Hundreds
of thousands of businesses get started each year, but sadly only
a small percentage of them make it to see their toddler years.
While many people point to factors such as a lack of capital,
fierce competition, or a poor economy, I would argue that the
root cause of these problems is simply poor marketing.
Customers
are the lifeblood of any successful business.
If
you don't have customers, your business wont' survive. Plain and
simple. Unfortunately, most business owners have little or no
marketing experience and they often find themselves falling prey
to 'flavor of the month' marketing. That means they end up buying
whatever marketing medium shows up at the door or in their inbox.
As a result, money is spent on advertising that has not clearly
defined objectives, can't be tracked, and quite simply sucks money
from the business.
While
it's true that doing something is better than doing nothing, this
is not always the case whe marketing dollars are concerned. There
are 7 marketing mistakes that every small business owner should
avoid if they want their business to make it past the early stages
of growth.
1.
Trying to copy 'Big Business' marketing.
Many
small business owners have the false idea that if the 'big boys'
are doing it, then it must work. They see Coca-Cola running feel
good ads on television. They read a magazine and see ads that
have a full color picture of a product, the company's name, and
a catchy tagline.
What
many fail to realize is that while these ads MIGHT be successful
(and I bet most of them aren't!), most of them were created by
ad agencies that are more concerned about padding their own bottom
line than they are with padding yours.
As
a small business owner, your advertising dollars are precious
and you really can't afford to do marketing that can't be tracked
and held accountable.
2.
Confusing "Branding" with Marketing.
This
is another mistake commonly made by small business that is pushed
along by big business advertising. As defined by Websters.com,
a brand is "a trademark or distinctive name identifying a
product or a manufacturer." Most of the advertising you see
on television or in magazines is about building a name recognition
for a particular product or service. Examples of this can be seen
everyday in commercials, in magazines or newspaper, and even on
the radio. The ads do little to motivate someone to buy. Instead
the attempt to create an awareness about a particular product
or service.
While
that's fine for companies with deep pockets, that's generally
not the case for small business struggling to build their customer
base. Branding can be an important part of a marketing plan, EVENTUALLY.
For a small business struggling to get customers through the door,
any marketing that's done should have a razor sharp focus on getting
people in the door to buy your products. This is simply not possible
through trying to build name recognition.
3.
Asking Your Marketing Materials to Do Too Much.
A
common mistake that most marketing materials make is in trying
to leap from step A directly to step G. What I mean by this is
that they try to convert prospects into paying customers with
a simply ad in the yellow pages or newspaper. Now while this may
work occasionally when seen by someone just itching to buy what
you're offering, in most cases you're ad might be seen but not
acted upon.
When
constructing a powerful small business marketing plan that gets
results, it's important to guide your prospective customer along
using baby steps. There should be multiple steps in the process,
each with a very specific 'baby step' goal. There may be an unlimited
number of steps in a sequence of marketing materials, but each
step in the sequence should have the goal of leading the prospect
to the very next step in the process until they finally reach
the last step of becoming a customer.
4.
Not Asking Your Marketing Materials to Do Enough.
Now
this may seem contradictory to what was just stated in Number
3, but it's not. While it's vital to not expect your marketing
materials to do too much, it's equally important to expect your
marketing materials to do something. And that something is to
ACT.
You
want to design a marketing process that coaxes your prospect through
multiple baby steps and each step in that process should tell
them the exact steps you want them to take. It could be anything
from calling a toll-free number for a free report, sending a reply
in the mail, or even coming into your storefront.
Depending
on where you're at in the baby step process, the call to action
will be different. The one thing that does not change however
is that it MUST contain a specific call to action and you must
tell your prospect how exactly they can take the next step you
want them to take. Don't assume your prospect knows what to do
next. You need to tell them.
5.
Not Being Specific Enough with Your Marketing; No Niche.
This
mistake is often times a difficult one to grasp for many marketers,
big or small. As the old saying goes, if you try to be all things
to all people, you'll end up not being anything to anyone. To
create truly successful marketing materials, it's important to
pick a segment of your marketplace and then focus on it.
By
narrowing your focus, believe it or not, you'll position yourself
to do significantly more business. That's because your marketing
will be laser targeted and you'll be able to attract a much higher
quality customer. Plus, you'll find that you can quickly become
the sought after name when it comes to your particular niche.
Find your niche and it will make you rich.
6.
Not Differentiating Yourself Enough From Your Competition.
This
one is what I call 'Yellow Pages Syndrome'. Open up your local
yellow pages and turn to any section. Upon examining a handful
of ads, you'll quickly notice that the same message is repeated
over and over and over again. They may use different words, but
they're essentially saying the same thing. Don't be guilty of
this sin!
By
differentiating yourself, I mean find something about your product
or service that sets you apart from your competition and then
make that the focus of your marketing message. That doesn't mean
that you need to go out and invent some new facet of your business.
It simply means you need to find one or two things that really
matter to your target market that you do better than anyone else
and then you focus your marketing message on those things.
At
every opportunity you have, tell your prospects how you're different
from the competition, why you have what they're looking for, and
why they should do business with you instead of your competition.
7.
Not Educating Yourself About How to Effectively Market Your Business.
While
the previous 6 mistakes are understandable and can be forgiven,
this is one that is inexcusable. As mentioned previously, customers
are the lifeline of any business and the only way to make people
your customers is through marketing. Throwing some marketing materials
out into the marketplace, watching them fail or produce marginal
results and the saying 'oh well' is a guaranteed recipe for disaster.
As
an entrepreneur, you have two primary responsibilities. The first
being the production of the primary product or service you provide.
The second being the marketing of that product or service. I doubt
seriously that you would settle for producing a shoddy product
or providing marginal service. Why would you settle for anything
less than the best with your marketing efforts?
Marketing
is one aspect of a business that should never, ever be outsourced
or delegated. You should constantly be reading up on marketing,
especially direct marketing, as this will provide the biggest
bang for your marketing dollar. There are countless resources
available online, through books or magazines, or in your library
that can help educate you on how to market your business more
effectively. You should constantly be studying and updating your
marketing know-how.
Marginal
marketing can be the death of any small business.
Creating
a successful business takes lots of blood, sweat, and tears. It's
hard work that can be made infinitely more difficult when using
marketing that can't be tracked or held accountable. Simply throwing
dollars at marginal marketing techniques and materials is a guaranteed
ticket to the premature death of any small business.
Don't
be a victim of these 7 mistakes. If you can avoid these mistakes,
you'll be well on your way to building a solid business that has
more than enough customers to keep that lifeline flowing.
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Chestin Salisbury is President of LawncareMarketingMagic,
a direct response marketing consultancy located in Charlotte,
NC that focuses on the lawncare and landscaping industry. He has
been helping small businesses grow for 5+ years by creating marketing
systems that use time-tested direct response marketing principles.
LawncareMarketingMagic has access to 100+ years of experience
and is capable of creating a marketing plan that grows YOUR business.
Chestin is also the chief-editor of 'The LawncareMarketingMagic
Minute', a weekly e-newsletter that focuses on helping your grow
your business. You can obtain a free lifetime subscription by
sending a blank email to: easytips@lawncaremarketingmagic.com
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