Marketing is a critical component of any business, and staying up to date with the latest trends and best practices is essential to avoid common small business marketing mistakes that can harm your business or stop you from generating leads and sales. In this article, we’ll explore ten marketing mistakes you must avoid in 2023 to ensure your marketing efforts are effective.
Marketing Mistake 1: Ignoring the Power of Video
Video is an increasingly important part of the marketing landscape, and businesses that ignore its power risk falling behind their competitors. In 2023, make sure to incorporate video into your marketing strategy, whether it’s through social media, your website, or other channels. In 2023 the average person watches 17 hours’ worth of online videos a week! Coupled with the fact that 84% of people are convinced to buy a product or service because of a brand’s video, and viewers retain 95% of a message from video versus 10% if reading, then video for business is a no brainer.
Video content is highly shareable, which can extend its reach beyond your existing audience. People are more likely to share video content than other types of content, making it an effective tool for increasing brand visibility and building customer loyalty. Video content that goes viral can provide a massive boost to a brand’s visibility and attract new customers.
Remember, people buy from people, so the more they experience the authentic you, the better their trust in you will be. Video does that.
Marketing Mistake 2: Not Focusing on Mobile Users
With the majority of internet traffic coming from mobile devices, it’s crucial to prioristise mobile optimisation in your marketing efforts. Make sure your website, emails, and other marketing materials are optimised for mobile users. It’s an easy small business marketing mistake to make.
Marketing Mistake 3: Neglecting SEO
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is a necessity in any marketing strategy. Neglecting SEO can harm your visibility in search engine results and lead to missed opportunities for customer acquisition. Make sure your website is optimised for search engines and create content that includes relevant keywords.
Marketing Mistake 4: Ignoring Social Media
Social media is a powerful tool for engaging with customers and building brand awareness. In 2023, make sure to have an active presence on social media platforms relevant to your target audience; and ensure you are engaging & not just posting. Your content needs to add value to the lives of your audience so average content will not do!
Marketing Mistake 5: Failing to Measure Results
Measuring the results of your marketing efforts is crucial to understanding what’s working and what’s not. Failing to measure your results can lead to missed opportunities for optimisation and improvement. Use the many tools at your disposal to create a rounded view of performance and use that insight to drive change.
Marketing Mistake 6: Being Too Salesy
Customers are bombarded with sales messages, and being too salesy can turn them off. Instead, focus on messages that provide value to your audience and builds trust. If you have “being helpful” at the heart of your marketing, you’ll win. Remember you wouldn’t ask someone to marry you straight away so why try sell to someone straight away?
Marketing Mistake 7: Not Targeting the Right Audience
Knowing your target audience is critical to creating effective marketing campaigns. Failing to target the right audience can result in wasted resources and missed opportunities for customer acquisition. Think niche! The more niche you are the better your results will be because you’ll connect so much better with your audience.
Marketing Mistake 8: Neglecting Email Marketing
Email marketing for small businesses is a highly effective way to engage with customers and drive sales. You must have a customer contact and prospect contact strategies in place – your data, coupled with email marketing is a pile of cash waiting to be converted.
Marketing Mistake 9: Don’t be afraid of using AI in your Small business
Small businesses can greatly benefit from incorporating AI software into their workplace and marketing strategies. AI can automate time-consuming tasks, improve productivity, and streamline operations. With AI-powered tools, you can perform marketing tasks that would otherwise take away valuable time & resource that can be spent elsewhere.
Next Steps:
- Score your performance on each area out of 10.
- Prioritise these areas and which will make the most difference to your business right now.
- What steps can you take to improve your performance in the areas you have prioritised?
Want to learn more?
Our Inner Circle Programme is a one of a kind coaching & training programme for small businesses. We teach all of this and more.
