While it is obvious that marketing is absolutely necessary for success in the business world, pulling off a successful campaign is definitely not an easy task. This is because people are confident that they can conduct a marketing campaign without any previous experience or training in the field, causing them to make some crucial mistakes. No, not all publicity is positive and yes, it is quite possible to ruin your SMBs online reputation even before your business takes off. In order to ensure none of the above-mentioned happens to your company, here are four marketing mistakes that SMBs should avoid.
1. Pushing your email marketing too hard
Even in this day and age, email marketing is still alive and kicking. Not only does it have a great ROI, but it is also incredibly efficient at making some of your old customers come back, i.e., creating return customers. Unfortunately, some companies push it too hard and simply overload the inbox of their audience with email after email. Therefore, you need to restrict yourself to only sending emails when absolutely necessary, in order to avoid the spam-like behavior.
2. Arguing with people online
One of the greatest things about the internet is that everyone is free to state their opinion, shielded by anonymity. Unfortunately, this massive boost to freedom of speech has had some negative consequences as well. A single dissatisfied customer can register over and over again and leave a plethora of low rating or negative comments, some of which can be incredibly rude or inappropriate. The last thing you want to do in this situation is to get into a heated online argument. Not only does this fuel their anger for your brand, but it also makes you look bad and unprofessional.
3. Inadequate URL
Another thing you need to keep in mind is that in the digital environment, your URL stands as a substitute for your company’s name. Therefore, coming up with a hard to memorize URL or one that is hard to spell might be an issue preventing your audience from reaching out to you. Keep it short and descriptive, but also make sure that it isn’t inadequate in any way.
You see, if you are using a phrase or any kind of multi-word construct, there is always a slight chance that the end result might come off wrong. We are talking about examples like Speed of Art becoming speedofart.com or American scrap metal becoming americanscrapmetal.com.
4. Ignoring traditional marketing
Finally, you need to keep in mind that although digital marketing ROI may be simpler to measure, it isn’t better in every single situation there is. What if your primary demographic are baby boomers who are still quite absent from both social media and the digital world alike?
Furthermore, what if people in your industry don’t have the habit of reaching out through digital means, but prefer personal B2B outreach, like telemarketing. Billboards, a logo printed on the side of a company vehicle and a business card can make up for all the shortcomings of digital marketing discussed. Furthermore, you can also consider investing a bit in promotional products like custom umbrellas or stress balls with your company logo on them.
The best thing about the four issues mentioned is the fact that they are incredibly easy to both remedy and avoid. However, in order to avoid a trap, you must first be aware that one exists in the first place. By looking out for just these four hazards of the marketing world, you will make any future campaign you conduct stand on a much more solid ground.
