Is your business’ marketing efforts actually making you money? Or is it just driving you insane?
Most business owners make the excuse about their business failings because they cannot afford to market their products or services due to a lack of budget. But all this amounts to is just a weak excuse for efforts that can also be done with a limited budget. It is a misconception that marketing equals money.
Business owners must realize that marketing efforts fail not because they lack something but because they fail to grasp the opportunities that are within your reach.
Here are some of the most common failed opportunities and marketing mistakes that I have seen:
1. Not having a Marketing Plan
The most common marketing mistake that I have seen is not having a marketing plan in place for your business. Contrary to what people think about these plans, it does not need to be complicated. A plan that is short and to the point is actually much better. All that you need to put in your plan is to describe who your customers are and the plans or tactics you can perform to make them buy your product or service. This means that you should think about how you can contact your market as well as what manner of communication should be used to make them listen to your message.
2. Not having a marketing budget
There is no denying that all businesses must allocate a portion of their resources for a marketing budget. The amount is not that important whether you can afford large budget or only a small one. You need funds in order to bring attention to your business.
3. Not understanding the value of a repeat customer
Another popular mistake is focusing too much on making sales and forgetting about building customer relationships. You expend so much time, money and effort to entice new customers to buy your product or service, shouldn’t you protect the relationship you have already initiated with that customer? The bottomline is, it is better to have five customers who come back ten times a year than fifty customers who buy once and are never seen again. 4. Not having a Customer Database
You should establish a database of your customers so you can easily retrieve their names and contact details to communicate with them. It is so much cheaper to make a phone call or email them to give them additional information on your products or services compared to running a fresh batch of ads.
5. Not having sales back-up
You never know what your customer is thinking after he walks out your door. If they walked out happy, then chances they would be more than willing to buy from you again. But if they walked out dissatisfied, as a business owner, you should know why so that you can try to fix the problem and keep more of your customers happy.
6. Not tracking your sales
To ensure that you have a low-cost, high-impact strategy, it is imperative that you track every sale. There are some information that you must find out:
Where/how did your customer hear about you?
Who referred them to you?
How much money did the customer spend?
How many items did they buy?
Are they a repeat customer?
Be thorough and aggressive in tracking your sales because it will save you a lot of money. One effective way of doing this is to use a simple survey form or just have a chat with your customer as you close the sale. Give rewards to people who gave referrals to entice them to do it more. You should also reward frequent buyers. Also, don’t forget to rerun any successful that brought additional sales.
7. Failing to upsell
You should always try to upsell every customer. Always think of adding more to your sales by offering additional merchandise at the point of sale or, if your business sells a service, offering more services or longer term contracts. You should also consider selling products that complement your core business items. The mark-up on these items can be a major source of profits.
8. Failing to ask for referrals
This is a very inexpensive (actually, it won’t cost you anything!) but often overlooked strategy. Ask your customers for referrals to their friends or family. If you want a more aggressive tactic, ask them for names and contact details of people who might be interested in what you are selling. As an incentive for the referrals you can give commissions or discounts for every successful referral.
9. Failing to get commendations or testimonials
People have a natural fear for things that are new. This follows with new products or services. The apprehension comes from not knowing if the product or service is going to be good or not. Reassure your customers about the quality and effectiveness of your products and services by presenting letters of commendation as well as testimonials from satisfied customers.
10. Failing to study Marketing
You should learn about marketing concepts because it is a fundamental skill that must be learned by business owners. Marketing is not an exact science but it has a rich history of successes and failures. It is your role to learn from the experiences of other business owners and other companies. Find out what others did right or wrong with their businesses. But learning is not confined to just reading books, you can learn as much by talking to other people in business. You should go out of your way to talk to people who are in the same industry as you are. A recipe for disaster is being too arrogant to even follow the advice of grizzled veterans in business.
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