The early stages of a business are often the most challenging. You need to establish logistics, refine your product, and most importantly: build brand awareness.
As a startup, you’re bound to make a lot of marketing mistakes. And that’s okay. While there’s no fool-proof plan to success, there are common mistakes marketers make that can harm a business.
Here are four common marketing errors, along with ways to avoid them:
1. Marketing on the wrong channels
Different platforms attract different audiences. Narrowing down your choice to just a few channels lets you focus your efforts and get the best return.
The key to choosing the best channel for your brand is to identify your target market. Considering their age, income, and education level helps you tailor appropriate and compelling content.
Research shows that the most popular age range for Instagrammers is 13-17 while most Facebook users fall between the 18-29 age bracket. If you’re targeting a younger audience, then these platforms are perfect for you. Take note that you’re likely to have multiple target markets for your product, and each group may have its own channel.
2. Neglecting SEO
Search engine optimisation (SEO) involves impactful site-building and content development. When done correctly, it can help even startups dominate search engine rankings and increase conversions.
The main goal of SEO is to make your website more attractive to search engines like Google. It equips your content with high-value keywords that match your audience’s search queries and attracts more clicks. But keywords alone are not enough. Google can now track keyword repetitions and give lower rankings to website with poorly written content. This is why effective content creation is really a combination of high-value keywords and positive reader experience.
3. Not using analytics to improve performance
Data is an important component of modern marketing. It measures the success of your campaigns and identifies areas for improvement.
Analysing your data allows you to track trends and make more insightful content. It helps you maximise your marketing budget and stay ahead of the competition.
Analytics is used to determine your site’s strengths and weaknesses, helping you attract and retain more visitors. Marketers use systems like Google Analytics and Google Webmaster Tools to measure visitor behaviour like click-through rates and average visit duration.
Similarly, tracking shares, reactions, and comments can help you understand customer behaviour. Social media monitoring lets you see what people are saying about you, your products, and even your competition. Knowing what works and what does not allows you to implement the necessary optimisation.
4. Expecting instant results
Just because you’re not seeing results in two weeks does not mean you’re doing it wrong. Brand awareness takes time and effort. SEO and content marketing, for example, take between six months and one year to generate lasting results.
As a startup, it might be hard to attract customers at first. Be patient and consistently engage with your audience. This way, you can prove your value one day at time. You can also seek professional SEO and web services to speed up your progress.
Marketing is a trial and error effort. No two strategies are the same. While it’s only natural for startups to make marketing mistakes, careful planning and consistency can save you a lot of time, money, and energy.
