These Marketing Mistakes Could Be Hurting Your Small Business

James Helliwell

June 01, 2017


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For small businesses, marketing is dangerous waters. There is the pressure to get it right and grow the business, while under budget constraints. This leaves little room for mistakes. Unfortunately, many small businesses go on to make these mistakes nonetheless. Here are the top mistakes you need to avoid.

Ignoring Market Research

Small businesses are always super focused on growth. This leads to the adoption of marketing strategies without adequate analysis. Apart from wasting time and money, some of the strategies can perpetually keep the business in an endless loop of small successes and big failures. Consider hiring professionals to do market research and turn you in the right direction. It requires investment but the wealth of experience and insights into market condition are invaluable for any business.

Bloated Target Audience

Small businesses make the mistake of targeting an excessively broad demographic. This translates into spreading marketing resources too thin. For example, why spend money on search marketing that targets the whole country when your everyday customers are based in one region and you can’t ship outside said region anyway? Why spend money on targeting parents when your product will be primarily used by their teenagers?

Spending More than Necessary at the Wrong Time

On paper, it is a good idea to spend all your resources on creating a big marketing funnel. However, this could be detrimental in the long run. Does your business have the resources to handle a possible overshoot of your clientele? Fine tune your marketing strategy to be no more than exactly what you need and save money.

Keep Your Current Clientele

Your marketing drive will be ineffective if you are bleeding clients instead of winning repeat business.

“Create client loyalty for both your B2B and B2C sales group and you can create advocates for your brand. In fact, try to ensure there is no distinction between both groups. Stay in touch with your customers, strive to address their pain points and take on board advice for enhanced service delivery.” - Salesforce B2B and B2C Sales Experts

Improper Measurement

When you don’t track your marketing results, you are playing a dangerous game. The fact that the conversions are rolling in doesn’t mean you are doing the best thing for your business. The only way to ensure success is to analyse your marketing results. Tracking metrics will help you see what works and what doesn’t and ensures proper adjustment of your strategy. It is only through proper measurement that you can know what channels to allocation a higher percentage of your marketing budget and also know which channels are mere sinkholes that should be avoided.

Being Easily Swayed

When it comes to marketing strategy, you will never lack suggestions and advice. However, as in other spheres of life, trying to please everyone with your marketing is recipe for disaster. You have done your homework before starting your business. You know what direction you want to go with your business. It is now time for you to be confident enough to actually do it.

Finally, be ready to work at your marketing strategy. It will not be the finished article immediately and you may need time to find out the right techniques to settle on, for your business. Blend these tips into your decision making and stay patient and you can grow a robust marketing desk for your small business. It is the only way you can guarantee increase in conversions and sustainability.