The Five Marketing Mistakes Every Small Business Should Avoid.

Marketing is essential for any business–no matter how small or large your company is. Doing it right can lead to great success, but doing it all wrong can lead to a disaster. If you’re a small business looking for ways to promote and grow your business without wasting time and money, make sure you are not making these five marketing mistakes.

1. No Option for Subscribing to a Mailing List.

Some customers may not be ready to commit to buying what you’re selling now, but they may be interested later. You may be surprised by how many companies actually forget to add an opt-in mailing list on their website.

If someone subscribes to your mailing list, they are giving you the permission to stay in contact with them, which should eventually build to a relationship over time. Don’t disappoint a potential customer, and always include a mailing list option on your website.

2. Targeting the Wrong Audience.

Some business owners may think reaching out to a large group of people would be in their best interest. However, if you market to the whole world it’s going to be a bit of a challenge to be heard.

Instead, establish who you want to pursue by asking yourself who would benefit most from purchasing your products or using your services. Narrowing down your audience is going to be more effective in the long run. Although you may have a smaller audience number, they will be of higher quality and more likely to purchase or use your services.

3. Focusing Too Much on the Sale.

Marketing is more than just selling your products and services. It’s about having a conversation with others. As a business it’s obvious that you want to make a profit, but it shouldn’t be your only focus. Being too pushy with sales and offers will only result in driving prospects away.

Focus on building relationships first. The better your relationships, the better your company’s success. Remember that not everyone is in the market to buy right away. But if you start a relationship and build upon it, it will make people remember you when they are ready to buy.

4. Branding Inconsistency.

Another marketing mistake small business owners make is brand inconsistency. You should always remember the importance of brand recognition. Whether it’s colours, social media names, or your logo, you must be easily identifiable. Otherwise it may just cause confusion, and will only lead to you losing prospects.

To make sure you’re not making this common mistake, stay consistent on all types of media: brochures and e-mail newsletters, to social networking sites. This will make people recognise your brand and familiarise themselves. Staying consistent with your brand image, people will remember and choose you when they’re ready to buy.

5. Not Testing and Measuring Strategies.

As a small business owner, you probably don’t have the time or money to waste. To ensure you’re marketing strategies are effective, always test and measure them. You could be wasting a ton of money on a type of advertising or marketing strategy that’s getting you no leads.

Choose about 3 to 5 strategies to see if they work or not. Adjust them accordingly by testing and measuring them. Some strategies could be finding out your traffic and conversion rates with analytics, or asking customers how they found you.

Successful marketing is easier than you think. Doing it all wrong could be costing you a lot of time and money when you could be earning a great deal more. As long as you don’t make these five marketing mistakes, your small business will thrive.

Marketing mistakes – last words.

Every business, no matter what size, knows the importance of great marketing. If you need assistance with branding, content writing, or social media marketing ask for a free quote from Castlenet.