Still Not Seeing Marketing Results? Here Are The 10 Big Costly Mistakes That Are Holding You Back
You’re frustrated with seeing another marketing effort fail, and you’re confused about what to change and tweak next to make your marketing work.
You’re tired of trying out another marketing tactic that ends up disappointing you…
You’re doing your very best trying to grow your business. Maybe you’ve been posting on social media, building your email list, collaborating, pitching to media, hosting a podcast, running Pinterest, or running ads… But, for some reason, you are not seeing the results you expect.
Does this never-ending, always-disappointing marketing treadmill sound familiar? Many business owners and entrepreneurs are in the same boat, and they aren’t growing their businesses and getting customers as quickly as they wanted all because of marketing!
To fix any problem, you have to know what to fix. It’s time to get out of this guessing game!
Let’s walk through the 10 biggest marketing mistakes that every business owner should avoid and what to do instead to keep growing your business:
Mistake #1: Marketing & Selling to Everyone
Many business owners make the marketing mistake of casting a wide net and selling to anyone and everyone because they’re worried about leaving sales and opportunities behind. But because they don’t want to leave out anyone, their marketing is not focused and becomes confusing. Their marketing, messaging, and content speak to no one, and none of them resonate with any group of customers. Without a clear focus on who they’re selling to, they end up with vague and generic marketing. And when things are vague, people find them confusing and lose interest.
Because customers now have many choices when they shop for almost anything, and it’s nearly impossible for a new business to get noticed and stand out from the crowd with another “me too” product or service like everyone else in the market.
A better strategy to grow your business would be to market to a specific group of target customers first, build your network, relationships, and credibility, then expand your audience later if that suits your business.
Need a little help to narrow down your target customers? Get the 7 questions every modern entrepreneur should ask to narrow down their target audience further. Make sure you can precisely describe your target customers in a sentence. Then you can fix this marketing mistake and tailor your marketing to them and speak to their specific headaches and desires to gain traction.
If writing marketing copy gives you a headache, check out these 3 most common copywriting mistakes to avoid plus 3 foolproof tricks to up-level your copy!
Mistake #2: Not knowing your differentiation
A big marketing mistake is not knowing what makes your business different in the market. What sets you apart? Do you have an excellent reason for customers to choose you over other businesses in your market? You should have a compelling reason for customers to buy from you or work with you, and this should be mentioned all over your marketing because it’s your selling point and it’s the one thing that your target customers want and crave! If you don’t know your differentiation yet, it’s time to schedule a brainstorming session on your calendar and identify it for your business.
Need help figuring out what differentiates your business from your competition? Learn the 3 biggest myths about differentiation that might be holding you back, and how to find it for your business.
Want more ideas on how to make your business stand out – even if you’re starting out? Get started on any of these 7 pro tips right away.
brand direction & styling by us for Boheme Fragrances | photo by Aimi Photo
Mistake #3: Having a one-way conversation with your audience & target customers
Many business owners and entrepreneurs know the importance of sharing consistent content online, but they are still not getting traction through the content they created. The biggest reason why their content and messaging aren’t resonating with people is that they are making the marketing mistake of sharing what they want to say and what they think is important, but not what their target customers and audience want to hear.
To avoid this mistake and market effectively, know what your target customers and audience want to hear and know from you, speak in their specific language, and meet them where they are. Focus on marketing what they want and addressing their specific struggles and desires from using your product or service.
Want to take your marketing to the next level? Here’s the big but little-known secret of all incredibly successful marketing, and how to apply it in your business.
Need great content ideas your audience craves? Here are 12 ways to find your next content ideas in 3 minutes.
Mistake #4: Not using content marketing
Many people think making content takes too much time, so they make the marketing mistake of putting it in the “I’ll-get-to-this-later list.” Instead, they invest in costly advertising. But what they don’t know is that – per dollar spent, content marketing actually generates approximately 3 times as many leads as traditional marketing. (Brenner)
Content marketing is an incredibly useful tool to gain trust. Especially when most platforms available to you now for sharing content are free.
Trust is the No.1 thing that makes people buy and hand you their money for what you sell, and trust needs to be earned. And by sharing relevant and valuable content with your target customers and audience, you have the power to build trust and credibility with prospective customers and nurture relationships with existing and past customers, which is proven to increase sales, recurring sales, and referrals.
If you haven’t been making the most of content marketing in your business, click here to find out if content marketing is right for you.
Also, read this post to debunk these 10 major content marketing myths that are costing many businesses sales and customers!
Not seeing results from your content? Avoid these biggest content mistakes business owners make.
Confused about how much to spend on marketing? Here's a foolproof method to budget effectively to keep growing your business.
