Tweet

The 5 Most Common Marketing Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

Written by: Jay Lipe

Article Overview: In marketing, like most things in life, success comes only after making mistakes…lots of them. I’ve sure made my fair share of mistakes, and I’ve also learned from others’ mistakes in the market. So, pull up a chair and learn from our mistakes, so you won’t make them.

The 5 Most Common Marketing Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

In marketing, like most things in life, success comes only after making mistakes…lots of them. I’ve sure made my fair share of mistakes, and I’ve also learned from others’ mistakes in the market. So, pull up a chair and learn from our mistakes, so you won’t make them.

I caution you though, this isn’t an exhaustive list. Marketing is dynamic and ever-changing, so new marketing mistakes are invented each day. If you notice any of these things happening in your efforts, stop what you’re doing and step back. All of these seemingly innocuous mistakes can prove fatal to your business.

Mistake #1 - Viewing marketing as the silver bullet

To my constant surprise (and chagrin), many folks view marketing as the magic solution to all their business ills. Seeking an immediate turnaround of these fortunes, these business owners place one ad and envision a deluge of phone calls the next day. Folks, it doesn’t happen that way.

Do you know how high the first space rocket from the 1960’s Mercury Space Program flew? 4 inches. Immediately after ignition, the engine malfunctioned and the onboard computers shut the engines down. The rocket descended, a grand total of four inches, back to earth. Did the space program throw in the towel? No. After several more successful (and a few failed) missions, the Mercury program transformed into the Apollo program, which eventually landed humans on the moon—ranking as one of mankind’s ultimate achievements.

In most cases, marketing won’t save a company. It will only start saving it.

Mistake #2 - Lacking follow through

Years ago, one of my clients was the owner of a home-remodeling business. As we developed his company’s marketing plan, we had very productive discussions. He had a good grasp on fundamental strategies and understood how they could translate into marketing success. But, all this momentum ground to a halt when we started implementing the plan. He endlessly nit-picked, he was paralyzed by indecision and couldn’t meet a deadline to save his life.

I quickly realized this was a fellow who liked creating ideas, but had real trouble implementing them. Don’t let this be you. Remember that the best marketing plan in the world is useless sitting on a shelf.

Regularly schedule, in your day-planning system if you have to, one hour a week to implement your plan. During this hour, you could write the first draft of a direct mail letter, conduct some informal research with a prime client, or follow up three proposals using the phone. One hour per week is the bare minimum any company should spend on marketing—1 hour per day if you’re a bigger company.

Mistake #3 - Throw nickels around like they’re manhole covers

Don’t get me wrong—keeping an eye on your budgets is a good marketing habit to get into. But, I’ve seen businesses take this too far. How do you know you’ve gone too far? When:

You catch yourself always saying “We can’t afford that.”
Your suppliers refuse to bid on your business.
Even your financial officer is urging you to spend!
Sure, spending more to upgrade the appearance of your marketing materials may not result in business overnight. But, it may very well communicate a more successful image for your company, resulting in sales and referrals down the road.
So, from time to time, splurge. Use an aqueous coating on your next direct mailing. Hire a graphic designer to freshen up your sales materials. Test a 2-color ad instead of 1-color. Just consider these additional dollars as investments in your marketing bank account.

Mistake #4 - Becoming impatient

These days we expect immediacy. Want to know how your stocks are doing? Pull them up on the Internet. Want to see what I’m looking at? I’ll email you a copy. Need to know what Kevin in Kenya and Carla in Canada think? I’ll conference them in on our call.

In a world like this, is it any wonder we have short attention spans? Yet, successful marketing depends on an approach that’s 180 degrees in the opposite direction. Why? Because marketing is about changing people’s behavior, and this simply doesn’t happen overnight. I’ll give you an example.

Years ago, I lunched with a fellow consultant and told him about my marketing work with growing companies. As we said our goodbyes, he assured me he’d refer business my way. After receiving one of my newsletters months later, he called to let me know he still had me in mind. Months after that, he introduced me to one of his clients, but it led nowhere. More months went by (we’re now 1 ½ years into this) and he introduced me to another client. After several more meetings, a full 2 years later, I finally began work with one of his clients. Today, this company is a valued client of mine.

What’s the lesson here? Stick it out. If I’d given up after year one, I’d have missed out on all those revenues ad referrals.

Mistake #5—Closing your ears to the market

Marketing is about being ‘in the market’ and a crucial part of that is keeping your ears open. Large companies have the resources to conduct massive market research programs. Yet, many small business owners wrongly assume they can’t afford research.

All small businesses can afford market research if they just view it creatively. For example, each of these can be a valuable market research question, worth thousands of dollars, yet costing nothing:

What does our company do well?
Where could we improve?
What more can we do for you?
Periodically ask these questions to a handful of your customers and you’ll be surprised at the goldmine of information you uncover.

Remember…
None of us can avoid all these marketing mistakes. After all, we’re human. But knowing what these mistakes are, and keeping a watchful eye out for them, makes you a better marketer.

Related Articles
  Three Common Marketing Mistakes
  Instant Article Writing Template: The Top Mistakes Article Writing Template Explained in Detail
  Tips For Internet Marketing Affiliate Programs
  Franchising Mistakes and how to avoid them
  Lesson #1: “If you get knocked down, get back up again”

Article Tags:



Related Forum Posts
Re: Search Engine Friendly Web Development - I would like to add some more things in search engine friendly web development. 1. PPC campaign 2. Viral marketing 3. Social Media Marketing Avoid flash in website and other use CSS files to shows the content style.
Re: 365 Foolish Mistakes Smart Managers Make - [quote="litekepr":2v18lglp]This morning's Google Alert held a pleasant surprise. WORTH MENTIONING A List of New Books Compiled by The Management and Government Information Center (MAGIC) Chinn Park Regional Library 703-792-4880Summer 2007 Indicates titles relating to the FISH Philosophy 365 Foolish Mistakes Smart Managers Make Every Day: How and Why to Avoid Them by Shri L. Henkel, 2006 interesting. Is anyone else here familiar with the FISH philosphy? i[/quote:2v18lglp] Congrats on the mention of your book! Hopefully it will drive up sales! For myself, I don't really care for their acronym... MAGIC. Gives people the subtle impression that good things happen at the snap of a finger instead of lots of hard work!
Re: What is your Business? - We are running a Online Marketing Firm and we have some good clients to which we are offering a complete Digital Marketing strategy like Search, Mobile Marketing, Branding and Design. I think in Online Marketing company online presence can be a wining factor for the success of the company.
Re: Let’s talk about the ways of marketing your products, servic - I agree with some of the others who responded it depends on what your selling... but to answer your questions here are some of the methods I use. Forum Marketing Yahoo Answers (I need to use more of) SEO (Search Engine Optimization) Bum Marketing or Article marketing P-P-C (Pay Per Click) Marketing Online Directories Hope this helps.
Re: Should Evan add a "Social Media Marketing" category to the f - Hi, Online Marketing would be a great title, and having sub categories would make it even better, there would plenty of categories to choose from, Social Media, SEO, Article Marketing and yes even Affiliate Marketing to name just a few, great looking site btw Jeff, take care, Carol


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Tweet

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

Join Conversations Politely, Part 1

Selling with Humor (and a Sorry Butt)

Is the iPad useful? One CEO tells all ....

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.