Kaitlyn Hammond — July 1, 2019 — July 1, 2019
Every business owner should have marketing at the forefront of their minds. This is imperative to connect with new customers and to encourage existing customers to remain loyal.
The marketing landscaping is ever changing, and staying on top of this field is necessary to beat the competition and keep your brand relevant in your industry. In 2019, there are many new developments to stay abreast of, but even more importantly, there are four main things to avoid!
Marketing Mistakes to Avoid in 2019
Not Having a Clear Direction
In 2019, there are more marketing opportunities than ever before—from social media, traditional advertising, mailers and search engine optimization (SEO), it can be overwhelming to try and pursue every single avenue. Unfortunately, small business owners simply don’t have the financial or operational resources to compete with the big brands that dominate all marketing channels.
A smart strategy is to create a concise marketing direction annually, and carefully choose the channels you will pursue based on available resources. This will allow you to connect with your target customer base instead of spending time and money becoming diluted in many different spaces.
Not Using Analytics
It’s imperative to measure your return on investment (ROI) on any marketing strategy you invest in. This is impossible to do without measuring the analytics of every marketing goal to see how well it performed.
Having a clear objective in mind is important before implementing any marketing step. Consider whether you want to:
- Get a certain amount of clicks on your site
- Get a specific amount of sales
- Get a certain amount of shares on a social media platform
Measuring the results of your strategy is necessary to minimize marketing waste and make adjustments to make it more successful.
Not Conducting A/B Testing
Not allowing your customers to choose what type of content they prefer is the third major mistake of 2019. Split testing, also known as A/B testing, allows the business two create two versions of an email, website or other content. While it can seem daunting to have to create two completely different templates, you may choose to test only the email subject line, sender address, image, font and/or content. For example, you can test what type of product images your clients react to more, or what email subject results in more readers opening an email.
Split testing allows you to poll your audience without them knowing it; their actions will dictate the more popular choice. You can test whether they prefer a statement or a question in the subject line of an email, serious or humorous content on your site, sales or new product announcements, etc.
Although split testing does not offer any guarantees, getting detailed information about what your audience prefers will help you improve your marketing strategy in the long run, leading to an increase in engagement and conversion rates.
Not Using Videos
If you are not using video as part of your marketing strategy, you may be losing up to a third of your potential visitors! Videos keep the attention of individuals up to 37% longer than other forms of advertising, which is great for engagement.
YouTube is catching up to Google as one of the world’s most popular search engines, so not investing in video marketing is just not smart! Videos allow you to interact with your customers, giving them access behind the scenes and offering product demonstrations and unboxing videos.
To truly take your business to the next level, you will need financial resources to market your brand. Remember that your competition is likely trying the same strategies you may be, so having a specialist in this area to guide you can be extremely advantageous.
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