The 3 Deadly Marketing Mistakes

When ?mistake? is used in a marketing context, you might think of 20,000 direct mail postcards printed with the wrong phone number, or a well-meaning Twitter hashtag gone wrong. And no wonder, as misfires like those can certainly prove costly. That?s why many marketing pros will take preventive action up front ? like hiring a proofreader or a social media expert- to prevent errors in marketing execution.

An ounce of prevention is usually a smart idea. But the smartest marketers are the ones who also recognize that strategy mistakes, though not as immediately apparent as a string of embarrassing tweets, are often far more detrimental in the long run. Why? Because strategy mistakes result in missed opportunities, money left on the table, and years of energy invested in the wrong directions. Let?s take a look at three of the most common, yet most deadly, marketing strategy mistakes:

Mistake One: ?We need to reach everyone.”
Actually, you don?t. And it?s not because your product isn?t awesome. Even giant brands with mass appeal, like Wal-Mart or Apple, understand that ?everyone? isn?t their customer – and that not all customers spend equally. Wal-Mart and Apple?s billboards and TV spots may seem ubiquitious, but it?s a safe bet that they?re also rolling out plenty of hyper-targeted tactics.

Mistake Two: ?People ?get? us.?
Have you ever gone to a business?s website, studied it for a few minutes, and then thought ?I still don?t understand what they do?? If you?re not employing strategic?inside-to-outside? marketing content strategy, there?s a good chance that your prospects have the same reaction when they visit your site.

Mistake Three: ?We don?t have time to sit down and work on a long-term plan.”
Usually followed with ?Because we?ve got to update our Facebook and plan an event and get a mailer out and manage our Google Ads campaign and?? You get the idea. We?ve named this all-too-common phenomenon ?The One-Off Marketing Monster?. He goes around terrorizing businesses into an endless preoccupation with tactics and deliverables that keep everyone busy, but that are uninformed by any over-arching strategy.

So how do you sidestep these mistakes?
For starters, you need to forever banish the One-Off Monster. Once you step back and establish what it is you?re trying to accomplish with your marketing, it becomes easier to choose or eliminate tactics, messaging, and audiences. And once you start thinking in those bigger picture marketing terms, you?ll avoid the deadliest of all marketing strategy mistakes: Having no strategy at all.

Want to know more about bringing an integrated marketing strategy to your business? Let?s talk.