Marketing Mistakes Everyone Makes... But Shouldn't!

Marketing is an inexact science, so mistakes are common. Sometimes we call those mistakes "tests" in order to convince our bosses that we meant to do that all along. Now normal, everyday mistakes in marketing are like potholes along the NJ Turnpike: they'll rattle you a little, but they don't really stop your journey. But big marketing mistakes will stop your marketing effectiveness dead in its tracks.

To understand what a marketing mistake is, you first have to create aworking definition of marketing. Marketing is an integrated series of activities that a business plans carefully, sets goals for, and engages in consistently in order to increase awareness of its brand so that a targeted group of prospects will buy your business' products or services. Let's look at each key component of marketing, one by one.

Integrated. All of your marketing efforts should work together. All of your marketing should have the same look and feel. All of your marketing should use the same type style and tell the same story. The best way to think of successful integration is this: If every piece of marketing and branding your company is currently using was spread out across a table (including your letterhead and business cards), there should be no doubt in anyone's mind that every piece is promoting the same company. The companies that use too many different approaches don't build brand recognition, and won't build the customer confidence they need to get the clients they want.

Series. Marketing is the public face of your business. And your public face is seen, over and over, with each marketing effort you make. Having a brocure or a web site or a display ad is just the beginning. Everything must work together in a series. Your marketing is brochures; direct mail, sales calls, sales support, press releases and websites. Your marketing is a logo, case studies, testimonials, branding, surveys, give-aways, trade show booths and sales pitches. And it's all got to look alike and work together. Having just ONE of these things is not enough. Your marketing is a series of words and pictures that will get your point across to your target marketing.

Planned. That series of marketing messages and images shouldn't be simply thrown at your target with no plan behind it. You need to plan each activity for the year, then revisit your plan each month to see what is working and what is not. When you wait until the last minute to decide what image you will presenting, you usually tell your story badly or,even worse, not at all.

Consistency. A uniform look and feel is what most people think of when they talk about consistency in marketing. Consistency is more than that, though. Consistency is being in the same place, every time so that your target market will come to trust that you will be there again. Consistency means using the same language to describe your company or your product every time you talk about it. It means advertising in the same publications in the same way, as much as possible. Consistency is also about carrying through on your promises. If you're not sure that you can put together a newsletter every month,don't launch a monthly newsletter. People will notice. It's better to do nothing than to break promises. If you advertise, do it in every issue of the publication or it's not a true test. If you stop a promotion, don't start it back up; create something new or you'll be perceived as inconsistent. Trust equals sales, and consistency breeds trust.

Awareness. It takes up to eight impressions to MAKE an impression in a targeted market. That means prospective customers must see or hear something about your company, your product, or your service on the about nine times before they will remember that they EVER heard of you in the first place! Awareness is a key indicator of a marketing plan's success. If you did a survey today, how many in your market would know what you do or even if you exist? Getting into that zone takes consistency and branding. Which brings us to...

Brand. Your brand is how the market perceives you. Either you will define the combination of ideas and images that will become your brand, or your competition will define you instead. Branding is a combination of look, feel, positioning, and your product or service that will create an understanding and trust with prospective customers. Branding, in short, is reinforcing your message through everything you do in the marketplace.Branding is all about being what you want your prospects to believe you are.

BUYING. The biggest mistake any marketer can make is to forget that the whole point of marketing is to sell the product. Customers buy what they believe in. The biggest mistake in your road to marketing success is not using these steps to get them to believe in you.