As marketers, we are challenged to work in many mediums, use myriad tools, thoughtfully record and utilize data, and meet aggressive goals. And we must do all of this in a carefully orchestrated manner with great attention to detail to be successful: so it’s easy to make mistakes! Today we will outline some common marketing mistakes – and how to gracefully fix them.
Mistake: You don’t follow up right away
If your marketing focus is lead generation, you put a great deal of work into bringing in quality leads.
Fix: Work with the sales team to follow up within 48 hours
Research has shown a drastic decrease in lead-to-close rate when leads are called/emailed more than 48 hours late – and it’s diminishing returns after that. Call when leads are fresh and if possible, implement a lead nurturing program (like an email drip campaign) so you don’t lose leads that aren’t ready to commit.
Mistake: Starving the budget
In order to get the word out about your company, you must allocate money to marketing.
Fix: Test what works!
Choose only marketing channels that are measurable, like paid search, and pay close attention to the data. To stretch your budget, try cross-promotions with another like-minded company; build out a referral program, and ask customers/fans to generate content.
Mistake: Wearing competition blinders
You can learn a lot from your competition- about how to differentiate, which keywords to target, and new markets to go after.
Fix: Use these tools to gain insight into the movements of your competitors.
Try keyword research tools like Spyfu, Keyword Spy, or Raven to see which keywords your competitors are targeting in PPC and SEO. Then build out your own keyword lists. To keep an eye on your competition’s social movements, build a “competitor” list in Hootsuite or Tweetdeck.
Mistake: Counting on one touchpoint
Consider the “rule of five”: the idea that a customer must come into contact with your brand five times before he or she will convert.
Fix: Use “assists” to keep your product or service in the mind of the user.
Market across multiple channels. Try using display advertising, Facebook ads, and retargeting as “assists” to keep your brand appearing again and again.
Mistake: Selling only to your new customers
Upsells and loyalty programs are the “low-hanging fruit” of marketing.
Fix: Your customers are already your fans: it’s easier to keep them engaged.
Use the thank-you page to offer a coupon for next time and to get social media follows. Or use a gamification tool like Big Door, which increases loyalty and engagement using game theory and incentive techniques on your website.
Mistake: Doing it all yourself
Many of us are marketers on small teams – but your can’t do everything yourself and be effective.
Fix: Use crowdsourcing tools to affordably hand off some of the work.
Using a crowdsourcing tool or platform, you can hand off content generation, SEO, paid search and Facebook ads, translation, message testing, graphic design/video and microtasks- and get incredible reach with limited resources (time and budget).
Let Trada help with your marketing mistakes! Learn how Trada can be an affordable and successful option for you!
