Marketing is a critical pillar in the success of a business, but sometimes it seems like it’s hard to keep up with all the new tactics. Luckily, you don’t have to keep up with everything, you just need to be invested in simple processes that work. The overarching strategies in marketing don’t change, and if you focus on the fundamentals like relationships, you can never go wrong.
Unfortunately, there are many mistakes people make in their marketing, neglecting important areas, and paying attention to things that don’t really help the business at all.
How do you avoid these mistakes, and focus on the right marketing systems? Here are some things you need to change in your business if you want to have good outcomes.
Not Investing in Client Relationships
Most businesses have a well thought out strategy for acquiring new clients, but they have nothing in place for staying in touch with their past clients.
Your greatest source of more business is the people who already know, like, and trust you – the people you’ve done good work for already. But if you have no plan to keep track of those people and stay in touch with them, that is thousands of dollars slipping right through your fingers.
Invest in client relationship management to capture and keep client information. It doesn’t have to be anything fancy, even an Excel spreadsheet can work.
Create a schedule for getting in touch with them regularly. Birthdays and anniversaries are must, but you can also call them on a random date just to find out how they are doing.
Go above and beyond for your clients, introduce them to people who would be valuable partners in their businesses, create exciting appreciation events for them, or invest in really great customized gifts that reflect their personality and interests. For ideas on great custom promotional gifts that people will actually like, check out Myron.com.
Not Going All-In On Video
The demand for video marketing content has grown by a factor of hundreds in the last couple of years, and video is no longer a nice-to-have, but a must-have part of your business strategy.
The most successful business owners are embracing video, instead of avoiding it. To win the marketing game today, you must lead with giving your audience and customers value. What better way to give value than getting in front of the camera and talking to people directly?
Whether you use Instagram or Facebook Live, or post videos on YouTube, get over your fear of being on camera, and just put yourself out there authentically. Do a bit of research about the burning issues your target market has and make helpful videos giving solutions.
You instantly position yourself as an expert in your field and when a need arises for your service, you’ll be the first choice.
Neglecting Your Email List
One of the biggest mistakes business owners make is not investing in the growth of their own email list and putting all of their time and effort into social media platforms.
Here’s the problem:
Social media algorithms can change literally overnight, and a strategy that was getting lots of traffic and engagement can become obsolete.
The biggest asset a business owner can have right now is an email list. Even if social media algorithms change, you’ll still have a direct path of communication to your clients that has nothing to do with Facebook, Instagram or any other platform.
Make sure you’re putting effort into growing your email list, through opt-ins and other initiatives that make people want to receive emails from you. Also work on producing really good weekly emails people would actually want to open.
This doesn’t mean you should dump social media entirely, it just means creating more stability through diversified marketing streams.
Shiny Object Syndrome
It seems every single day there’s a new social media platform everyone is talking about. One day it was TikTok, now it’s Clubhouse, and you can best believe there’ll be another one soon.
Entrepreneurs are constantly lured to start using these platforms in their marketing, but is that the best idea?
By trying every new social media platform or app, you’re actually becoming more and more distracted and diluting your effectiveness. If Facebook works for you, don’t shift to another platform just because the internet says you should.
Shiny object syndrome is one of the biggest reasons business owners end up with their hands in a lot of pies without any real results. So resist the urge to go all-in on a new platform, and focus on content that will always be relevant. There’s nothing wrong with having a bit of fun on TikTok, but don’t turn it into your source of business.
