Marketing is a crucial component to any business plan. Successful marketing and branding strategy can open incredible opportunity for a business. Unfortunately, the reverse is also true. A weak marketing strategy can have devastating effects on a business, with the overall costs being lost brand trust and revenue. Here are a few common marketing mistakes you should make sure your brand avoids.
Focusing Too Much on Competition
One of my least favorite things to hear is “Did you see what Competitor X just did?” Competition is both scary and thrilling, and it’s smart to know the enemy, so to speak. You should be aware of what your competitors are doing in order to out-strategize them and stay ahead of the curve. However, if you focus too much on competitor marketing, you end up emulating them in many cases. The best examples of marketing campaigns are created when a brand thinks like a leader by taking risks. Creativity and originality have more reward than spending all your marketing efforts chasing after competitors and trying to out-do them.
Playing It Too Safe
You’ll never achieve a ground-breaking, unforgettable marketing campaign without being willing to take risks. Marketing can get very boring if you don’t challenge yourself to look beyond your brand’s comfort zone. Start following brands that you think are exciting or that have set themselves above the noise with poignant campaigns. Use that as inspiration. It doesn’t matter how boring you think your industry is, or whether you are a B2C or B2B marketer. The most effective marketing strategies don’t stay restricted within a box by tradition or expectation.
Not Following Leading Branding and Marketing Trends
Marketing as an industry moves quickly, especially with the rise of marketing technology and digital marketing tools. Savvy marketing professionals must be proactive about looking for ways to stay educated on the latest marketing trends and what might be coming down the line. It’s also beneficial to network with others in the industry or general business leaders who can provide insight into what could be done to improve your current marketing strategy.
Being the Boss’s Yes Man/Woman
Marketers are the last line of defense for a brand’s integrity, even when it comes to management or executives. By repeatedly allowing compromises to be made that aren’t aligned with the overall branding strategy, brand degradation does take place over time. Marketing professionals sometimes must assume the uncomfortable role of brand gatekeeper. Both internal and external communication should be filtered through marketing, and a good marketer who truly cares about a brand’s success will speak up when something just isn’t right. It shouldn’t matter who is making the misstep for a marketer to challenge the potential impact it might have. One of the worst marketing mistakes you can make is not speaking up for the good of the brand.
Ignoring Non-Marketing Colleagues
No department works in a silo, but it’s crucial for Marketing to be well connected with all other departments. The entire company should be informed about how the brand is being represented externally and what the brand strategy is. Having company-wide buy-in can help support the success of campaigns. It’s also helpful to be connected with other departments to find opportunities to improve communication across the board. For example being included in product updates before they progress allows for more streamlined releases, with information being strategically distributed both internally and externally. A partnership between marketing and client services can help improve relationship building with customers from onboarding through to the renewal phase.
For advice on how to create a successful marketing strategy and get out of the habit of committing common marketing mistakes, reach out to me for a consultation.
