Three Marketing Mistakes Small Businesses Must Avoid

As a small business owner, your days are hectic. You wear many hats and there isn’t a role that you’re not willing to assume for your business. I know firsthand, as I also run my own business. You probably have a small budget for marketing or have gone for some time without investing in any marketing activities. Now, you find yourself with an outdated website, social media channels that you don’t even remember how to log into, and money spent on random online marketing with no way of telling what worked or how well it worked for you. You’re not alone and you didn’t get in to business for the marketing of it. You do well running your company but if you intend on tapping into the online world, you need to stop making those mistakes.

Your website is outdated

“Canadians spend more hours online (36.7 per month) than anyone else in the world”, according to a 2017 study. Everyone is online and you should be too. That’s generally the initial drive to get a website up and running. And that’s certainly a good start. But if you’ve called up a friend in the IT field, hired an IT consultant to do the work for you without your input, or opted for the do-it-yourself approach, it’s probably time to have a second look at your website. Over 60% of buyers research the products or services on the internet before they make a purchase. And once they get to your site, you don’t want them turning away. Your site doesn’t have to be super fancy. In fact, I don’t recommend you spend a big chunk of your marketing budget on your website alone but it should have the following three basic features:

1. clear navigation so that it’s easy to use
2. a clear description of what you do
3. a mobile-friendly interface

With Canadians being the most connected in the world, it is no surprise that 41 per cent of Canadian Internet users between the ages of 18 and 34 use a mobile phone to access the Internet, a CIRA study shows. If you site is missing any of those features, have another go at it. It’s generally a good practice to have your website updated every so often.

Social Media Are not Monitored

When you think of “Social Media”, what comes to mind? Generally, it’s about sharing, connecting, and being popular. The same applies to a business. Sharing your ideas with your audience and letting them know what’s coming up is a great way to help you solidify a relationship with current clients and build new relationships. It’s a great way to stay connected, giving yourself the opportunity to hear what your customers are saying and how their needs are changing. When they see you respond, you gain their loyalty. Social media is a place with no geographic boundaries; social engagement makes your outreach limitless and your name and brand, well, popular among the 59% of Canadians who use the internet for social media activities,  as stats show.

Social media is a great marketing leverage for your business where some important mistakes you need to avoid.

1. Do not advertise.
2. Don’t be pretentious.
3. Don’t ignore.

Do not advertise

Avoid using social media as an advertisement channel. There’s nothing wrong with sending out promotions to gain return visits from current customers. But don’t use it as an advertisement channel or you’ll deter potential customers from doing business with you.

Don’t be pretentious

Online users look for genuine interactions, truthful opinions, and unpretentious engagements online. They are quick at recognizing the fake. When you share, be candid. You don’t want to sound like a tabloid channel.

Don’t ignore

The truth about social media is that, whether you run your own social media channels or not, you are on social media. Your customers are going to express an opinion about you after doing business with you on their own channels. When you create your own channels, you have the opportunity to build a relationship with your social media audience, show that you’re listening and, most importantly, respond to both negative and positive comments.

Results Are not Being Measured

Ever had a writing assignment back in your school days where you drafted your text first, making things up as you went, and then you built the outline? And you still passed. It worked. When you don’t start with a plan, you are likely burning your small marketing budget without much return. You need to change that. Your marketing strategy must drive all your marketing activities.

Marketing through trial and error is a good way to go. Sometimes, you just don’t know until you try. That’s why you need to have a way to track the results so that you can adjust and do more of what works and less of what doesn’t. If you’re paying into any kind of marketing today, contact your consultant and ask them to show you quantitative results of their services. They owe it to you.

To succeed online, you have to be online. That means you need to have a modern website, social media channels that you actively participate in and a quantitative approach to measuring the success of your marketing activities.

If you want to start relying on the Internet to grow your business, it’s time to build an online marketing strategy that attracts new customers, helps you retain your current customers and allows you to track your success.  Learn how you can tap into the limitless opportunities that await you.