5 Marketing Mistakes to avoid

 

As business owners and individuals aiming to achieve more and reach wider audiences, we can easily get caught in the rat race of information and lose sight of what is truly important in business and marketing.

Today, we’ll discuss five marketing mistakes that are hurting your business growth.

Let’s dive right in!

1. Never Tracking Progress

As marketers, we often get caught up in the nitty-gritty of marketing and forget the ultimate goal: RESULTS. Whether it’s generating more leads, increasing sales, or fostering more partnerships, our aim is to see tangible outcomes.

Whenever we market anything, we must always track the results to improve upon them. For example, if you have a product or service that is a mainstay of your business, you need to regularly measure the results of your marketing strategies. If your strategy involves sending out 1,000 cold WhatsApp messages or emails to generate leads, track how many responses you get each month and look for ways to improve these results.

Proverbs 21:5 – “The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty.” This verse encourages diligence and planning, implying that tracking progress and measuring outcomes are essential for achieving abundance and success.

“If you cannot measure it, you cannot improve it.”

• Lord Kelvin

2. Never Setting Goals

No one measures their results just to measure them; you measure to improve, and without goals, improvement is impossible.

It’s easy to go through our daily marketing tasks without setting any goals because we’re afraid of failure. In today’s world, we’re often encouraged to keep our expectations low. But business and marketing goals are not like New Year’s resolutions. Specific factors in marketing can be tweaked, changed, and improved upon, and new opportunities can be pursued once we have a goal in mind.

Do not view your marketing goals as a burden but as a decision being made. If your goal is to generate 100 leads per month, you are actively deciding to work towards that goal. You will align your actions to make that goal a reality.

I cannot stress this enough. There is a reason why “Tracking Progress” comes before this point: you cannot set goals without knowing what you are setting goals for.

Habakkuk 2:2-3 – “And the Lord answered me: ‘Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so he may run who reads it. For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end—it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay.'” Proverbs 16:3 – “Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans.” These scriptures highlight the importance of setting clear goals and committing them to the Lord to ensure they are established.

Once you have a goal in mind, you can align your actions towards it. If your goal is to double your current leads, you know the actions you need to take. But if your goal is to 10x your leads, you’ll need a whole new strategy.

This is the beauty of setting goals. A brilliant book that delves deeper into how to 10x your results is “10x Is Easier than 2x: How World-Class Entrepreneurs Achieve More by Doing Less.” If you’re interested, here’s a link to our Amazon affiliate page: 10x Is Easier than 2x

3. Only Sticking To One Medium

Ecclesiastes 11:6 – “Sow your seed in the morning, and at evening let your hands not be idle, for you do not know which will succeed, whether this or that, or whether both will do equally well.” There are numerous platforms available for marketers and business owners, which can seem daunting. But this variety is actually to our advantage.

The Bible speaks about letting your hands work on many things, for you never know where you will reap profit—from here, there, or maybe both.

Ecclesiastes 11:2 – “Invest in seven ventures, yes, in eight; you do not know what disaster may come upon the land.”

As marketers, our job is to plant seeds everywhere and water them regularly. Even if many do not sprout immediately, we continue watering them in faith that they may grow.

With all the different ways of marketing, we often ask ourselves: Should I market at live events? Should I market at online events? Should I market through Facebook and Instagram? Should I market through TikTok and YouTube? Should I hand out flyers? Should I start email marketing?

The answer is YES. Do them all.

Proverbs 20:4 – “Sluggards do not plough in season; so at harvest time they look but find nothing.” Diversifying your marketing efforts increases the likelihood of a successful harvest. Plant your seeds in multiple places and tend to them diligently.

4. Never Testing Out New Strategies

Experimenting with and testing new strategies—from marketing tactics to business approaches and even different copywriting techniques—is one of the joys of being in business.

Once upon a time, I was majoring in Biochemistry at the University of Johannesburg, spending almost every day in a lab. Business is not so different from science. Imagine testing out theories and hypotheses and seeing if your experiment was successful by checking your bank balance!

This is the life of business. In all your marketing efforts, try new strategies and observe the results. Create an assumed outcome (hypothesis) and see if you achieve those results. If not, adjust and try again.

This method is also known as A/B testing: A/B Testing: A method where two versions (A and B) of something, such as a web page, advertisement, or content piece, are compared to see which one performs better based on specific metrics like engagement or conversion rates. It helps creators and researchers make data-driven decisions to improve effectiveness and achieve better results.

A great book that teaches this is “Scorecard Marketing” by Daniel Priestley. It promotes testing different strategies, specifically around scorecards, but the message remains the same. If you’re interested in getting more high-quality leads and more revenue, I highly recommend this book!

Scorecard Marketing by Daniel Priestley

5. Marketing To Be Known

When people hear the word “marketing,” they often assume it means making a message known. While this is true, it’s not the full picture.

Professional marketers market not just to be known but to know.

What does this mean?

As marketers, we often focus on spreading a message and forget to take in the messages the world sends us. Distributing data to be known is useful, but distributing data to receive data is powerful.

If you set up a stand at a business market day to gain exposure, you’ll receive some traction. But if your goal is to get to know everyone at the market day, discover their needs, pain points, and desires, you’ll be much better off.

For example, if you have a spa company offering a new form of stone massage and relaxation, and you ask people passing by to fill in a form about their muscle health, you’ll gain vital information. When you later offer them a spa day promotion, you can reference this data to secure them as loyal customers.

Proverbs 18:13 – “If one gives an answer before he hears, it is his folly and shame.”

James 1:19 – “Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger;”

Philippians 2:4 – “Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.”

These scriptures emphasize the importance of listening and understanding before taking action. In marketing, focusing on understanding your audience’s needs can lead to more effective engagement and relationships.

Conclusion:

In summary, effective marketing is not just about spreading your message but about constantly improving your strategies, setting clear goals, diversifying your efforts, testing new approaches, and deeply understanding your audience. By avoiding these common marketing mistakes—failing to track progress, neglecting goal-setting, sticking to a single medium, avoiding new strategies, and focusing only on being known—you can significantly enhance your business growth.

Remember, as Proverbs 16:3 says, “Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans.” By committing your marketing efforts to God and employing diligence, planning, and diversity in your strategies, you will pave the way for abundance and success.

Stay diligent, stay innovative, and keep your faith strong as you navigate the dynamic world of marketing. Plant your seeds everywhere, nurture them with care, and trust in God’s timing and provision for a bountiful harvest.