Marketing Mistakes That Companies Make

When marketing efforts are not successful, many companies wonder why? They sent out direct mail, or refreshed their website, initiated Google Adwords, or attended a trade show, but are left disappointed and frustrated with languishing sales and under used resources.

What went wrong?

Well, the main reason is marketing is more than a group of tactics. It is not one single activity. It is awell-choreographed effort that takes planning, consistency, and fortitude to accomplish. Here are some of the key mistakes that companies make with their marketing.

Marketing without a strategic plan:

A knee jurk reation to marketing is not only in-effective but a waste of marketing resources. For marketing succeed you need some fundamentals in place:

• a defined target market segment  - where your product/service has the most relevance and the best competitive advantage. It is costly to try and market to too many customer segments. Most companies underestimate the time and cost involved with doing one integrated campaign to one segment.

• a consistent brand - is also important to convey a meaningful message and image presence. You need positioning language that clearly defines who you are and what you offer, strongly differentiates you from competition, and can be delivered consistently by every employee. The positioning statement must
  include who you are, what you offer, for whom, for what result, and why someone should choose you over anyone else.Launch it internally, and define its use and how employees will support it. Then do a
  full audit of your materials and fix any inconsistencies.

• No consistent approach between sales and marketing teams - Often marketing teams spend a considerable amount of time, effort, and perhaps most importantly money to create a collateral kit and sales presentation for a new program or product offering. The sales team rejects the materials because they don't address the most compelling selling points and produces their own one-off presentations and brochures that send mixed messages to prospects and customers. Not having a clear integration between sales
  and marketing can only result in failed  marketing programs, costing you lost revenue opportunities and wasted
  expense.

• Claiming to market something you don't deliver - This happens every day. I will ask so where can I see that product or service and often it is something they are working on rather than a reality. If you can't deliver what you claim, build capability first and market second.

• Only using one tactic - Rarely does our customer use one source to find us. It is generally a series of touch points. Putting your eggs in only one basket may generate some leads for your company, but this strategy will ultimately limit your ability to maximize sales opportunities within a target market and
  optimize your marketing spend. Your customers need to see and learn about your company through a few different vehicles before they will be finally prompted to respond to your offer.

So how do you recover when your marketing makes these mistakes? Simple, contact us.