Common Marketing Mistakes & How to Fix Them

Phoebe Skinner

Project Manager
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Reading Time: 5 minutes

Everyone makes mistakes, but all mistakes can be overcome. Successful marketing allows you to connect with the right people for your product or service, gets people excited about your brand, but most importantly it builds up your business. However, there are many common marketing mistakes that you can make, but that’s where we could help you!

Let’s take a look at some of the most common marketing mistakes and how to fix them. 

Common Marketing Mistakes

  • Ignoring your audience type
  • Lack of research
  • Not defining your goals
  • Ignoring SEO
  • Quantity over quality
  • Forgetting about Google Analytics
  • Poor social media
  • Not having a blog
  • Not having the right team
  • Not staying focused and organised

Ignoring Your Audience Type 

The most important mistake that you cannot afford to make is ignoring the type of audience you are targeting. If your product or service is quite professional and formal, then you need to make sure you have a formal attitude towards your audience. 

However, it is important to remember that no one wants to feel like they are reading a textbook or doing business with robots. People will feel more comfortable and connected to you and your brand if your style of writing is effortless to read. 

Lack of Research 

A common mistake that marketers make is trying out strategies without carrying out research beforehand. The research phase before creating a strategy should be extensive and be looked at from every angle. 

Before starting a new marketing strategy, you need to ask yourself the below questions: 

  1. Who are we and what do we stand for?
  2. What are our end goals?
  3. Who are we trying to sell our products/services to?
  4. What are our competitors doing?
  5. Are we B2B or B2C?

Once you know the answers to these questions, you will then be able to research the best methods to put your strategy together. 

Not Defining Your Goals

Once you have carried out your research you then need to define your goals so you know what to focus on when creating your campaign. Knowing what your end goals are is vital in any business, not only marketing, everything needs to have an end goal.

Discuss your goals with your team and make sure you all agree and help each other with deciding what the end result should be. 

A tip that we recommend is, making a note of your goals too. Having all of your research, goals and planning together means you can go back to it at any point to reflect on what you have done. 

Ignoring SEO 

Of course, it is possible for you to run a business without SEO, however, by ignoring SEO you are holding yourself back from even greater sales and success by missing out on potential opportunities. Having an SEO strategy in place allows you to reduce the risk of a drop in sales but also maximises your online footprint. 

Make sure you and your team come up with an SEO strategy for yourself or your clients websites, and always keep an eye out for new updates within the industry and from Google. 

Quantity Over Quality

Something we see a lot within the marketing industry is people thinking about quantity over quality – This is a big no. If you are posting on your blog for example, 3 times a month, that is great but if there is no quality to your blogs then it is not worth it. The same goes for social media, a lot of people will post all over their social media platforms, but they don’t consider the quality and value that it needs to bring for your customers. 

Quality over quantity comes from planning. Make sure you plan your campaigns and consider time and effort, so you know you can stick to publishing quality content, but frequently. 

Don’t Forget About Analytics 

When it comes to digital marketing, there’s no such thing as “do it and forget”. From Google to social media accounts, your campaigns should be constantly maintained to measure productivity and results. 

Don’t get carried away checking the results every day, but you should keep an eye on metric trends and channel performances. Too many businesses make the mistake of setting campaigns up and then never checking them – Do not be this business! 

Poor Social Media

There are many debates when it comes to the advantages and disadvantages of using social media. We personally think that if it is done correctly then social media plays a massive part in your business as it allows you to raise the awareness of your product or service to a greater audience.

It is important to remember that if you are using social media, you are using it the right way. You need to find a balance for how often you are posting, we suggest posting once or twice a day on most platforms is ideal, such as Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn. 

We recommend coming up with a social media plan and then try and stick to that, and if you make changes then make sure it is going to be beneficial for your business. 

Not Having a Blog 

Sometimes, businesses can put blogs on the back burner, but excluding a blog from your site is a common marketing mistake that many businesses can make. Whether you are a small local business or a corporate business, everyone can benefit from blogging. 

Blogs allow you to create interaction with customers and effective customer retention, it also allows you to regularly update your website which is very beneficial for SEO purposes. Use your blog to tell customers about the product or service you offer as well as tips and tricks that will hook readers into coming back. 

Unfortunately, the mistakes above are bound to happen, whether your business is big or small. You can put a lot of time and effort into a campaign, and you might find that your efforts have failed – but this doesn’t mean you can give up, remember you are not alone! 

Having The Right Team 

This might seem like a simple one, but you need to have the right team to carry out your marketing campaigns. Having a dedicated marketing manager within your team will make a massive difference because you will have one person working on your marketing and putting all their focus in. 

If you cannot have a marketing team within your organisation, then you can look at outsourcing. This is where you will pay someone that is external to your business to do the marketing for you. There are many ways you can find people to outsource your work to, you can look on job sites such as Indeed and Total Jobs, but you can also check websites such as People Per Hour and Fiverr for freelancers. 

Not Staying Focused and Organised 

Organisation is key in any business, but it is especially important within marketing. This is because there are so many different strands to marketing, you need to make sure you are carrying out the right one for your business. 

It is good to stay focused on one task before moving onto the next one, this way you know you have definitely finished something. There are many ways you can stay organised, but the easiest way is to plan; plan your calendar, plan your time and plan your tasks. 

How Can SEO Traffic Lab Help You?

Here at SEO Traffic Lab, we get to know not only your business but you as well, taking into consideration your targets, goals and requirements. We specialise in SEO and PPC, but our services don’t end there, we also offer Digital PR, Audits and Paid Social.

We offer a free consultation for businesses looking to grow their business through digital marketing. If you would like to find out more, then please get in touch to see how we can help and book your free consultation. We eliminate the risk of making common marketing mistakes.

You can call us on 01522 437 333 or email us at hello@seotrafficlab.com.

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