Common Marketing Mistakes to Avoid
Posted By jedwards In Category: Articles // Library
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Every day people make common mistakes. These mistakes whether personal or business can be deterred with simple awareness and certain strategies. In business, marketing is a key ingredient and it is important to be aware of the common mistakes that are usually made. How many of the following mistakes in marketing have you made?
Lack of product market testing
This is by far the biggest mistake in marketing today by small and even large businesses. It is amazing how many companies decide on the product they will sell before ever checking to see if the potential market exist! This phenomena occurs whether it is business-to-business or business-to-consumer. The seller falls in love with their own product and assumes the market will too. The reason for this common mistake is expressed in the answer to the question “Whose idea is the best idea? Well, everyone knows it is your own.” In other words, it is a singular subjectivity that creates this delusion. . It is better to take a objective position to determine the true potential of any product market. Test the waters; ask your customers and clients what they think. Survey a portion of your current clients and the general public. You owe it to the balance sheet of the business and your product’s success.
Neglecting to Explain Why Your Prices are Lower
In today’s market, a low price for a product or service immediately brings up the question of how? How can you sell a product or service(s) at a lower cost than your competitors? If a business fails to answer that question through their marketing strategy, customers will become suspicious of the quality of the product. Remember trust is a key factor in making a sale. If you give an explanation it would increase trust in the selling relationship. A great example of this is Bob’s Furniture marketing campaigns, they are consistently telling why their prices are low.
Forgetting to make it easy for the customer to do business with you
There is so much competition out in the marketplace today that beyond selling a product, a business has to make sure to simplify the sales and purchasing experience. To often businesses are forgetting this important detail. Why make the process of the purchase easy? If all things are equal, if it is difficult to do business with you, a customer may go elsewhere. Make things convenient for the customer; make the experience easy and enjoyable. Do not waste the customer’s time. If you want to lose a customer, go ahead and waste their time or make them wait. Remember, today’s customers hate to wait and would rather pay the extra dollar or whatever with the competition if they can deliver faster efficient pleasant service. Consumers expect their shopping experience to be an enjoyable one. If you can make it fun and entertaining to do business with you, chances are they’ll be back and possible bring a friend or two.
Don’t be a General Practitioner
If you do not have a unique position, why would your customers be interested in you? Find a unique angle to your business, be great at it and stick with it. This is called a Niche. You can have a Niche product, service or market. Not everything under the sun has to be for the general market, it is not always the most profitable. But to have an
advantage over your competitors you better know your Niche, know who your customers are, and how to target your market.
Forgetting to Set the Stage for the Repeat Business
This is an area where many businesses lose money. Businesses look for the first sale and rarely set the stage for repeat business. Remember to develop a “back-end” sales strategy. It’s extremely important before you sell your first product to already have your follow-up product at the door and waiting. If your customer has purchased from you once, there is a good chance they will again. You have already established a certain kind of trust with your customer. Do not let them down and never rely on one primary product to carry your business unless it is a daily livelihood necessity like food and water. Product development is an integral part of any business. If you want to stay in business keep your present customers coming back for more through product development and highly effective customer service.
If It’s Not Broken. Don’t Fix It!
Why do businesses feel the need to change a marketing strategy that works? The fact is, it happens every day. Businesses find a winner and hope they can create a new one. Practice the notion of asking, “Is it broken?” if it is not leave it alone and use the strategy again. Now that is not to say that you should not test new marketing ideas, but never drop a winner because you are tired of using it or feel the market is tired of seeing it. If they are, trust me, sales will go down and you may probably receive a few emails or phones calls. Until those signs occur leave well enough alone.
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This article is was helpful to me; there were hints that I never considered before such as “forgetting to set the stage for repeat business”. This tip is important for anyone in any business forum. I believe we often get too caught up in the ‘next’ thing that we forget to find ways to retain the people/clients who support us. Kudos on this article.