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The Top Ten Marketing Mistakes You Don't Want to Make

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The Top Ten Marketing Mistakes You Don't Want to Make

1. Resting on your laurels. Just because you have what

you think is a good marketing plan in place today doesn't

mean it'll be right tomorrow. The pace today is so

accelerated, you must stay ahead of the game. Constantly

research what your competition is doing. Surf the Internet

to see what's new out there.

2. Hype. Sooner or later hype will catch up with you. Being

superficial and underestimating the consumer is first of

all poor taste, and second of all, it's bad business. Avoid

the jargon and the pat phrases and give substance.

3. Not having an R&D Team, focus group or feedback source.

Test your ideas on others. There are some absolutely

wonderful ads out there that people remember, but they don't

remember the name of the product/company. For example, there

was a great ad out awhile ago that talked about the Bank of

the Northern Hemisphere. Very clever; everyone remembered it.

The problem was, they didn't remember the name of the bank

you were supposed to use instead.

4. Not trusting your marketing person. If you hire someone

to do your marketing, hire someone you trust and then let

them do their job. With years of marketing experience, I had

many interesting jobs and some interesting job interviews.

One corporation asked me, "Can you stick with a plan once

it's in place?" Red flag. Any marketing campaign must be

constantly monitored and you need to be able to switch on a

dime. An experienced marketing person can titre what's

working and what isn't. It becomes almost a sixth sense. Why

would you throw good money after bad just because changing

it is an inconvenience?

5. Not giving it time to work. It's an adage in marketing

that if you're going to say it, say it at least 3 times.

I've consulted with individuals, particularly, who send out

a brochure, no one bites, they want to abandon it. Generally

it takes 3 "hits." People run through their emails rapidly

and delete things they wish they hadn't. Make their wish

come true! Give them a second, third, fourth chance. The

formula is--when you're sick and tired of it, the public is

just beginning to hear it.

6. Being timid. There really is no such thing as bad

publicity, and things will happen. You have to have been

through this to know. Several years ago I was marketing an

apartment complex and the manager miscommunicated an "early

bird special." The whole unfortunate event made the front

page of the local newspaper with stories about parents not

being able to buy school clothes for their children,

because. 6 months later the apartment complex was

filled to capacity. People remembered the name of the

apartment and nothing else. Carry on!

7. Not being curious. If you have an ezine edition that had

a large number of click-throughs, don't just pat yourself

on the back, ask yourself why. Figure out what was

different about it -- Was it on a special day? Was there

something different--more graphics, no graphics? A catchy

subject line? A new layout? Don't forget, you can always

ask someone who clicked-through!

8. Thinking you have to pay for marketing. Use the free

options liberally. Establish yourself as an expert on a

subject and let the press know you're willing to be

interviewed. When a national news event breaks, make it

local. For instance, I'm a coach, and when 9/11 happened,

I contacted the press to let them know what coaches had

to offer at such a time.

9. Leaving it at home. Prosaic, but we all do it. Your

business cards and brochures do absolutely no good

sitting in the office. Take them with you!