The 9 Most Common Mistakes Businesses Are Making When It Comes to Marketing

It probably doesn’t come as a surprise to you that marketing is one area of business where a lot of mistakes are frequently made. Some of these mistakes are not mistakes at all, they are part of the necessary evils of the ‘trial and error’ side of marketing. Some are however true mistakes; ones that can prove very costly in the long run.

Contrary to what many people may think, success in marketing is not solely reliant upon having the biggest budget. While yes it helps to have a healthy marketing budget, money is only one part of the overall equation.

So, what are the biggest mistakes businesses are making when it comes to marketing? Here are the 9 most common mistakes that I regularly see businesses making:

1.      Not having clarity around who they are as a business and what they wish to achieve long term

2.      Not having developed a clear competitive advantage

3.      Not being able to clearly communicate their competitive advantage

4.      Not having clarity around who their target market really is (segmentation)

5.      Not marketing according to a plan

6.      Branding and Message inconsistencies

7.      Not considering their target audience when tailoring marketing messages (segmented messages)

8.      Lack of performance measurement

9.      Not using data to make on the go decisions

Let’s explore what each of these means in more detail.

Not having clarity around who they are as a business and what they wish to achieve long term

If a business is not clear on their vision and mission, and has no set future goals to work towards, then the flow on effect will result in mismatched marketing communications and poor results at best.

I’ve seen major business transformations as a result of undertaking an ‘internal reflection’. By being clear and defined with the ‘who’ and working towards set goals, management and their teams tend to become more focused, and the customers tend to become more of the type the business really seeks.

Not having developed a clear competitive advantage

If you can’t tell me in one, maybe two short sentences why I should buy from you, then chances are I will be going elsewhere. This is the mentality many consumers have today, regardless of the situation being B2C, B2B, seeking a product or a service.

By defining the competitive advantage, businesses not only tell the target market why they should be selected. The competitive advantage can also help reduce the number of ‘tyre kickers’ commonly seen as a result of poorly communication, bringing in more qualified better leads, thereby making marketing more effective.

Not being able to clearly communicate their competitive advantage

Having a well-defined competitive advantage is great. If the business however doesn’t get into the habit of clearly communicating this at every possible touch point (obviously within reason and without being over bearing), then the well-defined competitive advantage becomes near useless.

Not having clarity around who their target market really is (segmentation)

Before any marketing commences, a business needs to look internally and ask themselves two important questions:

1.      Who do we work with?

2.      Who do we want to work with?

The first question forces the business to pause and reflect on their customer base. Who is the business working with – what industries, specialisations, what demographics?

The second question delves a bit deeper and is used to examine:

a)      Whether the existing customer base is the right customer base

b)     Moving forward, who should form the customer base

The important thing to understand is that the wrong target market focus has whole of companywide ramifications, not just marketing effectiveness, such as:

• Attracting the wrong customers, ones who are not best suited to the products/services the business offers or ones the business really doesn’t want to work with: too often this leads to high maintenance customers, who also tend to be poor payers and always seeking the cheapest price.
• Wasted team hours because of the above.
• A focus on price versus an understanding of the benefit the business delivers for the price.
• Lower than expected profitability.

Over the years I have worked with several businesses who were serving the wrong customers, chasing the wrong target market, simply because they never stood back and asked themselves the above questions. Turning this around, and shifting the focus towards a targeted approach however has allowed these businesses to become more successful and profitable as a result, making the work environment better for all involved.

Not marketing according to a plan

You would be living under a rock if you’ve never heard the term ‘if you fail to plan, you plan to fail’.

Well, when it comes to marketing this statement speaks nothing but truth.

The ‘Ad Hoc’ approach to marketing that I see most businesses undertake results, in most cases, nothing but poor performance, leading to wasted money and a common belief that ‘marketing is all mumbo jumbo airy fairy stuff’.

