Eight Costly Marketing Mistakes

MARKETING ONLY IN THE SLOW TIMES

To grow your business, you need an ongoing, targeted marketing programme you can manage year-round along with the day-to-day demands of your new business. One mistake start-up entrepreneurs often make is to put marketing on the back burner and focus exclusively on the few customers they’ve got. Marketing only during the slow times dooms you to living on an economic roller coaster.

FAILING TO FOCUS

Often, start-up marketers fail because they try to tackle too many types of prospects on a limited, start-up budget. Going after everyone who will listen is a shortcut to failure. On the flip side, when you narrowly focus your marketing efforts on a qualified target audience, you’ll get spectacular results.

OVERLOOKING TESTING AND RESEARCH

So you think millions of people will want to buy your product or service. What makes you so sure? Before committing lots of cash to launching your new business, do some market research. The internet is your best source of published information. You can test the market using surveys. Testing can keep you from making costly mistakes based on false assumptions about your product, service or customers.

RELYING ON JUST ONE OR TWO TACTICS

It’s only natural to rely on the marketing tactics you’re most comfortable with. If you like meeting and talking to new people, you may focus on networking. If you’re shy, on the other hand, you might rely solely on direct mail. Such singlemindedness is a major marketing mistake because it prevents you from exposing a full range of prospects to your message.

UNDERSPENDING ON MARKETING

It’s just as important to set aside marketing funds as it is to budget for tools you’re going to need to run your business. If you go to a bank for financing, you’ll be expected to show the banker your marketing budget — because without marketing, there’s very little chance you’ll be able to repay your loan. Even if you’re funding your company without help from a bank or other lender, you need to follow the same guidelines.

FAILING TO PRESENT A PROFESSIONAL IMAGE

Your marketing materials sell your company image to the world. To be successful, you need a cohesive family of tools that stand up to those of even your largest competitors. If you hand out shoddy, poorly produced marketing materials to prospects, don’t expect to be picked for plum jobs. Also be aware of how your company ‘sounds’ when prospects call.

IGNORING CURRENT CUSTOMERS

As your business grows, you may become so focused on getting new customers that you overlook current customers. That is a major mistake, since it generally costs more to win a new customer than to ‘resell’ to an existing one.

OVERLOOKING WHAT TECH CAN DO FOR YOU

Contact management software and e-mail marketing are just two options that can streamline your marketing efforts and improve your productivity. Without a good contact management programme, business contacts may be lost and call-backs missed. Don’t overlook these valuable tools that can help your business grow.

Reference:
(Source: Microsoft Small Business Center)

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3.23 Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved."