An Honest answer to why your Marketing is Failing

In this Week’s Blog we share some insights and Mistakes we have made or have seen in the Past when it comes to marketing, So that you don’t have to fall into the same trap!

Planning

It is very easy for you to start a business. Keeping it going, however, is where the challenge lies. Most Start-ups focus on that first year, whether planned or out of necessity. As a business you have to constantly look at how you can re-invent yourself. It is actually quite recent that Social Media became such phenom when it comes to online marketing! Pretty sure people don’t consider flyers, which is still one of the most effective marketing tools available today. Think Car windows, think shopping malls, think vouchers. The simplest ideas do still have the most Impact.

Adapt

You might be an amazing blogger, but it means nothing if there is no one to write for? What does that mean exactly? Well you have to think bigger than your current trait. I have come across clients who create leather jackets, only to teach themselves how to code their own website. You cannot go into business believing what you know is enough, or be above learning something new. Your business growth is dependent on you. You have to be brave, even if you think you can’t. If you had the guts to take the first leap…why not take another?

Know your Client

You would be amazed how many SME’s don’t even consider this point. Where are your clients? What are they into? What do they do and how will they see you? Are they old enough to buy from you? Is your product geared towards them? You’re wasting marketing resources if you are trying to sell a high-end leather couch to an 18 year old. Yet businesses are still shocked when I point this out to them in their Facebook advertising. Be specific when targeting your client.

Be Specific

Speaking of which, Facebook is very specific to help you ensure your advert is seen by the right clients. Yet I keep seeing People trying to sell me a website? Me who can create a website for you. This is one of the reasons why I always try teach my clients how to make their own ads first. To see that A: it’s simple enough, but also B: It all comes down to planning.

Use the Right Channels

If you are selling a New beer for example. Would you create flyers and drop them at an old age home? No, you are more likely to find said clients if you advertise for an outdoor event or collab with a similar type of music festival.

Be Patient

If you build it, they will come. Being in Marketing I have been down this road many times. Doing an advert and thinking! Yes! This is it! It looks so good clients will roll in…which rarely happens. It takes time to establish a brand, and then one has to create trust…that can take a very very long time. And if anyone tells your otherwise, they are buttering you up. Trust me, I’ve seen it all. The secret is…Persistence. You cannot give up!

Bad Service

You are in competition all the time. Accept that you might be good in your field, but there could be someone better. And that’s okay. Just like there is a better there is also someone who also offers a worse product or service than you. Remember if you have longevity in mind, it means being consistently good in what you do. So do that.

Lazy Marketing

A consistent rhetoric I hear is that: “We are a start-up so finances is limited”. Yes, so what is the idea, that you get to it eventually? The finances that you do have available need to be allocated wisely. If you get up and get ready for work, do you just stand up and get in your car? Surely not. At the least you wash your face and maybe put some deodorant on. Your brand is seen in the same way. It is being judged right now, someone is looking it and saying mmm, I can do that in Word. And if they can…then boy oh boy you are going to get lost in the noise very quickly. As in you will be forgotten, quicker than your business was created. That leads me to my next point:

You are not Investing enough

Marketing is a constant and yes, it is an investment. Want to know why you are not growing? Cause you don’t stand out. Visually, on a marketing capacity, or with a digital presence. If anywhere in this subject you went oef…then I am talking to you.

Try something and then Try something new

Guess what? You are going to fail before you succeed. It is going take 9 ads that don’t work before you find the one that does. And that is simply cause there is no definitive recipe when it comes to marketing. What might work here, might not work there and that is simply one of those things. Rest assured though, there is a solution to every problem, so don’t give up on your business no matter how challenging it becomes. And it will become challenging. So be resilient and don’t stop trying new things!