Do you remember when everyone thought 2020 was just a horrible nightmare? We could not wait for 2021 to come around; as if everything that was happening would just magically disappear in the new year and things would be finally back to normal.
Didn’t exactly turn out that way, now did it?
Instead, here we are facing the world’s biggest hangover from 2020. It is time we realize that things will never ‘return to normal’, and learn to embrace the new normal instead. For some of us business owners, that means tweaking and adjusting traditional methods of doing business to appeal to a world that is becoming increasingly digital and less dependent on brick-and-mortar stores, as audiences continue to enjoy greater convenience for all their shopping and entertainment needs online.
Avoid the crowd that refuses to change as they wait for things to ‘get better'. The world of business is online. To ignore this fact is to deliberately stunt your business’s profit potential. That being said, here are 5 Marketing Mistakes you need to STOP making to ensure your 2022 is a flourishing success.
STOP Depending Solely on Traditional Marketing Techniques
If you’re still depending on physical business cards, flyers, billboards and TV commercials to market your business, now is the time to level up your strategy with digital marketing. With digital marketing, your marketing campaigns can easily reach a limitless number of people beyond your geographical boundaries.
In contrast, imagine being able to advertise directly to the people who are interested in what you sell? No hoping that the right people will notice your ads. You will be able to control who sees your ads so that you’re continuously attracting the right people. Now combine these potential customers with your current offline audience and boom! Instantly, you have a larger reach, more exposure and a lot more sales. Digital marketing also trumps traditional marketing methods in that it is a lot more cost-effective. With so many free and low-cost resources online that allow you to create your own professional advertisements, investing in digital marketing will most certainly allow your business to retain a lot more profit than it ever did before.
STOP Downplaying the Importance of Social Media in Your Marketing Strategy
Many businesses immediately start with a website when they get online. And there is nothing wrong with that. With a business website, your audience can easily see everything you have to offer and can make purchasing decisions more quickly. However, owning a website is not enough. Why? Because audiences will only come to your website if they already know about your business. Therefore, you need to create a way for them to find you online without purposely searching for you. The simple solution to this is social media marketing.
Social media is a huge breeding ground for your businesses to grow your audience and increase traffic to your website. Social platforms like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, for example, are great places to start your digital marketing journey. Once you have gained some traction, it’s then much easier to encourage people to your website. They will be only too happy to hop over, provided that the content you share through social media is appealing and valuable to them.
STOP Hard-Selling Your Product/Service Online at Every Chance You Get
Speaking of value, if your business is guilty of the ‘Me Me Mentality’ where all you do is consistently promote your business and products all over social media, you need to stop immediately. You may find that you lose more customers than you gain through using this strategy. What you need to do instead, is provide value to your audience through creating shareable content. This means providing your audience with information that they can potentially use now in their daily or business lives. It means sharing relatable content that can evoke emotion in your audience.
There are many ways to do this, such as sharing educational information about your industry, sharing content from another individual or business account you find inspirational, sharing an experience or struggle you went through and overcame, a motivational quote or even a funny story. People enjoy seeing this type of content and will be more inclined to share it, thus giving your brand winder exposure. Sharing content like this also sends a strong message about what your brand represents. When people see you bringing value to their lives, they will be more likely to want to follow and invest in your business.
STOP Wasting Your Resources by NOT Outsourcing Required Skills
There was once a time when companies were able to afford the luxury of hiring a full-time staff to manage all the different areas of their business. These days though, many are finding it convenient to utilize freelance workers, consultants and other categories of specialised workers. This can save your company time and resources if your current staff are not experts in the requisite areas.
This is why you need to start outsourcing the areas of your business that require specific skill sets. When you outsource the skills you need, you contract an individual or company outside your firm who has the necessary skill/s to perform the required tasks for you. Once the job is done, you can end the contract or decide to renew if the service is still required. It is a neat and convenient way of doing business for both parties and will save your company a few thousand dollars on monthly wage expenses.
STOP Using Your Website as a Notice Board
Regardless of how good your website looks or how high-quality your content is, if your website is not updated regularly nor optimized for online transactions, and interactions you are losing out on potential customers. The comfort of convenience has never been so important as it has now become in 2022 where so many of us find ourselves working from home and are less interested in the everyday commute.
This means that once your audience finds your website, the next step they will take is to start looking for information, prices and payment options. Be sure to provide them with these. Be transparent with your prices and if possible, provide them with more than one payment option (e.g., credit/debit card, mobile payment app, etc.). The more convenient you can make your customer’s shopping experience, the more profitable they will help make your business.
So, there you have it! The 5 ways that you are going to turn over a new leaf for the year 2022. We are saying
NO to excessive self-promotion,
NO to online presences that don’t engage and inspire,
NO to depending on solely traditional means of marketing and
YES to making your business more resourceful and efficient through learning to outsource needed skills. Who’s with me?
Let’s discuss it in the comments.