Everyone makes mistakes, especially when trying out new marketing strategies. However, when your small business is putting its reputation (and money) on the line to experiment with new digital marketing strategies, making certain mistakes can be (literally) costly.
With that in mind, let’s look at 5 of the most common local marketing fails and how to avoid them.
A user experience that is focused on you rather than them
A website’s visual impact is important, but it also needs to support an engaging and efficient customer journey.
Your audience visits your site to solve their problems and alleviate their pain points, not to learn about your products. Your products could be the solution to their problems but they鈥檙e not picking up what you’re putting down.
So, if you have a lot of visitors to your site but they aren’t converting the way you want them to, it’s time to take a step back and evaluate your user experience.
Consider a Home Page refresh, new Landing Pages, or an update to your payment options or check-out process, as examples.
According to recent Bain research, companies that excel at Customer Experience grow revenues at a rate that is 4%-8% higher than the market average.
Reluctant to Experiment with New Marketing Channels
Marketing is constantly evolving, and the only way to effectively promote your business on a consistent basis is to keep up with the changes and be open to trying new marketing activities.
However, many small business owners make the mistake of focusing solely on one, relatively simple marketing technique. For example, they may build a following on Instagram and believe they can avoid using other marketing methods.
So, what happens if your target audience unfollows you on IG? It may appear unlikely that such a thing could occur, but it is possible. Trends pass us by. Websites that were popular yesterday are no longer available. You must plan ahead of time and do everything possible to spread the word in multiple ways. That doesn’t mean you should spend all of your time marketing, but it does mean you should diversify.
You haven’t claimed your social media pages yet.
You don’t have to be active on every social media site out there. What you should do is spend a few minutes claiming your business name on all relevant sites and posting some basic information about your business. If a potential customer searches for you on Instagram, you want them to find accurate information, such as your address, phone number, email address, and business hours.
If you don’t claim your business, your leads may end up on a page run by a stranger, someone who isn’t looking out for your best interests. So a few minutes now can save you a lot of trouble later.
While we are talking about social media, why not follow me on Twitter – I am @WPSiteHelp.
You are not managing your reviews.
Local businesses rely heavily on online reviews. People who frequent your business can easily leave reviews on sites like Yelp, Angi, and Google. According to research, more than 80% of all consumers rely on online reviews before making a purchase, but many local business owners don’t do everything they can to ensure that their reviews are beneficial.
The first step is to claim your business listing on all local review sites. Customers can leave reviews even if a business hasn’t created a listing, so you might be surprised at how many reviews you have if you haven’t checked. Check your existing profile to ensure that all relevant information, such as your contact information, hours, and prices, is correct.
The second step is to devise a system for responding to reviews. It’s a good idea to keep an eye on your accounts. Positive reviews can be responded to with a simple thank you, but negative reviews require a bit more finesse. Responses that remain positive are the most successful. If possible, try to take the conversation offline and do whatever you need to do to resolve the situation.
You are not being consistent with your brand.
Everything you do online has an impact on your brand. If you have more than one person posting on your behalf, whether on your blog, website, or social media, you must have a well-defined strategy in place to ensure that everything associated with your company reflects your brand. That is, your colors and fonts should be consistent with your logo. However, it also implies that the tone of what you post must be consistent with the personality of your brand.
Creating a customer profile can assist you in identifying your core customers and tailoring your brand to them. Consider the tone of some major corporations, such as Red Bull and Rolls Royce. Red Bull employs brash, hip language that reflects their brand and audience, whereas Rolls Royce employs elevated language that addresses their core customers.
The good news is that these five errors are simple to correct. If you notice any of these flaws in your own marketing efforts, take the time to correct them and get back on track. Your company will be grateful in more ways than one!
What would you add to this list? Leave a comment below and share it with us!
Thanks, Paul for these pointers even though I’m the target (consumer). I do get pissed off if I’m lured to a site promising information only to find that they’re trying to sell me a product. It’s always good to try out new ways to do things and not limit ourselves. I do tend to stick with the old though. And I can see how staying consistent with a brand can be helpful, no matter in business or not. Who knows though I have no skill or interest in business, I could get inspired and change!
Sure thing, Lily!
I definitely understand where you’re coming from, and I can see how it would be frustrating to be lured in with promises of information only to find that the site is trying to sell you a product. It’s definitely important to try out new ways to do things, but it’s also important to stick with what works. I can see how consistency with a brand can be helpful, no matter what business you’re in.
Marketing as a single person takes so much time and effort! I hope you’ll address that this month. Cheers, Paul!
Thanks for the input, Diane! You’re right – marketing as a single person can be a lot of work. I hope to address that in this month’s training or maybe just as a blog post – great idea!. Thanks for reading!
What a great blog topic to learn about marketing fails. I double checked to make sure I’m following you on Twitter, I am!
Thank you for following me on Twitter, Martha! As for marketing fails, there are definitely a few that come to mind. Do you have any favorite marketing fails that you’ve seen?
Your advice is vital and easy to understand for the solopreneurs out here who are determined to find our way. I appreciate your message and know-how.
Thanks for the kind words, Julie! I’m glad you found the advice useful. If you have any additional questions, please don’t hesitate to ask.
Greetings Paul, I appreciate the list to check my marketing skills. Honestly, I am still new at this and don’t even know how to do some of the things you listed. For example, I am unsure of how to properly link the social media accounts. Also, as for reviews, I am not even sure if I have any or where to check for them. I agree with Diane that this solo marketing is very time consuming, and for me extremely confusing. My strategy is to take a course at a time while I figure out each step along the way. Joining the UBC a little over a year ago has helped tremendously! Much gratitude for your services. Sending lots of love and virtual hugs. Jaime
Hi Jaime,
Thanks for your comment! It’s great to hear you’re taking some courses and joining a community like the UBC – both of those are great steps to learning more about marketing. As for linking social media accounts, usually, the best way to do that is to put the links on your website or blog and then use social media icons to link back to your accounts. For reviews, you can ask your clients or customers if they would be willing to write a review on sites like Google Business Profiles or Yelp. Hope that helps – keep up the good work! 馃檪
This is so helpful! I hadn’t even considered that there could be reviews out there yet, I’m blocking some time to claim my business everywhere and see what is possibly out there. If I find nothing, I’m ready when they do start coming in!
Thanks for your comment, Kimberly! Yes, it’s important to start planning and claiming your business listings now before others do. I hope that this information is helpful and that you’ll be able to get your business started off on the right foot!