By developing a clear business strategy and marketing plan, understanding who the business is, what they do, why people should buy from them and who they wish to work with, a business is in a potent position to trump the competition and become a more profitable venture.

Branding and Message inconsistencies

Have you ever walked into a McDonalds venue in one suburb, then gone to another venue in a completely different location? Notice something? Every detail, from the furniture to the colour scheme of the wall paint to the fonts on the menu boards and the messages you read throughout the store have been cleverly thought out, ensuring that whatever McDonalds you walk into in Australia, you know you are in a McDonalds venue.

The above is called brand and message consistency. So why is this important?

Two main reasons:

1.      Regularly seeing the same branding and messages imprints on our brain, generating brand recognition (the ability to recognise a brand just by seeing some of the branding elements or reading a brand message) and brand recollection (the ability to recall the brand when one requires something the brand can supply – example: I’m hungry – I’ll have McDonalds).

2.      Consistency helps build a professional image, which in turn helps build confidence in your business, which in turn improves sales conversions.

Branding doesn’t have to be over the top, flashy stuff. The key is to be consistent across the whole of your business with your branding and messaging, regardless of what your brand may look like.

Not considering their target audience when tailoring marketing messages (segmented messages)

This is a big one. Making a mistake here can be extremely costly financially and to the reputation of the business.

A number of years ago I owned a medical recruitment agency where our focus was to help hospitals recruit doctors. Despite the focus solely on doctors, we still had 4 very clearly defined target markets within this ‘doctor’ category. As a result, each of the target markets required a slightly different marketing angle, including the use of different marketing messages from us.

For example when we targeted very senior specialists (usually ages 50+, very highly educated intellectuals), the branding was changed in line with what one would expect from a higher end quality product, with matching language style. On the other hand when we targeted junior doctors (usually ages 23-30), the branding was more youthful, playful even, with language that fit the younger style.

If in the above example the branding style and messages were mixed up, the results would have made the business look unprofessional and simply would have resulted in lacklustre sales.

So, one of the first tasks I set any business I work with when it comes time to implement a marketing plan is to determine who the target market is, and what messages will be communicated to whom.

Lack of performance measurement

Modern marketing practice is fluid – meaning that the tactics used should change over time, never staying the same for too long. Another common mistake I see that businesses make when it comes to marketing is this notion of ‘set and forget’. Marketing should not be set up and then forgotten about. Quite the opposite.

Smart businesses regularly review their marketing activities and measure these against a variety of performance metrics. Doing so enables management to see what works and what doesn’t, what generates the best returns on the invested funds, and thereby enables decisions to be made before going too far down an expensive, poor return marketing hole. Without measuring performance however, there is no way to know how to become and stay fluid and relevant.

Not using data to make on the go decisions

Measuring the performance of any marketing is important, as mentioned above. Taking this one step further is that of data analysis – a practice that is now relatively easy for any business to implement.

With the age of the digital has come a revolution in data capture, which has led to the development of amazing tools which can be used to help businesses make smart decisions based on real world information. Tools such as Google’s Analytics and AdWords platforms, Facebook Insights tools, and the reporting capabilities of most modern websites allow businesses to delve deep into the way customers interact with their business. By using this data, businesses can better predict future trends, determine what marketing activities and messages work and what don’t, and determine buying patterns and decision-making processes.

Data is powerful. Arming a business with an understanding of what the data means and how to use this data, then combining that with the right tactics, can generate significant marketing result improvements for that business.

It’s not all about the money. As you have just read, success in marketing comes from a combination of factors. To make your marketing more effective avoid the above 9 mistakes, and don’t just focus on how much you should spend!

While the above sounds simple enough, the reality is that not all businesses are geared up with the right internal knowledge to avoid the above mistakes. This is where I can help. As an experienced marketing specialist, I work with Australian SME’s in all industries, helping them avoid costly marketing mistakes and generate stronger, more consistent returns from their marketing funds.

For a confidential chat about your needs please don’t hesitate to call or email me direct.