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In
virtually every area of business, there will be pitfalls along
the
way. Marketing is no exception. Time and time again, retail
stores of
all sizes make the same costly mistakes.
But knowing
how to
avoid these mistakes can save you energy, disappointment –
and money.
Mistake
#1: Eliminating marketing efforts when times get tight.
When cash
flow slows, advertising, direct mail and other forms of
marketing
are the easiest expenses to reduce, right?
But cut
these, and
you eliminate the very activities that will bring in
new
customers to turn your business around.
This is the time
when you
may be spending more time analyzing the results of your
marketing
efforts. But by stopping marketing
efforts, you will
be setting
yourself up for additional loss of business.
Mistake
#2: Not measuring results.
Don’t wait
until times get tight to start measuring the results
of your
marketing efforts. By analyzing
regularly, you will be
able to
reinvest in what is working, and drop what isn’t. Ask
customers
how they found your business, and then track the
results. Use in-store or on-line coupons. Or host a
focus group
of a
variety of customers to discover what attracts them to your
business.
Mistake
#3: Putting all your marketing dollars in one area.
If your
entire marketing budget is used on just one method of
promoting
your business, you won’t realize the highest return on
your
investment. Diversifying your efforts
will increase the
frequency
and reach of your messages and stretch your marketing
dollars.
Businesses
can get hooked into one large advertising program with
a local
newspaper, magazine or radio station, and put the
majority of
their marketing dollars there. They
feel as if they
have to
advertise with the same media source, just because they
always have
or because fear they will lose ground since their
competitors
are advertising there as well. Some
business owners
actually
stay with a company for fear of upsetting their sales
associate.
Remember,
it’s your money and your investment.
Don’t ever let
anyone talk
you into an advertising program that is not producing
the best
results for your business. And measure the results of
your
advertising dollars spent vs. the income received from your
advertising
on a consist basis.
When you
diversify, don’t’ forget about direct marketing. Many
business
owners only do a few direct-mail programs a year,
targeted to
their existing customer base. They need
to do more.
Your
customer base and mailing list is gold, make sure you have
budgeted a
large part of your marketing dollars to advertise to
your
existing customers. They already love
you, so keep them
coming in
by sending promotional (promotional – not just sale)
postcards
to them at least six times a year.
Mistake
#4: Allowing your ego to get in the way of common sense.
Ego can
tempt a very bright person to do dumb things.
Your
marketing
decisions should be based on factors that will
positively
impact some area of your business – usually the bottom
line.
Buying full-page ads or covers featuring yourself and not
focusing on
your business’ unique offerings may result in money
going out
the window.
Mistake
#5: Not getting help when you need it.
If you find
you’re too busy to handle your marketing efforts or
that your
materials aren’t looking as professional as they
should,
it’s time to call in the reinforcements.
Hire a full-or
part-time
employee to allow you more free time to work on the
“business
end” or hire an independent business consultant to
bring in
new concepts and fresh ideas.
Debbie
Allen is a motivational business speaker with an expertise
in sales
and marketing. She has presented to
thousands of people
in nine
countries around the world. Her
expertise has been
featured in
“Entrepreneur”, “Sales Marketing Excellence” and
“Selling Power.” She is the author of five books including
her
best
seller, “Confessions of Shameless Self Promoters” published
in five
countries. To learn more about her
presentations or to
take her
free business card quiz to evaluate your own marketing,
view the
website at www.DebbieAllen.com
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