In 2022, close to US$800 billion was spent globally on marketing. That is a testament to how important marketing is in business. What size should your marketing budget be? Your marketing budget must range from 6 to 20 percent of gross revenue. There is also another article on the 60-40 marketing budget split approach. By 60-40 we are saying 60 percent of your marketing budget must go to digital marketing. Then 40 percent must go to traditional marketing. Today our focus is on laying out the marketing mistakes you must avoid. Here they are:
Content Focusing On Education Devoid Of Entertainment
The vast majority of people online want to be entertained. That is why you find that entertaining content tends to trend or go viral. The same goes for education. Most people want to be informed about important topics, events, and wide-ranging subject matters. As a business looking to win people’s hearts online, you need to consider those aspects.
A smart business person would strive to strike a balance between the two poles. This means your content must both educate and entertain. Once you strike that balance, consumers will gladly engage with you online. If you check all businesses that are doing well in content marketing, they have struck that balance. If you are just throwing information at consumers in a dry manner you will not win them.
Untargeted Marketing
Do you ever stop to ask yourself who your target market is? Who really is your target market? There is such a thing called target marketing. It entails identifying a target market after detailed research, and developing specific marketing campaigns focused on it. A lot of what I see, especially on ‘Zimbabwean’ social media is untargeted marketing. With untargeted marketing, you will have the euphoric feeling of doing something. Yet in essence, you will not be doing anything that yields results.
When doing marketing it should be targeted. You target based on things such as geography, demographics, psychographics, and behavioural traits. Some may wonder why they are always marketing or advertising their businesses but have zero results. Going on social media and making a post about what you are selling does not always equate to effective marketing. It should be targeted marketing! That is why niching is important. Being overly broad or generalized is a grave marketing mistake.
Too Much Focus On Paid Ads
Some people in business may think that paid ads are always the best rather than organic posts. Sure enough, paid ads can be effective. They are effective especially when it comes to bigger reach, refined targeting, and broader data analytics, amongst others. As much as more people may be reached, there is no guarantee they even want to buy from you. Some reports have shown that roughly half of paid ads budgets go to waste. As in, the people targeted or reached never get to be prospects or leads in any way.
Some surveys conducted have shown how the majority of expert digital marketers and even CEOs castigate paid ads. It is said that less 3 percent click rate is achieved. It is also said that 9 out of 10 times, clicks bounce. Some businesses experimented by drastically reducing their paid ads spent. It turns out that there was little to no negative effect on their revenues. This shows that overdependence on paid ads can be problematic. Use them sparingly! You should spend more of your time on content marketing. Yes, organic growth can be long and hard but the results will be long-lasting.
Ill-Thought Choice Of Social Media Platforms
There are so many social media platforms to market online. The top 10 social media platforms that businesses market on our Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, YouTube, TikTok, Reddit, WhatsApp, and Tumblr. Each and every one of these social media platforms are wired differently. You also have to consider that the usage dynamics are not the same for each platform too. This can be with regard to the nation or a location within a nation.
There are so many variables at play. This all means you have to carefully consider which social media platform you use for marketing. If you pick the wrong one(s) your marketing efforts will be unfruitful. How to choose the right social media platform is too lengthy a subject to unpacking here. However, two of the biggest considerations are demographics and engagement rates.
Ignoring The Pareto Principle
It is important to appreciate the tenets of content marketing. At least most business people now do. The unfortunate thing though is that a common mistake is still being committed. This refers to overly promoting products almost all the time. As in, every time someone posts something they will be selling their stuff. That seems like the noble thing to do but it is a costly marketing mistake. You should instead apply the Pareto principle i.e. the 80-20 rule. The bulk of your content should be about creating impact.
That also applies to whatever interactions you have with people, be they lead, prospects, or customers. Your thrust should always be to give them value; to impact their lives positively. More than 80 percent of the time that should be focused. Providing people with valuable information is highly impactful. Only 20 percent of the time is when you should directly talk about the stuff you are selling. Do not invert the ratio; it will not work.
Lastly, avoid the mistake of having an imbalance between traditional and digital marketing. Earlier this year Understand the 60-40 marketing budget spilt approach. You must do both but in the right ratio. If there is an imbalance it will hurt your efforts. For instance, it could be too much traditional marketing or too much digital marketing at the expense of the other. These are the 7 marketing mistakes you should avoid in business starting right now.
