blog- Equating volume with profit. Thus targeting your marketing to the largest audience, but also the one with the narrowest margin, and least loyalty.
- Assume people already know what differentiates your product or service from the competition. Or worse yet, defining your unique selling proposition in terms of ‘best in class’, ’superior customer service’, or ‘ISO 9000 quality standards.’ In the 21st century these attributes are expected, instead use a story to demonstrate how you deliver on the promise without explicitly stating the obvious.
- Begin discussions with senior executives at the tactical level. For instance, we should begin a blog because everyone else is doing it, instead of, we need to become transparent with stakeholders and find a way to generate qualitative feedback from customers.
- Assume that marketing is creative and therefore not accountable. Failing to do extensive tracking and analysis of all marketing programs, increasing spending with initiatives that deliver ROI, while reevaluating ones that do not.
- Confusing marketing with advertising. Resulting in failure to review the entire customer experience for opportunities to delight. Every touch point, whether it be parking, store layout, the swift resolution of a customer service call, etc, is a way to improve word of mouth and lessen reliance on advertising.
- Thinking of marketing as a one-way monologue instead of a multiple way communication/interaction with your customers and other stakeholders.
- Not knowing your customers, or having an ideal customer profile. Being clueless as to their values, and how they engage with your brand.
- Not taking an integrated approach to communications. Thinking marketing, advertising, and public relations are independent, when really inter-related. Each one has benefits and limitations, but should be focused on accomplishing the same end goal.
- Forgetting to sync the marketing plan to your organization’s goals, vision, mission and purpose.
- Limiting yourself to a list of only 10 mistakes. You will likely make hundreds of mis-steps on your journey, your biggest mistake will be failing to learn from them.
Thanks to all the bright minds on LinkedIn, who helped me put together this list. Feel free to add your own top marketing mistakes in the comments section.
Tags: differentiate, mistakes
