As a small business owner, it’s very common to fall into the trap of seeing marketing as an expense rather than an investment. Maybe you’ve run a few ads, hired a marketing agency, or tried your hand at Google’s AdWords services only to find yourself spending more than you’ve made. You certainly wouldn’t be alone. Fortunately, avoiding these five mistakes can set you on the right track.
1. The Customer Avatar
Establishing a “customer avatar” is a crucial aspect of finding success in marketing. This process calls to your attention what makes a perfectly ideal customer and everything about their interests, patterns, and lifestyle. It can tell you where to market, what techniques to use, and how to create a buying atmosphere that’s suitable for your customers.
2. Using Evidence, Not Assumptions
Often failed marketing is directly a result of working off of assumptions about what your customers want. Business owners usually know their product very well, and have a great understanding of the value it brings to the lives of their consumers. Unfortunately, what they often don’t know is what it is their prospective leads are looking for. Too many small businesses fail because they try to align the marketplace’s will with their own. The most important step in marketing is identifying what it is that your customers want. With this perspective, conversions are substantially easier, and consequently cheaper, to come by.
3. Realizing Your Product or Service Doesn’t Drive Success
A common misconception about the success of a business is that it is determined mostly by the quality of your product. In actuality, it’s determined by how your product is marketed. A terrible product can be marketed well and still generate revenue. Conversely, a fantastic product with poor marketing will be dead in the water. Marketing is the lifeblood of your company. Cutting corners here is a surefire way to cripple your business.
4. Weaponizing Your Brand
One of the most important, and unfortunately most neglected, aspects of marketing a business is establishing a brand. It guides your decisions moving forward, and creates the framework for progress. It’s more than a set of rules that dictate your company’s visuals. Branding is the way that a business is perceived in every touchpoint between itself and its clients. When each interaction with a possible client is thoughtfully tailored to convey the same message, they will walk away with an understanding of your business’ identity and positioning in the marketplace. If you’d like to learn about the importance of branding read more.
5. Test Then Scale
Large price tags on marketing campaigns, countless variables, and the expense of in-house marketing can easily make a business owner second guess the financial rewards of marketing. This is because most marketers are more interested in their profit margin than creating a solution for you that’s an investment rather than an expense. Success is achieved in advertising by running small campaigns at low cost to gauge interest, value, and conversion rates before any substantial investment is made. When you find something that works, scale it!
Interested in applying these strategies to building your business? Contact The Armory today to schedule a marketing consultation.
