8 Marketing Mistakes You Might Be Making

…and a few ways to avoid them.

Are you struggling to figure out why your business isn’t taking off? Maybe you’re not sure if you’re going in the right direction?

The digital landscape can be a tough space to navigate, and that means you’re going to make mistakes.

They say making mistakes is the best way to learn, but it doesn’t have to keep happening.

So, let’s get into this so you can stop wasting time and start making more money.

1.  Ignoring Your Audience

One of the biggest mistakes you can make is thinking all about yourself, and not about your customers.

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again (and again...): 

To market well, you have to pay attention to your audience, especially in the world of customer personalization.

It’s bad practice to only focus on the money you can make off of them, not to mention just plain rude.‍

How To Avoid It:

Practice audience targeting.

• Separate your customer into segments based on their interests, using their data. When you do that, you can strategize and avoid holding one umbrella over all of your customers.

Keep up a blog.

• Blogs let you zero in on your target audience and consistently write content that speaks to them.

2.  Looking Like Everybody Else

When you’re setting up your website, don’t forget to tell customers your USP, or unique selling proposition. This tells them what makes you different.

How To Avoid It:

Write it out.

• Be both creative and direct in your header. They’ll see your USP right up front. Hubspot is direct, and they explain why.

Emphasize it through videos.

• Sit down and record a short video about your values and what you offer, kind of like this.

Showcase your work.

• People are visual. If they can see examples of work you’ve already done, they’ll be more likely to take the chance.

3.  Using All Copy and No Visuals

Did you know that posts with visuals produce 180% more engagement than posts without?

Great copy is crucial for any business, but most people won’t spend much time reading.

Turn some of that copy into script.

• Videos will get your point across lightning-fast without sacrificing the important information.

Use infographics.

• Combine conversion copy with eye-catching graphics to draw their attention to the points you most want to leave with them.

4.  Cluttering Your Call to Action

No website is complete without a clear call to action.

(Looking at you, “get started.”)

Some companies are clever but might find that users hover over the button for too long.

Let’s not contribute to the decision fatigue problem.

How To Avoid It:

Emphasize clear over clever.

• It’s tempting to set yourself apart with your call to action, but that can backfire. Ask yourself if it clearly tells customers what to do before adding it to your site.
  

Put it in more than one place on the screen.

• Apparently, Western readers scan the page in a "Z" pattern. Place it clearly above the fold, in the middle, at the bottom, and in the footer.
  

5.  Forgetting Follow-up

Have you ever used a service (like, actually given them your money one or more times) and never heard from them again?

Makes you feel a little underappreciated, right? 

Don’t be that guy.

How To Avoid It:

Offer transitional services

• Transitional services increase your visibility and help you find out more about your customers. As you find out more, you can give them what they need.
  

Leverage email marketing

• Transitional offers and email marketing work together. Once you’ve collected subscribers, take that opportunity to nurture them through emails. Give more than you take, and then ask them to contribute somehow.
  

6.  Neglecting Customer Data

So many companies have piles of data sitting around but aren’t using them. 

They have something valuable. Neglecting it could break the relationship.

How To Avoid It:

Use services like Iterable.

• From Iterable: Iterable is a cross-channel marketing platform that powers unified customer experiences and empowers you to create, optimize and measure every interaction across the entire customer journey.

Long story short, you can use Iterable to collect customer data and divide them into segments based on their interests. Everybody wins.

7.  Staying Away From Social Media

Almost everything is virtual these days.

By July 2020, people were spending an average of 2 hours and 24 minutes a day on 8 social media platforms.

Going off grid sounds like a mistake at this point, right?

How To Avoid It:

Pick at least one social media platform to focus on.

• Choose a platform where most of your user base hangs out. Then, focus on showcasing your business so they’ll respond.
  

8.  Lagging Behind on the Trends

Sometimes digital marketing feels more like marathon training. You have to get in shape and know what you’re doing.

Being behind the curve on trends won’t even get you to the finish line.

How To Avoid It:

Research the market

• Read blogs, listen to podcasts, read books. Anything that will keep you up to date and inspired.

Engage with other people in the industry

• Connect with your team and find out what they know.

Use social media

• Another great way to use social media! Follow hashtags, other marketers and influencers, and join brainstorming groups.

Everyone makes mistakes. The best way to deal with them is to stop and pinpoint what’s not working before you move forward. 

Start by checking for these mistakes to make sure you’re giving the best value.