Small businesses are usually owned and operated by very energetic and very creative individuals. However, sometimes even small business owners make mistakes or guided by misunderstandings. This article discusses five general marketing errors committed by most small business owners.
They don’t know their customers well. The key to every business success is to know your customers inside and outside – what moves it, what attracts his interests, why they buy what they buy. Take the time to get to know your customers and understand their needs and preferences will allow you to not only enhance their products and services, but also communicate with your customers in a way that resonates with them.
They talk about features, not the benefits, from their products. In their marketing material, small business owners often register their features and quality of their products without explaining what it means for their customers. You can make a marketing copy that is much stronger, if you talk about the pain and desire of your customers and explain how your product or service completes or satisfies them. This is why you need to understand your customers very well as we discussed.
They believe that being active on social media is all the marketing they need. Even though social media is a very important part of small business marketing, it is not a piece at all. In order for your social media efforts to be efficient, they need to be based on a solid marketing strategy. In other words, before you dive chatting on social media, you need to know who you are talking, and what you are trying to say.
They don’t keep an eye on their competition. Many business owners say they don’t have time to observe carefully competition. Some of them even reject the idea that their decisions and actions must be based on what their competitors do. Even though it is important to be unique and doing what is right for your business, it is also important for you to observe your competitors’ marketing activities. Sometimes this observation will inspire new ideas about your business, while other times you will realize that your competitors take advantage of trends that you might not notice.
They fall into the routine. Most people are habit beings and small business owners are no different – if their business runs well, they tend to do the same thing over and over again. However, it is important for you to revise your marketing strategy occasionally. Make sure the customer you are targeting is still right for you and you update and improve your product, service, and marketing tactics.
Not taking the time to understand their customers, do not just do the justice of their products and services in their marketing communication, be tactical about social media, ignoring competition and doing business as usual is a lot of guilty small business things. Avoiding general marketing errors will make your marketing efforts more successful and give you benefits for other companies in your industry.
