5 Marketing
Mistakes You Can’t Afford To Make
By: Debbie Allen
5 Marketing Mistakes You Can’t Afford To
Make
In virtually every area of business, there
will be pitfalls along
the way. Marketing is no exception. Time and
time again, retail
stores of all sizes make the same costly
mistakes. But knowing
how to avoid these mistakes can save you
energy, disappointment –
and money.
Mistake 1: Eliminating marketing efforts
when times get tight.
When cash flow slows, advertising, direct
mail and other forms of
marketing are the easiest expenses to
reduce, right? But cut
these, and you eliminate the very activities
that will bring in
new customers to turn your business around.
This is the time
when you may be spending more time analyzing
the results of your
marketing efforts. But by stopping marketing
efforts, you will
be setting yourself up for additional loss
of business.
Mistake 2: Not measuring results.
Don’t wait until times get tight to start
measuring the results
of your marketing efforts. By analyzing
regularly, you will be
able to reinvest in what is working, and
drop what isn’t. Ask
customers how they found your business, and
then track the
results. Use in-store or on-line coupons. Or
host a focus group
of a variety of customers to discover what
attracts them to your
business.
Mistake 3: Putting all your marketing
dollars in one area.
If your entire marketing budget is used on
just one method of
promoting your business, you won’t realize
the highest return on
your investment. Diversifying your efforts
will increase the
frequency and reach of your messages and
stretch your marketing
dollars.
Businesses can get hooked into one large
advertising program with
a local newspaper, magazine or radio
station, and put the
majority of their marketing dollars there.
They feel as if they
have to advertise with the same media
source, just because they
always have or because fear they will lose
ground since their
competitors are advertising there as well.
Some business owners
actually stay with a company for fear of
upsetting their sales
associate.
Remember, it’s your money and your
investment. Don’t ever let
anyone talk you into an advertising program
that is not producing
the best results for your business. And
measure the results of
your advertising dollars spent vs. the
income received from your
advertising on a consist basis.
When you diversify, don’t’ forget about
direct marketing. Many
business owners only do a few direct-mail
programs a year,
targeted to their existing customer base.
They need to do more.
Your customer base and mailing list is gold,
make sure you have
budgeted a large part of your marketing
dollars to advertise to
your existing customers. They already love
you, so keep them
coming in by sending promotional
(promotional – not just sale)
postcards to them at least six times a year.
Mistake 4: Allowing your ego to get in the
way of common sense.
Ego can tempt a very bright person to do
dumb things. Your
marketing decisions should be based on
factors that will
positively impact some area of your business
– usually the bottom
line. Buying full-page ads or covers
featuring yourself and not
focusing on your business’ unique offerings
may result in money
going out the window.
Mistake 5: Not getting help when you need
it.
If you find you’re too busy to handle your
marketing efforts or
that your materials aren’t looking as
professional as they
should, it’s time to call in the
reinforcements. Hire a full-or
part-time employee to allow you more free
time to work on the
“business end” or hire an independent
business consultant to
bring in new concepts and fresh ideas.
About the Author
Business speaker, Debbie Allen has
presented to thousands
in nine countries. Featured in
“Entrepreneur”, “Sales Marketing
Excellence” and “Selling Power,” Allen is
the author of five books
including best seller, “Confessions of
Shameless Self Promoters,”
published in five countries. To learn more
or to take her free
business card quiz & evaluate your own
marketing, visit:
www.DebbieAllen.com
