Marketing your business is one of those things everyone thinks they can do, and most people fail miserably when attempting. I call bad marketing decisions "Customer Repellent". Here are the most common mistakes made when trying to market your own business:
1. DOING IT ON THE CHEAP
If you're starting a business or launching a new product, a significant portion of your cost will come from marketing. There's no way around it. No matter what you do or what you're promoting, you have competition. It's either the guy down the street, the big box store, or the Web. Whatever you think is an appropriate marketing budget, triple it. Your marketing budget should be anywhere from 30-65% of your total startup cost. This money will be spent doing both brand building and targeted marketing.
2. SELLING TO YOURSELF
Unless you have the ability to clone yourself in order to create a market for your product or service, what you like and what appeals to you is not likely what appeals to your potential customers. Know your customer - intimately. What motivates them? What else do they like to do? Who is your competition and what are they doing to target your customer?
3. BE THE SPOKESPERSON FOR YOUR COMPANY
Unless you are a trained voice actor or have a "voice for radio", don't do your own commercials. We've all heard them - the painful, uncomfortable local spots that make you cringe. Car dealers are especially guilty of this. You aren't the brand - you're damaging your business by insisting to be the voice. Radio stations offer their on-air talent free of charge. Use it.
4. I CAN'T SPELL - SO WHAT?
While especially true for social media, spelling and grammatical errors run rampant in small business promotion. Remember that most of the public can speak English properly. They are acutely aware of spelling and grammar errors. If you aren't a good speller or if grammar eludes you, don't attempt to sound it out. This holds true for signage, advertising copy, in-store printed flyers and anything else.
5. I NEED SOMETHING NOW
Marketing is often one of the last things a new business owner thinks about. Developing a strategy becomes secondary to getting the business open or the product launched. Keep in mind it will cost you much more money later to fix a slapped-together website and marketing campaign than to do it right the first time. Again, be prepared to spend money. Having a strong strategy out of the gate will increase your likelihood of success.
6. THE NEWSPAPER DESIGNS MY ADS FOR FREE, AND THE YELLOW PAGES IS BUILDING ME A WEBSITE - ALL FOR FREE!!!!
While many media venues will offer design services as a "loss leader" in order to get small businesses to spend money with them, your entire brand identity will be inconsistent if you use multiple designers who have no contact with each other. It's not always a question of bad design - it's about consistency. What is the customer experience you are providing? If it's all over the place, you're losing customers.
7. YEAH, WE'RE RUDE - SO WHAT?
Marketing isn't just an ad in the newspaper. From the moment a customer walks through your door, contracts for a service, or calls you on the phone, you have the ability to either keep them or turn them away. One of the most ignored pieces of the marketing puzzle is customer service. An attentive and friendly sales staff, a prompt reply to an email, a quick return phone call - all of it goes a long way. The customer is rarely right - we all know that. But the customer has the power in the relationship. It's much less expensive to keep a customer than to create one.
Customer repellent comes in many different shapes and sizes, and can be customized for your business. Its potency is only limited by your ability to ignore your customer, and ignore the basic rules of marketing. Get yours today - supplies are unlimited.
