractor and you hire an electrician to do some work. They do a great job and you refer them to other contractors or people you know who need an electrician. You are hoping that the electrician will appreciate this recommendation and in return refer you to their clients.
8. Not getting your employees involved: If someone has a job, then their job is to do the work that is required during a period of time and to then go home. If someone is part of a team, then their goal should be to help that team succeed. As a business owner or manager, you need to make sure that your employees feel like they are part of a team. That means encouraging them to help share information about your business. For example, listing your company as their place of work on LinkedIn, sharing your social media posts with their friends and family, wearing a company shirt after business hours and stuff like that. A happy employee can be your best form of advertising.

Rushing never gets things done the right way. Take some extra time to plan. If you have a big promotion coming up for a holiday, start working on the content a month in advance and start marketing it at least two weeks before the holiday. This gives your campaign time to develop and produce results.