Marketing is constantly evolving, so you need to stay ahead of the game if you want to stand any chance at overtaking your competitors. This being said, many brands don’t know where to start when it comes to building a powerful promotional strategy. To help you avoid running into the same problems many brands face, our experts have shared the most common marketing mistakes and how to avoid them.
Not Defining Your Target Audience
No matter the industry that you operate in or the size of your business, defining your target audience should always be your first point of call. Understanding who you’re trying to reach is essential if you’re looking for a generous return on investment (ROI) from your marketing efforts. Without this background knowledge, there is a chance that you could be wasting both your time and money.
You need to research who your target audience is and understand their pain points, wants, and needs. This will allow you to curate a customer persona and create a tailored marketing campaign that appeals to those who are interested in your offerings.
Not Being Prepared with a Strategy
Your marketing strategy is essentially a plan that outlines what you’re looking to achieve from your marketing efforts and how to do so. Without a detailed strategy in place, your team are likely to work less efficiently as they will not have a clear direction on what to do and when.
Any effective marketing strategy should include:
- Your measurable objectives and what you’re looking to achieve.
- The marketing techniques that you’re looking to implement.
- Personalised SMART goals – specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, timely.
- Research into your competitors and target audience.
Not Having a Unique Selling Point (USP)
There’s no doubt about it, many markets are oversaturated. This means you need to offer something special or have a USP to stand out from the crowd and make a lasting impression on your target audience. Take advantage of your speciality and tailor your content towards this to see enhanced results.
Not Having a Consistent Brand
One of the most common marketing mistakes is not having consistent branding at every touchpoint. Your branding is key to becoming a recognisable name in your industry and being memorable to both new and existing customers. With uniformly presented brands 3.5 times more visible to customers and receiving 23% more revenue than those with inconsistent designs, your branding is certainly something that you don’t want to overlook.
Not Having a Set Budget
When it comes to building an effective marketing campaign, it’s important to remember that you will never be able to please everybody. The most economical and successful strategies captivate your target market and have lasting impressions on your potential customers. Remember – the biggest budget doesn’t always generate the biggest return!
Having a budget in mind allows you to track your spending and allocate it appropriately between your campaigns to see the best ROI. You should set a monthly budget prior to starting your marketing efforts and then adjust as necessary going forward.
Not Measuring Your Results
Forgetting to measure and analyse your campaign’s performance on a regular basis is another top contender in the rankings for marketing mistakes. Tracking your results is crucial if you want to find out what’s working well, and which areas need further optimisation to help improve your performance even more so.
Here at VerriBerri, we provide each of our clients with a monthly report to keep you updated and showcase how our marketing efforts are helping drive your business growth. Our team gather data-driven insights and analyse the results so you can fully understand what we’re working on and what it means for your business.
Not Keeping it Simple
Everything in marketing should be created with your target audience in mind. However, sometimes, brands try to test the waters a little too much and create campaigns too complex or overwhelming for their customers. It’s important to not overcomplicate your messaging to help improve your engagement rates and resonate with your market.
Not Engaging with Your Customers
It’s not uncommon for businesses to focus their efforts on gaining new customers. However, it’s important to remember that you also need to retain loyal customers as these can be extremely valuable figures for your business. What’s more, it’s also much easier to keep hold of a customer rather than build a relationship with somebody new.
Here are some ways to keep your loyal customers interested in your brand:
- Keep in contact with them through email marketing communications.
- Introduce offers or premium content to customers who take a certain action.
- Post fresh content on your social media accounts regularly.
- Respond quickly to their comments and direct messages on your social media channels.
- Send personalised messages to your customers to build relationships.
Not Working with a Marketing Agency
One of the best ways to avoid making any of the marketing mistakes mentioned above is by partnering with a professional team like VerriBerri. As a marketing agency in the heart of Essex, we’re home to a group of experts who have over a decade of experience working with a wide range of clients from all matter of industries.
Regardless of your company’s size, we can help take your brand to the next level with social media, public relations, organic SEO, paid advertising, and more! If you’re looking to develop your business, then why not seek professional guidance from specialist marketers?
Contact VerriBerri
Successful marketing requires creativity, dedication, and perseverance. Unfortunately, many business owners do not have the time to handle their own marketing and it’s more complex than you may initially expect. Nevertheless, now that you know the most common marketing mistakes, you should be well on the road to success!
Looking for more hands-on support? Find out more about our full-service marketing agency by giving us call on 01376 386850 or click here to send us a message directly.