5 Marketing Mistakes That Prevent Small Businesses From Growing

As a small business owner, you're probably familiar with these marketing pitfalls that will keep your business from growing. Pitfall 1: You're too reliant on one marketing channel. Pitfall 2: You don't know your customer's needs. Pitfall 3: You don't have a marketing funnel. Pitfall 4: You don't have a marketing strategy. Pitfall 5: You're not leveraging your website.

The first marketing pitfall: relying on one marketing channel

If you're in a hurry and rely on social media as your only marketing channel, you're going to make a marketing mistake. Using social media is very easy for new businesses, and the only obstacle you'll have is using the right social media platform. If you don't know what your customers are searching for or what will connect with them, then you're wasting your time and effort. Social media is effective if you know your customers. Start by posting updates on LinkedIn (If you are B2B) or Facebook (B2C). As you start to establish your brand, you can also reach out to influencers and target those who influence your industry. Remember, it's important to get first-hand input on your business. You can do this through paid ads on Instagram or Twitter, as well as through trade shows, seminars, and conferences.

The second marketing pitfall: not knowing your customer's needs

If you don't know your customer needs, it's challenging to develop a marketing plan that will generate the leads you need to grow your business. Research by Zappos shows that 69 percent of shoppers say it's the product's uniqueness and uniqueness of the experience that attracts them. Of the remainder, the most significant appeal was customer reviews and product recommendations. What do these features have in common? They all stem from a business understanding of the customer. It's crucial to put yourself in your customers' shoes. What excites them? What are they looking for? How will you provide that experience? It would help if you built a marketing strategy around your customers' wants and needs. While this seems like common sense, it's more obvious than you might think.

 The third marketing pitfall: you don't have a marketing funnel

The goal of your marketing funnel is to turn would-be customers into evangelists for your brand. You do this through a series of steps to help them move from first knowledge of your brand to post-sale evangelism. An email marketing funnel is a process that will help you turn your leads into customers when done correctly. A well-designed email marketing funnel will make sure that the right person sees the right message at the right time. It's all about getting attention, filtering, and isolating your customers. It's the key to your successful online business - or any business, for that matter. An email marketing funnel is a technique that categorizes your potential leads into three stages of the purchase cycle: learners, shoppers, and buyers. By segmenting your email funnel into these three stages, you can ensure that you're sending timely and relevant emails. Each stage of the campaign calls for a different strategy and message because the buyer wants different things and has a different affinity for buying at various stages.  

The fourth marketing pitfall: not having a marketing strategy

Not having a marketing strategy is what has kept so many businesses small and stagnant. You have to have a strategy for marketing, and it doesn't matter what you're selling; you have to know how you're going to engage with your customers. First, you have to determine your customer's needs and use that as the foundation for your marketing plan.

Then you have to make a list of the kinds of products or services your business offers. As the customer needs change, your company's offerings must follow suit. The next step is to identify your customer's attitudes about your products. This includes your customers' mental images of your business and your products. It would help if you gained a deeper understanding of your customer's perceptions. Finally, create a campaign plan and make a list of the actions you want your prospective customer to take. 

The fifth marketing pitfall: not leveraging your website

Like many of these other mistakes, the fifth is a case of failing to take advantage of a business's website. To maintain a growing business, you need a website that creates leads, attracts customers, and is a value-add. If your website isn't generating leads, you'll never see a return on the investment you made in building and launching it. How to Succeed With Your Website If you want to maintain a growing business, you'll need to make sure that your website provides the customer experience that will keep them coming back. The good news is that there are many proven tips and tricks that you can use to enhance the visitor experience and help turn them into customers.