Brighter Marketing

Here is a  quick article on the top ten marketing mistakes you can make and how to avoid them.

1. Focusing on WE not YOU
I have lost count of how many websites, brochures and marketing material I have read which focuses on the company not the customer. The use of the word WE is everywhere,

* We have been established since…
* We provide our clients with…
* We have a great range of products…
* We are so focused on talking about ourselves that we have forgotten to think about our customers…

If you want your marketing to work you must put yourself in your customer’s shoes talk to them not at them and use the word YOU. Make them feel part of the conversation, get them nodding their heads as they read your copy and identify with your solutions to their issues and problems. For example;

* Customers just like you have benefited from…
* Are you experiencing problems with…
* What if you could find a solution to…
* It’s your opinion that is important…

If you want to do a check of your website and see how YOU focused it is take a look at this copy checker from Future Now

http://www.futurenowinc.com/wewe.htm

2. Not really knowing what you are selling?
You really need to understand what you are selling, and by this I mean, are you promoting the benefits of your products and services rather than just the actual products themselves? Ask yourself why people buy your products and services, is it to save them time, increase their profits, reduce waste, enhance their image,  gain peace of mind, improve their knowledge. Just take 5 minutes and think about the real reason people buy from you, what does working with your or buying your products or services actually give them, what are the benefits. Then once you have a list, make sure that you use this on your website, brochures, in fact any marketing material.

3. Not knowing who you are selling to?
You must know who you are selling to, right down to the individual person; otherwise your marketing efforts will be wasted and won’t be focused on the people who are actually interested in your products and services. Just write down a profile of your best customer, then a profile of your worst customer, then once you have done this write down the profile of your ideal customer. This ideal customer should be who you are focusing your marketing efforts on and who you should have in your mind when you are writing marketing messages. Make sure that all your marketing efforts are focused on your ideal customer and no one else.

4. Not telling people what you do
In many cases we don’t pay enough attention to telling our ideal customers what we actually do. This might sound simple but we get so wrapped up in our own businesses that we forget to stand back and look at how we are describing our companies and what we do. I have read some websites and marketing brochures and after 10 minutes I am still no clearer on what the company actually does. So take some time out and make sure that you make it really easy for people to understand what you do. If you want to you can break it down into three individual sentences

* Who are you?
* What do you do?
* How do you do it?

Make it simple and don’t over complicate things, potential customers need to understand what you do quickly and easily.

5. Not having a vision and a marketing plan
Even the smallest businesses should have a vision of where they are heading and a marketing plan that is going to help them get there. If you don’t know where you are heading then your marketing won’t be focused on helping you achieve your goals. You need to know what marketing you are going to be doing for the next six months at least. It doesn’t have to be a large document that takes weeks to create then sits on a shelf, it can be as simple as outlining the following for each marketing activity.

* What marketing activity are we going to undertake?
* Why are we doing it, how will it help us achieve our goals?
* How much will it cost?
* Who will be responsible for implementing it?
* What help do we need, e.g. design agency?

You can then put this in a spread sheet with dates for the next six months and hey presto you have a marketing plan. It is simple but if you are a small business then sometimes there just isn’t the time or need to develop a large marketing plan. You need to get on and just do it.

6. Not using case studies
One of the powerful marketing tools you have at your disposal are your customers. I am amazed by how many businesses don’t use case studies or testimonials to promote your business. If you think about it, your customers are your biggest fans and if you have done a great job for them, are usually more than happy for you to write about the work you have done for them. Write down a list of your top five customers and make sure that you call them up and ask them if you can write a case study about them. It doesn’t have to be war and peace, just a few paragraphs you can use on the website or turn into a small printed case study. You could even use these headings

* About the company
* What was the issue or problem?
* How did your products or services provide a solution?
* Quote from the customer

Take a look at our post on marketing case studies for more information on this subject.

7. Not marketing to existing customers
Most marketing is centred around getting new customers, but you mustn’t forget those customers who have been with you through good times and bad and remained loyal. Just because they are already working with you doesn’t mean that they will always stay with you. In a survey one of the main reasons that customers moved to a new supplier was “indifference”. They just didn’t feel that that their supplier was interested in them anymore and moved someone else. Therefore it is very important that you keep in contact with your existing clients, whether this is through an email bulletin, newsletter or special offers or just a phone call now and again to say hi.

8. Not using the internet to its full potential
You may have a website but are you using the Internet to its full potential? It can sound quite complex but when you break it down you need to consider the following

* Is your website optimised so that at the very minimum if someone searches for you by your company name and or the products or services you offer you appear in the first or second page of Google, Yahoo, or MSN?

* Are you using Social Media, in even a small way? Do you have a profile on LinkedIn or Facebook and are you using online networking tools such as Ecademy to connect with others and promote your business. If you are feeling even more adventurous you might even consider using Twitter, to meet and chat with other like minded people.

* Have you created links to other websites and vice versa. Google likes to see that you are connected to other well respected websites in your field and that they are linking back to you. It gives your website credibility.

* Are you using video to promote your business, not only is it a great way of connecting with potential clients. Take a look at www.moneypenny.biz, they have a great little intro video on their website which only lasts a few minutes but gets a very powerful message across. More importantly if you post your video on You Tube and other video channels it will be indexed fairly quickly by Google. We posted a video about our new Marketing Workout service on You Tube and it was indexed on Google within two hours. So if you’re not using video you are missing out.

* Do you have a blog. If you don’t then you should consider getting one, they are fairly simple to set up and can really help in getting your name known and allow you to post articles and thoughts that you might not want to put on your main website. However, you need to make sure that you update it regularly and that you have time to maintain it otherwise it will look old and out of date very quickly. The one good thing about blogs, is that if you update them regularly then they will get indexed by Google on a regular basis and will help with your search engine optimisation.

9. Not measuring effectiveness
One area of marketing that many people forget about is measuring how effective their marketing activities are. You must keep a regular check on what marketing is working and what isn’t. If it isn’t working for you try to find out why and either make some changes to make it more effective, or stop doing it and look at other marketing methods. It’s amazing how many businesses just carry on doing the same marketing activities without taking the time to actually figure out if they are working or not.

10. Not making it easy for potential customers to get in touch
If you have taken the time to write a great marketing campaign or website page, you must make sure that you make it easy for a potential client to get in touch. Tell them what you want them to do and give them clear options on how they can contact you.

For example…

To book your Free Marketing Audit simply do one of the following TODAY!

* Call us on 0871 987 4666
* Email us with your details at audit@brightemarketing.com
* Complete our web www.brightermarketing.com/audit

Make sure that you take note and ensure you take time to think about how you market your products and services; with these simple tips you could improve the quality and responsiveness of your marketing quickly and easily.