Marketing your business is one of the most important and fun tasks of running a small business! The fact there is so many avenues and ways you could market your business is what makes it so exciting. You can make leaflets, print some snazzy business cards or you can go #crazy on social media, or you can do all of them and more. However, for every upside, there is a downside. Not everyone is perfect, and mistakes are made and these the most common mistakes made by small businesses and how to fix them.
Not Understanding Your USP
Your business is unique, unlike anyone else’s, that probably why you started the business. Lot’s of small businesses forget what makes them unique in their marketing material and it all eventually amalgamates into one with everyone else’s, lifeless marketing material. Use your USP (Unique Selling Point) to your advantage and advertise that! Make sure your businesses company message and ethos comes across in your marketing. This will make you stand out from the rest.
Not Having A Marketing Plan; Even If Its A Vague One
Circumstances change every day in a small business, but it is essential to stick to a plan even if it’s a vague one. Planning most of your marketing activities only gets you so far but leaving some room for adjustments and room to add new content is needed. Not having a marketing plan can be catastrophic for a business, it’s like trying to find your way through a maze while wearing a blindfold. Not planning your marketing activities can waste a lot of time and money which doesn’t aid anyone.
Not Identifying Your Target Audience
By not looking at who your target audience is how do you know to market your products and services to? But by identifying your audience, you are limiting yourself to your marketing activities. Without defining an audience, you can’t create targetted adverts online, with these adverts you segment your audience to their habits online, likes/dislikes and demographics. These yield a much higher ROI (Return On Investment) than more traditional marketing methods.
Not Using Your Analytics In Your Favour
When you share your website through social media, you are given two sets of data to work with, and it would be backwards not to use them to aid your business. Look at these analytics to understand what deters and attracts your customers then what gives them on your website for longer. Ignoring them would waste time and money. Using this information will provide you with the upper hand and allow your marketing activities to perform better in the future.
Not Having An Organised Workflow
Not every form of marketing activity is profitable for your business and because you can do it doesn’t mean you should do it. Take social media marketing, for example, there are lots of networks, and for you to efficiently market on, it would take up all of your time. This is what lots of business do, and they end up biting off more than they can chew. Small businesses should choose the social media platforms based on whether their audience uses it and how well they can manage it.
