13.1 Introduction
In this module, we will recap on a number of things that have been mentioned throughout the course up to this point, mainly the key mistakes to avoid if you wish your marketing strategy to be a success. It is impossible to avoid making mistakes on occasion, but by being aware of them it will be easier to take the appropriate action before things become too problematic.
13.2 Common Marketing Mistakes
Firstly, we will quickly provide a recap on the most common mistakes that people make when it comes to their marketing, and not just their marketing strategy.
Thinking that they know and understand everything.
This is one of the first mistakes that people make as they believe that they understand what their aims are and therefore that marketing the products, services, or business in general is going to be easy. If you are starting to think along these lines, then stop yourself before it is too late.
Taking risks.
Even though taking risks can turn into something positive, it is important to stress that we are talking about a calculated risk, rather than anything else. You cannot expect to come up with an idea and launch yourself into it without weighing up the potential for things to go wrong, especially when money and the potential future success of your business are at risk.
Underspending.
The problem with underspending is that it makes it more unlikely that you will achieve your desired goals. We understand that budgets available to people will differ greatly, however, you cannot afford to underspend when it comes to your marketing. As the saying goes “You only get out what you put into it”.
Overspending.
There is also the risk of overspending and that can prove to be even more catastrophic for businesses. The problem with overspending with regards to marketing is that it can mask potential problems that really need to be addressed.
Adopting a hit and miss approach.
People will often want to attempt different marketing methods and techniques but they are then trying to chop and change between different methods. This may initially sound like a good idea as it allows you to try different things and spread your risk but, at the same time, people will often fail to give various methods enough time to generate results. Thus, there is a tendency to abandon a method that may have proven successful and to do so early on means that, as a business, you are missing out on a potentially beneficial opportunity.
Failing to follow the plan.
The final mistake that we mention
at this point is the general failure to follow the marketing plan. This is such
a simple thing to do and there is absolutely no reason for you not keep an eye
on what your strategy is trying to tell you, in order to achieve your desired
goals. You do not have to consult the plan on a daily basis but you should
refer back to it regularly as it allows you to see whereabouts you are and it
can prevent you from making mistakes in the future.
These are just some of the relatively common mistakes that people make with regard to marketing, and there is every chance that you may end up making at least one of them. However, that is not something that should dishearten you because it is how you learn from mistakes that is of importance, with your resulting actions hopefully turning things around relatively quickly.
13.3 How to Stop the Decline
We will assume here that you have become aware of an issue with your marketing or plan. You will need to take the correct course of action to stop any decline and thus more damage being incurred. It is important to take action as soon as you realise that there is a problem.
This is not something to ignore. The problem will grow and damage your business if you do not change things as quickly as possible. In order to stop the decline, you must be constantly aware of what is happening with regards to your marketing strategy. It is not necessary to check on a daily basis but generally speaking being aware of where you should be in your plan at any given time, compared to what you are actually achieving, will make things easier when it comes to you preventing these mistakes from recurring.
Be aware and accepting that there are times when you will have to take action that you may not particularly like. This is all relevant to the bigger picture and the need to stop things from getting progressively worse. Marketing is not completely fool proof and there will be times when you may feel despondent about what is happening, however, it is how you react to those times that will make the difference.
13.4 Turning a Mistake into a Positive
The problem with mistakes is that they can often lead to negativity within an individual and this can make matters worse which is not desirable. The main thing is to learn from the mistake. To do this you must study what went wrong and take close look at your own actions. However, this does depend on the mistake and the extent of any damage; although it is rare for any situation to be so bad that nothing can be done to rectify the problem. So how do you turn the mistake into a positive? It is often down to the lessons that you have initially learnt from the problem.
For example
If you try a particular type of marketing and this proves to be a mistake, due to the way in which it is not working, it means that you can eliminate that from the various possibilities as to how you are going to market your business or products.
In other words, it is the way in which you look at the reasons behind the mistakes that allows you to turn things around. Did you act in a hastily manner and not think things through correctly? Perhaps you were unprepared and that is the lesson to be learnt? Often in business and marketing it is all down to understanding why something went wrong which then allows you to push on and make further inroads the next time.
FACT
In the UK, one of the biggest mistakes marketers make is assuming content will be reposted, shared, or republished because it is high quality.
Source: Digitalartsonline.co.uk
13.5 The Dangers of Not Correcting Mistakes
So what is the actual danger of not correcting those mistakes? In most instances the mistakes that are made in marketing, along with the marketing plan itself, will ultimately lead to you concentrating on the wrong part of the market, and when you consider the amount of time, money and energy that is invested in marketing this will prove problematic.
At the same time, if you focus on the wrong part of the market, then potential customers will go elsewhere and it will be harder for you to then turn things around and get them to your business. That will be wasted time and missed income thanks to these mistakes. Therefore it is imperative that you not only identify a mistake at the earliest opportunity, but make the appropriate changes before it is too late.
In short, the way in which mistakes can affect your business is as follows:
*You will lose business
*You will lose customers that will go elsewhere
*You will potentially end up focusing on the wrong market
*You will cost yourself money in the process
*You will cost yourself valuable time and energy in the process
*You will potentially cause a huge problem for the success of your business
As you can see, there are various ways in which your business can be affected by mistakes when it comes to the marketing of your business. However, just because you have made a mistake does not mean that you have to give up. Instead, as mentioned earlier, it is possible to turn a negative or a mistake into a positive - and that is what you must focus on.
MODULE SUMMARY
In this module we have focused on the need for you to be aware of the key mistakes that are often made in marketing and how you can turn things around in a positive manner. The most important thing is not to allow a mistake in your strategy to completely derail your attempt at marketing your business. Instead, by facing it head on you can rectify things before they potentially get to the point where this is no longer an option.
In the next module we will look at important tools that you may wish to use to your advantage when it comes to your marketing.
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