Knowing what obstacles you could face along the way helps you avoid them easier. The same thing applies to marketing. Whether you’re a start-up or a large business, you must always watch your step and hum the planning-ahead mantra.
Do you want to find out what it’s like to have a fruitful and productive business? Then stick with us and try not to make any of these marketing mistakes that could potentially ruin your business.
Know What You Sell
Above anything else, you should know your product by heart. This is perhaps the cornerstone of every business. Ask yourself this question: if I don’t know what I’m selling, how can I tell my customer anything about it? It’s not like your company produces gloves for the Invisible man.
Every business has a well-defined product, and your job is to know everything there is to know about the product you’re selling.
There’s another aspect of being a witty marketing adventurer: the magic words that can lighten hearts and open up wallets. It’s not only about knowing the product.
Picture this scenario: someone, a potential customer maybe, comes to ask you about your product. What are you selling? To which you reply: “Our dear company sells product X, which has the following specifications, manufactured using these materials and the project was entirely crowdfunded by…” Stop what you are doing!
The customer doesn’t need boring details – keep to a need-to-know basis. Use simple sentences and make up a creative description of your product. That way you’ll make sure that your product catches the attention of your customer.
We’re living in a society that favors creativity above everything else. Start creating something that appeals to your clients, not to you. Knowing how to sell your product is not only an excellent example of creativity, but critical thinking as well.
When it comes down to selling a product or service, the ability to think critically can significantly enhance communication, help you take better business decisions, and adapt to unexpected circumstances. You can do a bit of research on the subject to see how you can better yourself at working under pressure.
Not Everyone Wants to Destroy You
This isn’t a medieval siege game, meaning that not everyone on the market wants to pillage your business. Most businesses that have sunk made this critical mistake. Other people are doing the same thing as you, but that doesn’t necessarily imply that they’re aiming to cripple your company.
Also, you might do well and take into account the fact that a little competition is nothing else if not healthy. Running the same field with a competitor is an open invitation to improvement. And should that race end in utter failure, there’s a lesson in there as well.
Try to learn something from your competition: what strategies they use to sell a similar product, how they approach clients and so on.
Trying to Fight on All Fronts
Remember why Napoleon failed the Russian campaign? Because his resources were spread too thin. This aspect is true for most marketing endeavors. Instead of trying to fight on all fronts, it would be a good idea to select a niche or a market segment and focus on it.
If all goes well, you can try expanding your marketing campaign. Don’t forget about the local market. It may not seem like much, but everyone has to start from somewhere.
Not Paying Attention to Content Marketing
Times are changing. As obvious as this statement may be, it’s important to know how to keep up the pace with all the changes around you. When you say traditional marketing, what’s the first thing that pops into your mind? Flashy TV commercials and magazine advertisements.
Unfortunately, these strategies are now useless. With most people owning a TV with a fast-forward button or reading magazines directly from the Internet, it’s progressively hard to sell your product using traditional means.
This is where content marketing springs into action. The simplest definition of content marketing is the art of selling something without selling or to sell your product without your customer being aware that you are trying to shove your product down his throat.
The whole idea of content marketing is to change your client’s behavior by delivering relevant information about your product. So, it’s all about changing the mindset. If your content marketing strategies are creative enough, the customer will reward you with his or her loyalty.
How does that work you ask? For writers and blogs, it’s all about writing out the right content and tinkering with the SEO functions. For other companies, creative PR campaigns and social media support might catch the eye of the customers.
Keep in mind that content marketing isn’t a science. It’s a perfect blend of skill and research. Known your product and learn all that you can about the market. Only then will you be able to win the hearts and minds of your potential clients.
Baking After the Same Recipe
One of the main reasons why companies fail to attract new customers or to keep the old ones is because they are overconfident in their approaches. Bear in mind the fact that both the market and the customers are living organisms, subjected to constant changes.
This common mistake is the same reason why most organizations fail to attract valuable employees. If you’re a major retailer and your online job application process has basically stayed the same for the last five years, then it’s probably time to change the game.
Fail to adapt to their needs, and you’ll lose it all. Don’t go out thinking that if a strategy worked in the past, it would surely work again because that’s not how things work. Rather than saying: “this is my book, and it contains the solutions to everything,” you might try a slightly different approach.
Ask yourself an essential question: why did this marketing strategy worked in the past? Will it work now? Should I keep using the same method or try something different? Our advice is to throw away grandma’s marketing cookbook and to rewrite the whole thing.
Want a lucrative and productive business? Then learn from the mistakes made by those who came before you, and try to figure out your own plan of action. Just remember that your customer doesn’t need to know that you’re selling him or her a product.
