Rookie Mistakes You’re Bound to Make in Marketing
The old guard at the business will often become adamant about continuing these techniques whereas new individuals coming to the workplace are generally inclined to offer and suggest something modern.
Regardless the age and experience of those conducting the marketing there are always mistakes to be made even when there is combined experience within those doing marketing at the business.
Failing to develop rapport
Relationships are built on a constant change of value but this is only generally accomplished when the channels of communication are open and in constant use. Failing to communicate and build rapport with interested parties and customers will certainly lead to a lackluster marketing return.
Fixing the problem: Talk frequently. A use of a customer service relationship tool will remove any difficulties to build rapports with individuals as it will provide the marketing team with set schedules, reporting, and tools/resources to have this constant line of communication and feedback.
Failing to gain (and act on) feedback
People that love (or hate) your product are going to be vocal. Failing to listen to concerns, suggestions, and other forms of feedback is effectively shutting out the opportunities to improve marketing efforts.
Fixing the problem: At all times there should be full usage of social channels to gather and respond to feedback. Social networking platforms are the easiest to gain these insights but traditional methods such as direct mailings, emails, phone calls, and surveys will provide a wealth of information on the target market and audience. It’s equally wise to use these communication opportunities to quell negative customer interactions or create opportunities of converting enthusiastic individuals into life-time customers.
Failing to time the campaigns
What good is excellent copy and creative if it’s reaching the target audience during the off-hours and getting little to no response? Timing is everything with marketing and not knowing when your audience is most susceptible to the marketing message will lead to low conversions.
Fixing the problem: Analytics (as you could expect). Keep track of each and every campaign, use best practices with social media, and gauge responses to find those perfect opportunities to deliver your marketing message.
Failing to be on their platform
There are far too many social platforms for a business to be on at any given moment but that’s okay because the majority of the marketplace tend to stick to just a handful of popular (and sometimes surprising) choices.
Fixing the problem: Select the networks that provide the highest feedback and ROI from campaigns after you have tested the myriad of choices. Work on mastering one or two at a time to prevent resources stretching too thin but always make an effort to reach your audience no matter where they may be. Funnel individuals from platforms you may not prefer to those that you do through a variety of cross-promotions, awareness campaigns, and advertising.
Failing to build trust through content
You can create a great piece of content that will aid the marketing efforts through social sharing, search engine placement, and building awareness around a product, service, or brand, but if it fails to convey trust then there are going to be issues with conversions.
Fixing the problem: Content is only one aspect of the actual content marketing. Trust signals should be in place otherwise you will reduce credibility in the message. Make full use of contact channels, reaffirming your unique selling point, and avoiding intrusive Web techniques (animated ads for example) to allow them to flow through the content and have all appropriate informational available for when they are ready to get in touch.
Failing to learn from past mistakes
The blame game is bound to be played when it comes to marketing because there are so many cogs to the machine. One element that is off can lead to an otherwise fantastic marketing effort turn into something all-together lackluster.
Fixing the problem: Be okay with knowing that not all campaigns will be successful; use them as learning opportunities and it will still deliver a form of value. Find the issues from within your efforts but also examine the faults of the competition to gain a leg-up and avoid the mistakes they have made. Borrow from the competition that has a successful track record with marketing campaigns but make it your own.
Failing to talk their language, being pushy, or a push-over
Sales and marketing will always have moments where they will clash. The marketing will get an individual interested and plant the idea but sales can often be too pushy (or too much of a push-over) once that individual has shown genuine interest.
Fixing the problem: Align goals of the sales and marketing teams. Keep open communication between each division of the business (and consider having each learn how to do opposite jobs even on a rudimentary level). Skip the techno-babble, industry jargon your leads do not know (nor care to understand). Don’t rely on pricing as the go-to value of the product or service. Don’t dance around the sale when you know they have interest and are ready to complete the transaction – ask for the sale. By avoiding these mistakes and aligning the goals (and understanding) of the sales and marketing the message will remain clear from the point of awareness to the post-purchase experience.
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Tired of making these common mistakes but find that you’re doing them too frequently regardless? Talk with the team at adQuadrant. We would be delighted to eliminate these mistakes, provide insight onto others you may be making, and deliver the right service that will turn that lackluster marketing campaign into a blockbuster.
