How is your marketing plan looking? Are you putting in the effort and not seeing any return or very little return? Chances are, you are wasting your efforts by making common marketing mistakes.
The reality is, the landscape is forever changing, and your marketing efforts need to move with the times to be really beneficial. What was once an effective marketing tool, can be made obsolete quickly as the economy evolves and new technologies and advancements are made. Not to mention new social media platforms.
Here are the common marketing mistakes small business owners make:
No Website
Have you ever tried to look up a local business and only found it listed under a business directory? Frustrating isn’t it? If you don’t have a website, then potential readers and customers will be passing you by. Unbelievably, nearly 40% of small businesses do not have websites, and with over 90% of people looking online first before making a purchase, if you don’t have a website, you are losing business already.
No Marketing Budget
Every business needs a good marketing plan and a budget to allow for this to be carried out. Underestimating your marketing budget is just as bad as throwing money at a haphazard or misdirected marketing campaign. It would be best to have a comprehensive and ongoing marketing plan and the funds to see it through. A digital marketing agency can help you cost up an effective marketing campaign to set a realistic budget for your plans.
Understandably, a lot of new entrepreneurs and bloggers can not afford to hire out their marketing. That’s ok but you should then budget for tools that can automate or help you with this area of your business. Doing that will also help you out in the future when you are ready to hire out.
Trying to Sell to Everyone
Not everyone wants to buy what you are selling. That is a fact. If you fail to niche your marketing efforts to your ideal clients, you will literally be targeting the wrong people and setting your marketing plan up to fail.
You need to use the available data to help you find and target your ideal customers and give your campaign focus. This can be really difficult when you are starting out because you don’t want to exclude anyone from your audience. However, niching down is critical for your success especially when you start to use affiliate marketing or create your own products.
Neglecting Social Media
Social media doesn’t appeal to everyone. Facebook alone has over 2.8 billion users. When you add platforms such as Twitter, Instagram, Tiktok etc., you can see the scope of including social media in your marketing. However, neglecting to identify these platforms as essential parts of your marketing can be alienating a wide chunk of your potential customer base.
Social media can be used for good. Identifying the right channel for your business and locating your audience can be an essential part of your digital marketing strategy. The best strategy is to focus on one platform at a time. This way you can really see the impact of your efforts. If you see no return, move on to the next one.
Failing To Try New Things
If it isn’t broken, don’t fix it! But it isn’t about something being broken; many traditional marketing methods are still excellent options for a range of businesses. However, if you aren’t implementing new marketing methods, or you are failing to adapt to newer marketing methods or adapting how you market based on trends, you are doing more harm than good.
I get it. Running your own blog business is hard and ever evolving. Sometimes it is easier to just carry on when things are going good or even ok. But then things take a nosedive and all of a sudden you are left scrambling. Don’t do that. You don’t have to jump on every new trend but at least research and be aware of the impact new strategies are having on other businesses.
Ignoring the Competition
You need to pay close attention to what your competition is doing to see what isn’t working for them. Assess their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. What they are doing directly impacts you, and by knowing these factors, you can glean valuable insights into how to beat the competition and improve your business.
When you evaluate your competition, you will find new ways to reach and serve readers and customers just through observation.
Pay attention to these commonly made mistakes to boost your marketing efforts and maximize your ROI to keep your blog business relevant and growing.
