Every type of business has "rules of thumb" to operate by - often rules that are taken for granted. Sometimes it's important to question those rules to determine what you should adhere to, and what may in fact end up being myths. Let's try and conquer the top marketing myths to avoid, and look at some key takeaways.
Myth #1 - Marketing is different from sales
The language of sales and marketing are the same. Marketing needs to craft its message so that it nails the customer need in the first few sentences. Know what it is that keeps the customer up at night and use that to pique their interest in your message. While marketing and sales play a huge role together in any business, it comes down to marketing bringing in the necessary amount of qualified leads for sales to meet their goals.
Myth #2 - Marketing is not about numbers
Marketing is all about the numbers. Start with a target, factor in your closing ratio, your average revenue per sale, then you will know how many leads you need to generate from a given marketing activity. You will be able to determine the average cost per lead, average cost per sale, and your ultimate ROI.
Again - it’s all about the numbers!
Myth #3 - Business is going great, so I don't need to do any marketing
Don't ever deceive yourself in thinking that you should take your foot off the gas pedal. What if a big client cancels, or sales go down, a recession occurs, or some other unforeseen event takes a hit on revenue? Prepare yourself for these situations by planning ahead and moving your business forward with marketing. You should always be trying to fill up your sales pipeline. If you have more sales than you can handle and you have to add another position, is that really a problem?
Myth #4 - Everyone should do marketing for the sake of doing it
Always have a marketing strategy in place. Know how many sales you need and what you need to do to hit your numbers. Look at all of your different marketing campaigns and determine where you get your highest return on investment. Then you can continue to implement and refine those marketing campaigns.
Myth #5 - Advertising and marketing are the same
Some people think these are the same thing, but really they just work closely together. Advertising is a tactical promotion of your product or services in front of your target market. Marketing helps to determine a strategy and who your buyer persona is, what you do to attract them to your brand, and how you can convince them that what you are offering can help them.
Myth #6 - Marketing campaigns should have a start and end date
Marketing campaigns need to be systematic and concurrent. The end of a campaign is not date-driven, but rather driven by the exhaustion of the list. A good campaign can go to different niches with very little additional effort. I have a friend who calls these “oil wells.” They are set up around a theme and just keep producing leads. They run with little maintenance because they are set up to be systematic.
Myth #7 - Newsletters are dead
Newsletters are still a great way to continuously remind your customers of your brand. Even if they look at it and throw it out, your brand will still be in the back of their mind. Down the road, or even right then, they will remember your name when they are looking for a service you provide.
Develop a physical monthly newsletter that they receive in their mailboxes on the first of the month, or as close to it as you can. The reason behind this is that if they get it in the middle of the month, they may look at you as being unreliable and feel that your services may be, too. Have a consistently formatted layout so that the reader knows what to look for month to month.
Traditional marketing is every bit important as online marketing these days, so don't fall for the marketing myths that you hear! Talk to our marketing company in Lancaster, PA to get better results from your marketing.
