Are You Marketing These Gaffes?

Marketing doesn't come cheap. Ineffective marketing that doesn't ultimately bring you sales is money and time wasted.

If you want to make 2014 a good year for your business, start off on the right foot by making sure you avoid these five common marketing mistakes:

Not Knowing Your Customer

Before you start drafting that Facebook post or designing that ad campaign, you need to know who you are marketing to. Start by answering the following questions:

  • Who is my business or product for?
  • What matters to them?
  • What problems do they have that I can solve?
  • What kind of language do they respond to?
  • Which marketing method do they prefer?

The better you know your audience, the better you can craft your marketing materials to speak directly to their interests and needs.

Forgetting To Qualify Your Leads

Once you're ready to send out your newly minted marketing materials, you need to be sure you're sending them to people who are ready and able to buy your product or service. To make sure a lead is qualified, ask yourself:

  • Can they afford my product?
  • Do they need my product?
  • Have they shown interest?

If you're selling to a business, be sure to check that the person you're marketing to has the authority to make a purchasing decision.

By making sure you focus on qualified leads, you can cut down on money spent marketing to those who aren't ready to buy.

Forgetting Your Call To Action

When you create your marketing materials, it's important to keep in mind what you would like your customers to do as a result of reading that post or receiving that flier. Get as specific as you can. Would you like them to:

  • Contact you for more information;
  • Fill out a form or sign up to a newsletter;
  • Download a free product;
  • Purchase something with you;
  • Share or like your Facebook post.

If you're not clear on what you want your customers to do, they won't be clear either, and you run the risk of missing valuable sales. Make sure the next step is clear and easy for your customer.

Talking About Yourself Instead Of Your Customer

You're rightly proud of your product or service and you want your customers know that they're going to love it. The problem with that is, your customers don't want to hear about you, they want to hear about them.

Instead of talking about your company, talk to your customers and clarify:

  • What problem of theirs you can solve;
  • What question of theirs you can answer;
  • How spending money with you will make their life better, easier, healthier or more fun.

When you focus on features, you are telling your customers why they owe it to themselves to hear your message and follow that call to action.

Not Getting Your Message Clear

If you were buying a new phone, the chances are you'd want better specifications than "you can call people on this". The same applies to your own marketing - each message should be clear and concise, setting out exactly what you are marketing.

Craft your message to cover:

  • What does this do?
  • Who is it for?
  • What sets it apart from its competitors?
  • Why should someone spend money on this?

Your answers should be brief and clear, allowing you to build an effective campaign around them.

Good marketing is worth investing time and money in.

To make sure your marketing is great, plan carefully and make sure your messages are relevant, straightforward, concise, and offer a defined call to action.