Marketing Mistakes to Avoid

Mistakes. We all make them. Marketing mistakes? The actions of great brands only support that all have their bad days. Many remember an awful Pepsi Ad about a model with a Pepsi can stopping a protest and bringing peace. Others can think of funny marketing fails, like the one when McDonald's placed their boards next to social commercials against obesity.

When the media influences communication so much, large businesses can feel the impact even of tiny mistakes. If they are lucky enough, their marketing failure can become memes on the Internet. If not, they may lead to reputation or revenue losses. 

Notably, it refers as well to operation mistakes and errors within the strategies. These may not be as evident but can negatively affect the budget in the end.

In this post, you will learn about common marketing mistakes marketers still make.

Where Marketing Fails Come From

Mistakes may happen due to different reasons. Usually, they arise out of a lack of experience or knowledge about events or the environment. However, the reason may be the reaction of the public as well. Thus, it is better to divide them into internal and external factors leading to failures.

The errors sometimes are about wrong plans and goals. Thus, there are strategic mistakes in marketing to avoid. They refer to setting abstract objectives, ignoring tools, and trying experiments or new trends. 

The marketers should as well understand that the business and public environment constantly changes. It means that customer's needs and principles can change, while companies should find ways to answer them and adapt. Marketing becomes digital, while technology plays an even more significant role. 

Each of the factors can be crucial and affect the success of your campaign or the whole business. What are the mistakes you should be avoiding? Let's take a closer look. 

Ignoring a concept of a blog

It's all about content marketing, and, lately, it has developed significantly. In particular, it is the simplest answer to why having no blog is a bad idea. In digital marketing, the content provides specific benefits to your marketing strategies. 

First, blogs contribute to the image. There, you can talk with your audience and show why your products are good and why customers can trust you. Besides, if your articles answer the customers' needs, the writing piece can generate leads. In this regard, make sure you use some keywords for a higher position in Google.  

Having abstract goals

If the plan has a vague or unclear objective, it is one of the marketing strategies to avoid. It is a common marketing failure for beginners or junior marketers. One may have an inspiring goal. However, if it is abstract, the result would be the same.

Successful marketing campaigns reflect the SMART goals. Subject to Digital Marketing Institute, these goals need to be specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timely. Whether you aspire to generate awareness, increase conversion or improve retention, be sure to have clear goals.

Not measuring ROI

Well, many marketers in new businesses are inspired by the idea and the outcome they can get. And it makes them forget about return on investments(ROI). However, this point contemplates that one should know when to stop and pick efficiency. ROI lets you understand whether your actions are suitable. Make sure you gain more than you spend. If something is missing, it may be a hint to change something in strategy.

Using almost no marketing tools

Well, technology brings more automation and helps to answer the rapid changes. Besides, it offers more ways to generate leads and work with data. It can even improve your ROI. How? Let's take email marketing as an example. 

Imagine you spend more than you gain. Your department spends too much time getting contacts, while half of the emails sent are not opened. In this regard, there software or tools that can help you find or verify prospects within the corporate contacts database. Check this B2B option, for instance: getprospect.com/b2b-contact-database. Having your email list checked can save you efforts and help to know that the issue may be with the subject line.

See, the failure to use them deprives you of efficiency. There is always a chance to optimize your efforts and budget.

Improper use of social media

Our world became digitized mainly because of social media. Moreover, they are large platforms for advertising. They are a source for a wide variety of insights. You may don't like social media; however, not using its potential is a huge misstep. 

First of all, they as well add to the trust and visibility of your brand. Simultaneously, Instagram and Facebook are great for targeting your audience. All you need is to define a profile of your customer and reflect it. Secondly, look at TikTok; it continues to grow, while around 30% of its users are aged from 20 to 29 years old. In this regard, stop limiting your strategy to Facebook and target customers on TikTok. Notably, you will need to make appealing and entertaining video content.

Failing to do experiments and tests

Imagine you have a great idea that you believe would increase the customer's trust and match you and them based on principles. I think that Pepsi Ad with Kendal Jenner and New Coke product might have been such ideas. It is interesting how marketing mistakes by big companies can give you a great lesson. Coca-cola wanted to make the drink sweeter, introducing a new recipe, while Pepsi wanted to be trendy and progressive. 

What both Pepsi and Coke didn't do is an A/B test. There were no focus groups or surveys to examine what people think of new products or ads. It resulted in funny marketing fails for marketers to observe, while, for the brands reputation disasters for both brands. 

Thus, next time you come with a great idea, let it settle down first. Besides, it is always better to ask the opinion of your customers. Lastly, experiment within small groups and look at responses. It can save you from losses. 

Also, the A/B approach is suitable for testing email marketing campaigns, for instance, their templates or subject lines. The same applies to checking the click rates of ads, as well as the engagement of the audience.

Lack of attention to mobile optimization

Yes, if you want your customer to be satisfied and your business to thrive, you should think of developing your strategy, having in mind the latest mobile practices. Why? Everyone uses it. We surf info, use social media and communicate with the help of mobile technology. Thus, if you want your website to bring benefits, do some mobile optimization. 

You are likely to get a higher position in Google after it. Your email or landing page should look good both on mobile phones and desktop. You can even create an app for a more excellent user experience. And yes, mobile optimization is not about adding value anymore; it becomes a must nowadays.

Bottom Line

Many experts say that the development of digital marketing may have brought new challenges before business owners or CMOs. It is true. However, often losses refer to common marketing failure, not an inadequate response to shifts. It may be an unclear objective, inability to accommodate and implement new tools, or simply a lack of A/B testing. That's why it is essential to keep in mind the basics and find new ways to adapt to the market.