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Top 10 Marketing Mistakes

1. Improper Focus and Positioning
   Do you really know what your potential customers need and want? Few businesses have a good grasp of this and focus on what they want to sell rather than what the customer wants to buy. The secret is to find a need you can fill and then fill that need better than anyone else.
2. Not understanding who your REAL competition is
   Competition isn’t always another company. Think like a buyer and learn where they are spending the money they should have spent with you! Consider other products or services, alternative modes of purchasing, methods of delivery, etc.
3. We Have the Best on the Market
   Says who? How the product or service is positioned in the customer’s mind is what determines “best product”! Stop the “all about me” communications and address benefits your customer will receive.
4. Customers Only Care About Getting the Lowest Price
   Customers want to feel comfortable with their purchase and know they got their money’s worth from their decision. They care most about the best value for their money, not the lowest price.
5. If It Worked For Them, It’ll Work For Us
   Me too marketing fails because it doesn’t address your unique marketing position. Know who you are, what you are selling and why it is important to your prospect. Hammer it home with every communication!
6. Listening to Other People
   Don’t take a poll. Don’t ask your brother-in-law. Marketing by committee is fatal!
7. Plan? Who Needs a Plan?
   As the saying goes, if you fail to plan, you plan to fail. A marketing plan can help you control marketing expenditures, measure results and stay the course. Giving up too soon is just as bad as not marketing at all!
8. Failure to Measure
   Test and measure relentlessly. Do what works. Kill what doesn’t. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.
9. Ignoring ROI/The Only Thing That Matters Is ROI
   For many companies investing in marketing must have only one payoff – profit on the investment. For others, the lack of measurement leads to repeating ineffective marketing over and over again. What’s most important is marketing’s effectiveness.
10. Failing to Capture Repeat Customers
    Remember the 80/20 rule? 80% of your business comes from existing customers and 20% comes from new customers. Failing to resell to your current customer base will cost you in lost business, higher overall marketing costs and lower profit margins!

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