3 Marketing Mistakes You Need to Stop Making (And What To Do Instead)

Some marketing tactics can actually hinder your company’s growth. Here’s three marketing mistakes that could be costing your customers, and how to fix them.

1. Everything Is a Sales Pitch

Constant self-promotion will stall any actual conversations between you and your audience, preventing you from finding out what they truly want while also turning them away from your business. In fact, 45% of customers say they will leave a brand if their social media page contains too many ads.

In order to properly engage with your audience, you need to start and participate in genuine conversations with them. Ask questions and take polls on social media, then continue the discussion in the comments. Create content based on the insights gained from that to build thought leadership and let your audience know that you are listening to them.

As they move closer to conversion, then you can share the ways that your company can resolve their pain points then close the sale with a relevant promotional offer.

2. The Bait and Switch

When you make a bold claim or a too-good-to-be-true promise, the intent is most often to generate clicks, without much thought left for what happens when the reader realizes that you can’t actually deliver. Click-bait is dangerous because it makes you lose credibility, and brand trust has a significant impact on most customers’ large purchase decisions.

Headlines, titles, and subject lines should be specific, but easy to understand so a reader can skim it and know immediately whether they’re interested in what you have to offer. Fortunately, there are ways to title your social media posts and content marketing that is enticing but don’t fall in the realm of clickbait:

  • People like numbers, especially odd ones! Use digits in your title to spark curiosity.
  • Include “rationale” about why readers should click on the headline with words like “tips,” “reasons,” “ways,” and more.
  • Incorporate the four U’s: unique, ultra-specific, urgent, and useful.

3. One-Size-Fits-All Marketing

Forty-four percent of customers say they are likely to become repeat buyers after a company offers a personalized experience, such as by giving targeted recommendations. While it’s valid to want each customer to know about your special promotions and new services, if it doesn’t apply to them, they won’t be interested. In fact, they may even be frustrated because of the impersonal shopping experience.

Here are some ways you can make your marketing more personalized:

  • Segment your article based on past purchases, industry, and other interests that help narrow down what you’re most likely to buy.
  • Use dynamic content to further customize messaging, ads, and calls-to-action within personalized content based on other demographic information, such as location.

Conclusion

Marketing mistakes can stall your growth and turn customers away from your brand. It’s essential that you listen to what customers want before you start promoting yourself, avoid clickbait in your content and advertisements, and create campaigns that are as personalized as possible to strengthen your marketing strategy.

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