5 common marketing mistakes by small businesses

If you run a small business each form of marketing you pay for takes on greater significance due to marketing budget restraints. You can't really afford for any one marketing activity to be a total flop because it will probably make a huge dent in your budget and leave you unable to do other things that you need to do.

Below are 5 common marketing mistakes made by small businesses:

1) Inconsistency and spreading your investment too thin.

Running a small advert every now and then in a newspaper or carrying out a local leaflet drop once every 6 months won't help you make a dent in the market. Unfortunately this approach is very common due to marketing budget restraints.

My advice is to spend a little time thinking about your target market and which marketing method would be most effective in reaching them. For example, if you run a driving school a newspaper advert is not going to be the most effective form of marketing for your business. Your primary target market is going to be young people and students. Consider the best places to reach these people... youth clubs, colleges etc. Spend a little money on your branding and get some professionally designed cards or leaflets created (a professional designer will be able to make these cards and leaflets appeal to your target audience which will increase your feedback). Once you have your cards and leaflets approach local colleges and youth clubs and ask them if you can leave some of your marketing materials with them. Consider running an exclusive promotion for their members. Amend your design slightly and print small quantities for each youth club and college to keep track of which ones have the highest uptake. You may also want to use posters. This will be a much more effective way of marketing on a small budget.

2) Lack of commitment.

Any form of marketing will be good for your business. Some marketing techniques will generate more revenue than others but each one will keep your name out there which can only be good. If you are planning to try a new marketing method make sure you are committed, especially if it requires an investment. A lot of people try a new form of marketing, get disheartened when they don't get instant results and move on to the next. Stay committed and you will see results. I have a client who carries out a 10,000 leaflet drop every month in their local area. Their approach is, put yourself in front of people's faces and eventually they will do business with you. Local residents groan and say "oh not them again" when we hand their leaflets across during leaflet drops but this particular client dominates their market.

There are a lot of abandoned company social media pages too, companies try twitter or set up a facebook page then when their sales don't immediately go through the roof they give up. The same thing often happens with business blogs. Whatever your chosen form of marketing is, be committed!

3) Offering the same as everyone else.

Why should a potential customer come to you when they can get the same products and services from 20+ other companies? Perhaps you think they should come to you because you offer great value for money and a second to none service? Unfortunately those other 19+ companies all believe and promote the same so it doesn't differentiate you. You will probably be forced to compete on price, lowering your costs until you have no money available for marketing and eventually price yourself out of business. My advice is to offer something a little different, create a USP (Unique Selling Point) to give potential customers a reason to come to you other than price. You don't need to reinvent the wheel, just offer something your competitors don't. I achieve this by offering professional design, printing and leaflet distribution all under one roof. My client's love the fact they only need to deal with one company and one person to organise an entire local promotional campaign. Trying to organise timescales with a designer, a printer and a leaflet distributor can be a major headache. My company makes their life a little easier and allows them to focus on running their own business. This gives them a reason to deal with me.

4) Amateur company image.

If you have an amateur company image you are probably losing customers without even knowing it. Your business image is one of the most important aspects any company or organisation can possess. It's the only thing a potential customer can connect with. Until you get a chance to impress them with your service and make a great impression they will judge the quality of your services and your professionalism by the quality of the marketing material you put out. This will include your leaflets, business cards, posters, flyers, brochures, vehicle graphics and website amongst other things. Working with a professional graphic designer will create a positive business image that will enhance your feedback and ultimately help increase business revenue.

For more about the importance of company image click here.

5) Not using testimonials.

Word of mouth is widely regarded as being the most powerful form of marketing. This is largely due to its credibility. Testimonials are one way companies can look to harness this power but unfortunately many companies don't utilise testimonials properly and some neglect them completely.

Companies such as amazon and ebay are built around leaving feedback after a purchase. This feedback is a form of testimonial. Displaying this feedback increases consumer confidence by showing that you have happy customers.

Whatever your business is, make sure you ask for testimonials and use them! Make sure the testimonials are genuine and go in to a little detail. People are naturally skeptical and especially so when reading testimonials from "Mr C in Leicester" or "Bob in Birmingham"