Common Marketing Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

​Running a small business is hard work! Small business owners tend to wear many hats: project manager, logistics manager, operations manager, human resources department, and often times, marketing manager. That is a lot to maintain and control!
 
 Marketing mistakes and pitfalls often occur due to the fact that so many small business owners aren’t confident in their marketing skills and they are simply just spread too thin. Marketing mistakes won’t necessarily ruin your business, but they do sometimes cost time and money.
 
The My Big Day Marketing & Events team recently pulled together a list of common marketing mistakes that we have noticed clients and potential clients make. Our team has over 127 years of marketing experience - we’ve seen it all! Hopefully this list will help your small business avoid or correct potentially costly mistakes.

​Outdated Website
Your website is your most valuable marketing asset. It is the key to reaching all of those searching potential customers. It is oftentimes the channel that delivers your company’s first impression to potential customers. 97% of consumers search online for products and services. A missing or outdated website can have a detrimental effect on your ability to do good business.
 
Creating and maintaining a website isn’t hard or even expensive. There are a variety of easy-to-use website builders that are affordable  - Wix, Weebly, Squarespace - are all user-friendly for even the most tech-fearing person.
 
Neglecting Data
If you don’t track the results of marketing campaigns, website traffic, or social media data, you never get a solid idea of what actually works. Not tracking goals, conversions, click-through rates, or engagement is like throwing something “against the wall” and hoping that something sticks - a sometimes costly mistake.
 
There is no way to learn from your mistakes when you neglect to track. There is no way to improve.
 
My Big Day Marketing & Events suggests building a strategy that includes campaigns with goals, milestones, defined messaging, targeted channels, and data collection. We suggest tracking website metrics, including the number of sessions, users, pageviews, top pages, traffic sources (which social media channels or ads bring your website the most visitors), visitor demographics, and conversions. When you collect this data, you’ll be able to track where to spend your time and money for campaign promotions. You’ll also learn a lot about your audience and customer base.
 
My Big Day Marketing & Events tracks these metrics quarterly for all of our clients. This data helps us shape and adjust our marketing messaging.

​You don’t have a clear idea of who your audience is
Your audience is the people you want to purchase your service or product - those that are buying your solution to their problem. Sometimes the audience we want can blind us to the customers we actually have.
 
No matter how great your messaging, logo, or campaigns are - if you don’t really know your audience, your message will miss the mark.
 
Some small business owners try to avoid this problem by targeting the masses (remember before we mentioned throwing something against the wall in hopes that it will stick???). This is a sure way to drive up marketing costs and see very little on your ROI.
 
My Big Day Marketing & Events helps small businesses study and get to know their customers and target audiences. We help companies segment their customer base, allowing tailored messaging to reach the right people at the right time.

Wasting time on social media by not following the 80/20 rule
The 80/20 rule is a standard in social media marketing - 80% of social media posts should provide useful information to your audience (educating, entertaining, and offering solutions), 20% explicitly promote your business.
 
People do not engage on social media to watch advertisements. They scroll through their timelines and feeds to connect with others, to be entertained, to learn, and to be inspired. Your social media strategy should reflect that.
 
Also, when you provide helpful content for your audience, you are establishing yourself and your company as an authority on the matter. It builds trust.
 
My Big Day Marketing & Events will often create posts and blogs that provide links to helpful articles or videos, industry insights, inspirational quotes and images, timely articles, and uplifting stories. These are peppered in with posts that promote our clients’ businesses and events. All of this is created to draw your customers in and engage them around your mission and business.
 
No strategy or plan
All of the previously mentioned mistakes could be avoided with one simple solution - having a strategy and plan. Failing to plan usually leads to a high rate of failure.
 
Every client, event, and campaign is unique. My Big Day Marketing & Events works with each client to build a marketing strategy that works for their specific needs and goals.
 
Our typical marketing strategy is built around these 7 steps:

1. Defining success and goals.
2. Defining the audience - who are the core demographics we are targeting and how do they like to consume their information?
3. Conducting a SWOT analysis - are there opportunities we can take advantage of?
4. Define milestones and desired outcomes
5. Choose marketing channels and messaging cadence
6. Build an editorial and publishing schedule
7. Collect, track, and analyze data - this will help with campaign adjustments and budget allotment

Failing to see marketing as a business investment
Expenses are something you buy and are often cut or curbed during tight economic times. Investments deliver future value. The entire purpose of marketing is to drive leads into future and long-time customers.
 
When you treat marketing as an expense, your ability to find future leads, customers, and company ambassadors is greatly diminished. Marketing should be viewed as a business investment. Marketing will help drive growth and new opportunities when your company needs it the most.
 
 
 My Big Day Marketing & Events helps coach clients to avoid these common mistakes. We work to help small businesses create effective, scalable, and brand-building marketing campaigns that really work. We specialize in marketing, advertising, social media strategy & management, website design & maintenance, and event marketing. We have the time and expertise to help support small business goals and growth. If you would like help with your marketing goals and strategy, reach out for a one-on-one consultation. We will help you avoid these mistakes and find success!

Making Business Personal
As a connected collective of experts, My Big Day specializes in creativity. With superior organization, marketing experience and original ideas, we pull off amazing events and campaigns! 

My Big Day makes business personal by bringing JOY to the job in everything we do.
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As purveyors of fun with My Big Day, we support businesses and individuals in the growth of their ideas, events and marketing strategies. Our creative aptitude allows for unique ideas. Our passion for perfection makes every client a priority!

Contact MBD Marketing & Events
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*** Bringing Joy to the Job ***

Phone: 970-613-1455  or  303-886-3068
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