The Pulse

When it comes to marketing campaigns, making smart decisions is the best way to get a large return on your investment.  Make sure you avoid these top marketing mistakes.

Getting into Social Media without anything to say

Everyone knows social media is big, but social media posts must serve a purpose. What are you going to post about? You can’t spend all that time just curating other people’s news and links. Think of social media as an activity that pushes sales ready leads through your business, like a funnel. A good social media strategy must be backed by strong content marketing, which tells stories and nurtures those leads.  Content Marketing can be an automated email series, videos, or useful information pieces provided to your target audience.

Creating print brochures

This is a marketing tactic of the past. You have to design them, print them, and put them in people’s hands by expensive postage (or carrier penguin). Repeat. Chances are, if you can get a brochure to customers, they already know who you are. So this method just adds to your cost of sale. Rather, create an incentive for people to go online and register for more information or an exclusive online offering. You can track that behaviour through analytics and customise campaigns to get their attention again with email marketing, all without the cost of print and postage every single cycle.

Not consulting the data for decisions

This area has been the most exciting for me as a marketing consultant. Once upon a time, many of the programs just went into the stratosphere, but they are now highly measurable with online analytics, email marketing platforms, and more. The metrics tell you which programs work and the ones that don’t. Never make a marketing decision based on your gut again.  Data never lies.

Not measuring

I am a self-confessed marketing geek, spending hours in the lab crunching the data. I realise though that other people have got better things to do. Plus ‘generic’ print advertising is grossly over priced and usually only caters for a vague call to action. This means you never know the true result of a program. Not so with online marketing. Clever mechanisms for tracking marketing includes Google Analytics, which tracks 1300 numbers that change according to the sources people have landed from. I bet you will slash your marketing budget right now if you choose to only keep the trackable programs.

Not prioritising marketing

I’m totally aware that running a business requires a mountain of work including sales proposals, invoicing, and accommodating clients, suppliers, and staff. All are equally important, so you never seem to get around to marketing, right?

But generating sales leads for your business begins and ends with marketing. The other model relies only on an expensive direct sales force. Oh what I can do with just one BDM wage!

Natalie Giddings | Queen Bee at Pollen Marketing