Mistake #5 Trying too many marketing tactics & platforms at once
When starting a business, most people make the mistake of creating an account on every social media and trying to grow on multiple platforms at the same time. When they try to grow their businesses this way, their energy and time are split into different directions. As a result, it takes way longer to gain traction on any platform because their focus is split across all the things they’re trying.
To gain traction and build momentum, prioritize the high-result marketing tactics that align with your business and your target customers. Focus only on scaling those first to gain traction. Once you’ve built an audience on one platform, it’s much easier to direct people to the next one you want to grow on.
If you want to avoid marketing traps that drain your marketing budget, here’s how to find the right marketing channels & tactics that are perfect for you.
Mistake #6 Not having an overall marketing strategy
Most business owners don’t know how all the different tactics and platforms – such as blogging, email marketing, Instagram, Facebook, Tiktok, Youtube, and podcast – all tie together. And they make the marketing mistake of using these tactics separately.
These marketing tactics are like cooking ingredients. Without a recipe, it’s nearly impossible for a newbie to create an amazing dish. Your overall strategy provides you with the recipe so you can grow your business with success. Without this general direction, you’re making decisions and taking action on a whim without knowing where you are heading. And you end up with most of your marketing effort going to waste.
Want to learn how to build your marketing strategy? Start with this never-fail formula to build your winning marketing strategy, so ou can fix this marketing mistake right away. No more second-guessing!
brand direction & styling by us for The Bold Collaborative | photo by Comeplum
Mistake #7 Not getting help from happy customers
Many people make the mistake of spending most of their time chasing after new customers, and completely miss the tremendous opportunities their happy past customers can generate for them. Here are the different ways happy customers can power up your marketing for you:
First, ask them for those powerful testimonials and reviews to give your marketing a boost. Let your prospective customers see the great results and transformations that are possible for them with your products or services. Make sure you get in on these 6 simple ways to use social proof in your marketing.
You can also ask them for their feedback on how to improve your customer service and experience so you can have even more happy customers in the future.
They are also helpful resources to give you feedback on marketing copy and content ideas. Read this post to unveil the eye-opening ways happy customers can put your business on steroids!
Lastly, they bring you more sales by buying from you again and referring more customers to you. Here are 8 fun creative ways to engage your past customers so you can keep getting returning sales!
To fix this mistake, continue building relationships with your happy customers, staying in touch with them, and involving them in your marketing efforts.
Mistake #8 Not doing enough research before experimenting
Many business owners are do-ers, and they try all the marketing tactics, tips, and hacks they learned from blogs, Youtube, and podcasts. Many of them also look at what their competitors are marketing and selling and offer similar offers hoping to get noticed by customers. But because they make the mistake of not doing the research on their target customers before trying anything, they end up with another average business at best.
Instead of following the herd and trying things out based on what your competition is doing, focus on your target customers, research to find out what they want and what works for them.
Not sure where to start? Here’s a simple method to get inside your target customers’ heads and give them what they want. Based on your surveys and interview responses from your target customers, create a marketing plan specifically to reach and attract them.
When you’re coming up with new products or services, apply the same practice of asking your target customers for feedback and involving them in the creation process of your product or service. Read this post to learn the 3 key practices you need to create an incredible offer that people love.
brand direction & styling by us for Alicia Voelker Design | photo by Nina Ruth Photography
Mistake #9 Giving up after one try
Don’t make the marketing mistake of assuming something doesn’t work after one try. With anything marketing, find ways to quantify your effort and focus on the key metrics to track your marketing results. When something doesn’t work out the way you hoped, use numbers to identify the possible root problems and causes and come up with changes to improve your results.
If you have limited resources like most business owners, prioritize the marketing effort that you can quantify. This way, instead of trying all the things like throwing spaghetti at the wall and hoping something sticks, you can track the performance of each marketing effort and have more information to come up with an effective marketing plan.
Mistake #10 Not enjoying marketing
This is the same with everything else in life; it’s difficult to master something you don’t enjoy. Many business owners and entrepreneurs tell themselves that they only enjoy creating and making what they sell, and not marketing and selling them.
Fix this mistake by shifting your mindset. Instead, view marketing as a game you are playing so you can multiply your work and impact. Whenever you feel overwhelmed by marketing, make the space you need to reset and recharge so you can maintain a healthy and fun relationship with marketing.
Read this post and see how you can make marketing enjoyable, fun, and fulfilling!
Don’t let the success or failure of your marketing define how you see yourself as a business owner, entrepreneur, or marketer. Marketing doesn’t have to be expensive, and it’s a means to an end. See it as a useful tool to help more people who will benefit from what you do see you and find you!
Works Cited
Brenner, Michael. “Why Content Marketing Beats Advertising.” Marketing Insider Group, 16 Mar. 2021, marketinginsidergroup.com/content-marketing/why-content-marketing-beats-advertising-almost-every-time/#:~:text=Quick%20Takeaways. Accessed 10 Oct. 2022.