5 Common Marketing Mistakes

1. Not Having a Marketing Plan: Believe it or not, many business owners both new and successful go into business without a documented plan, which is the first and most dangerous of the 5 marketing mistakes. Many times. a plan is not created because you don’t know where to start. Our suggestion is to start with describing your target market. Who are they, what do they look like, where do they live, what are their hobbies, where do they hang out? If you understand them, you can attract them
2. Confusing Marketing & Advertising: Advertising is a part of your marketing plan, but it is not a plan and it does not equal “marketing.” Putting an add in a newspaper, or using google adwords, or sending mailers are tactics that leverage types of media. This alone can compound other marketing mistakes.
  
  Marketing Plan AMP Payment Systems
3. Thinking you can’t track marketing: You may have heard that you know when marketing works, but you can’t know which media or tactic is working. That’s simply not true today; with individual landing pages, coupon codes or response phone numbers you can and MUST track your response. How else will you know what to continue and what to cancel?
4. Using too many media and tactics: The more the merrier right? How can you go wrong by “getting your name out there” in as many places as possible? It is true that you need to be leveraging several media outlets and tactics in your marketing plan, but too many are impossible to track and manage effectively. Your goal should be to have 5 paid avenues in your marketing. However, do not be afraid to test new ones and end those that underperform.
5. Focusing solely on new customers: New customers are the lifeblood of a business, but who is the core of your business? How about those that have already bought from you? Unless you are in a one-time purchase business those that have trusted you enough to do business are your best bet for future business. And, it is usually less expensive to bring a customer back than to acquire a new customer. Go through your list and reach out to the customers you haven’t heard from in a while. Offer them something special as a return customer and fix the common marketing mistakes.