Is your small business struggling to draw customers? It may be time to revamp your company’s marketing plan. Having the right marketing and advertising can help to develop, promote and foster your brand as more potential clients are directed to call your business, visit your website, follow your social media feeds, and drive new revenues.
But before you start spending money on a new sales campaign, make sure to avoid the following common business marketing mistakes.
Mistake #1: You don’t know your ideal customer.
“The first step in any effective marketing campaign is knowing your ideal customer. While many new business owners think of their ideal customer demographically (i.e., age and gender), many do not have a deep understanding of who their customer is psychologically (i.e., interests and desires). Thus, making it challenging to find and target them through marketing.”
Source: Create & Cultivate
Mistake #2: Treating marketing as an expense vs. an investment.
“An expense is something you buy and depreciate. An investment is something you purchase that will deliver value in the future. The sole purpose of marketing is to drive more leads into customers and keep them as raving fans. So if you run your small business looking at marketing as an expense – ready to cut marketing campaigns and programs when things get tight, you may want to reshape your perspective on small business marketing.”
Source: BenchmarkONE
Mistake #3: Not having a strategy or marketing plan.
“A lot of small businesses lack direction with their marketing, and strategic growth requires direction. They try a lot of things, but they simply throw them at the wall and hope that some of them stick — and when they don’t stick, they tend to give up on them. There are countless abandoned social media accounts and inactive advertising accounts out there to prove it.”
Source: SIX Marketing
Mistake #4: Your website is dated.
“Quite often, visitors judge a business by the look and feel of the website. First impressions are everything in today’s online world, and if your business’ website looks like it hasn’t been updated since the 90s, it’s sure to reflect poorly on you. Some examples would include not having a responsive or mobile-friendly website, slow load times, or using Flash, to name a few.”
Source: Swift Local Solutions
Mistake #5: You don’t track results.
“If you don’t track, you really don’t know what works. Whether it’s not tracking goals on your website with Google Analytics, not tracking conversions through your pay-per-click ads, or not tracking calls and foot traffic from a big sale or advertising investment, if you aren’t tracking [results], you’re throwing your money away.”
Source: Forbes
Need Marketing Solutions for Your Business?
If you’re planning to launch a marketing or advertising campaign, First Union Lending can help. We will work together to find the best funding solution for your business needs.
With a streamlined application process and loan products ranging from $5k to $2 million, we are flexible, fast, and efficient when it comes to getting you the funds you need. Some clients get funded in as little as two business days! If you need to increase your marketing budget, we encourage you to contact us today to see what First Union Lending can do for you.