Common Marketing Mistakes Businesses Make
Whether you’re new to the business game or simply want to improve your business strategies, then you can surely benefit from marketing advice, especially when you’re dealing with an online audience. What I’m about to list was unheard of in the past decades but times have changed, and you can bet the business atmosphere has also undergone a drastic metamorphosis. Online presence is now an important marketing strategy if you want to compete in the contemporary business atmosphere. Is it as simple and straight-forward as a having or website or a Facebook page? Of course it isn’t since you’re not the only one searching for marketing advice. Here’s how to stay ahead of your competition and what you should be mindful of to make sure your business succeeds:
You Have No Website or Your Website is Just Bad
There’s an entire field of specialization in web designing specifically targeted for making quality business websites. If you want to try coding yourself, then there are lots of reputable open source site builders you can use such as WordPress. Even if you think you don’t have the necessary skills in website building, WordPress has simple customizable features that anyone can easily learn how to use. However, a good business website should be inviting, memorable, have complete information and pricing of one’s products and services. If you were in your customer’s shoes, then naturally that’s what you would be looking for in a good business website. Adding your contact info and physical address is also mandatory. When it comes designing your website, having a convoluted, unclear, and complex web design is just one of the many errors businesses make that’ll eventually drive loyal and even potential customers away. It would be more beneficial for you to hire a professional to create the ideal website that your customers can easily navigate and properly conveys your message.
Undeveloped Social Media Presence
Even if you already have an established website, you cannot ignore the power and influence of social media in the world of marketing. Hundreds of millions of worldwide users have social media accounts such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram so it’s considered best practice that you make your presence known online. Likewise, having a social media page also means you can’t ignore the bonus of having a good website. A social media page shouldn’t act as a replacement for your website nor can your website act as a substitute for a social media page. That being said, you should also treat your social media page just like your website by uploading complete info of your business. This makes your business more accessible for those who frequently use social media and therefore expanding the overall reach of your business.
Not Knowing Your Competition
Even though you already have social media accounts and a running website, you’re still not off the hook. Chances are, your competition does too. Now here comes the strategy of marketing your business as distinct from all the rest. There are lots of material out there for you to draw inspiration and tips from. Utilizing the full power of social media and the web as one of your essential marketing tools can add thousands to your bottom line. An effective strategy by utilizing social media is to keep track of what your competitors are up too and see what works for them. Similar businesses are always at each other’s throats. Do a little spying on their websites and social media accounts of their services and pricing to see what kind of tactics you can employ to compete with them. Obviously, you never want to copy your competitors exactly but it can be hugely beneficial to understand how they are structuring their social media outreach in order to better craft your attack.
Not Knowing Your Own Business
Through social media and web content, you have the potential to reach out to a wider audience, but should you? It’s better not to over-exploit such benefit even though it might sound tempting. Like all marketing strategies, it’s more effective to fine tune your online marketing strategy to cater to specific audiences. You can also consider this an excellent strategy in analyzing your competition by tailoring the character of your business to better serve a specific audience than your competitors. The beauty of having a website is that targeting specific audiences and fine-tuning your business strategies is much easier now that you can track their browsing habits on your site via analytics. Determining which sectors of customers are your most profitable can help make sure that you are using your time and resources for maximum effect.
Ignoring Crucial Data
Going off the previous section, analyzing browsing habits is a gold mine of data every business should take seriously. Google Analytics is free for anyone to use to track their website traffic. Do your customer’s visit one page and look at one certain product more often than the rest? Do some pages get less traffic than others? Analyzing such browser data can certainly aid you in tweaking your market strategies and keeping track of your customer’s habits. Too often we have businesses come to us for consults that have never analyzed their website traffic and have no idea how their visitors are interpreting their website. The importance of analyzing datasets simply cannot be overstated.
Overall, in today’s digital age it is important to employ a well rounded marketing strategy for online marketing. Understanding your business, customers, and your competitors can give you a distinct advantage over other companies that are still using outdated tactics. The future is here and digital is going nowhere. As consumers continue to become less influenced by old marketing mediums it will lead to businesses either adapting or dying out.
