Why Isn’t My Marketing Working?
Owners of businesses big and small make marketing mistakes every day that have a very real and damaging effect on the success of their companies.
Today we will cover the three most common mistakes business owners make with their marketing, which are the three fundamental pillars of any successful marketing campaign.
Why Isn’t My Digital Marketing Working?
As a small business owner, it’s common to make marketing mistakes while trying to grow your business; trust us, we know how it goes: you’ve invested countless hours into building and growing your brand, and you’ve poured your passion and resources into your marketing efforts, yet the results aren’t what you expected.
If you do not see the returns you anticipated, it’s likely due to one of these three common marketing mistakes. In this Midwest Mindset Episode (The Omaha Podcast), we’ll dive into the common mistakes small businesses make and help you steer your marketing in the right direction.
Marketing Mistake #1: Your Target Market is Too Broad
One of the most common marketing mistakes is not being specific enough in targeting your ideal customer base. Many small businesses want to appeal to everyone, thinking this will bring in more customers.
The reality is that by trying to appeal to everyone or fix everyone’s needs with your services, your marketing becomes diluted and unclear, which decreases its effectiveness.
To make your marketing efforts more impactful, find a specific audience that would benefit the most from your product or service.
Questions You Should Ask to Define Your Ideal Customer and Target Market:
- What are three things that the majority of your customers have in common?
- What are their needs?
- What drives them?
- What are their fears?
- What are their pain points, and how does your business help them?
“You should describe your ideal customer with the same specific details as you would describe yourself. You wouldn’t tell someone that you are “24-60 years old, male and female, married and single, between 0 and 4 children,” would you? Give them a name, age, interests, hobbies, and any other specific detail you can include. This will narrow your focus but, ironically, this is how you reach the largest customer base.”
-Matt Tompkins, Two Brothers Creative
Marketing Mistake #2: Your Message Isn’t Clear
This goes hand in hand with the previous point. Once you have defined your target audience and know you can solve a problem for them, you need a massage that resonates deeply with them.
When your marketing message isn’t working, it’s essential to take a step back and reevaluate your approach. Businesses need to niche down their target market to their specific ideal customer. It is equally essential for you to niche down to a specific and clear message to reach them.
Let’s take a store that sells products to moms. “Moms,” in general, is still a very broad audience to connect with. So, after you’ve niched down to a specific ideal customer, i.e., ‘pregnant mothers expecting their first child,” then you can craft a message just for them.
A message about a product that would benefit first-time-pregnant moms-to-be will not resonate in the same way for moms whose children are grown and raised. They are both moms, but a different message needs to be focused on for each of them in different marketing campaigns.
Use these insights and focus your marketing message around your unique selling proposition.
Marketing Mistake #3: Choosing The Wrong Media
Now that you have your target market specified and you’ve crafted a unique message specifically for them to resonate deeply with, you must be sure to use the right form of media too get your message too them effectively.
Social Media is not a marketing strategy – Social Media is a form of media (heck, it has it in the name, right?). There are many different forms of media to choose from, so it is very important to use a medium your specific audience is actually on. Remember that social media can be deceiving. Just because a platform is popular doesn’t mean it’s the best fit for your business.
Not choosing the right channel or platform to reach your potential customers can waste time, resources, and budget.
The first step should be to research where your target audience spends time, both online and offline. Are they active on social media? Is it tik tok or IG? Do they read blogs or listen to podcasts? Knowing your audience’s habits will help you select the right platforms to communicate with them effectively.
Your Business Can’t Go Without An Affordable And Effective Marketing Strategy
The most significant mistake small businesses make is having all this information and knowing where the problems are but not creating a marketing strategy to produce actual results.
A marketing strategy or plan will help set and achieve goals, giving you a clear understanding and measuring of your marketing results.
We know many small businesses struggle with this because business owners don’t have the time, budget, or expertise to do it themselves. Our Measure My Marketing tool is free and will show you where your strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities are with your marketing.
Measure YOUR Marketing now by contacting US today! YES! Measure My Marketing!
