How *NOT* to Market Your Business
Nearly every blog post from TAC(t) is about what you should be doing, things to improve upon, or tools to utilize to best grow your business/brand. Shameless plug here— our blog is a great place to find resources, tips, and free advice from Marketing pros (especially if you’re a business owner).
Let’s switch it up this week, shall we? In this post, I’m warning you about a few common Marketing mistakes to avoid and teaching you how not to Market your business/brand.
Sell, Sell, Sell
Have you ever heard of the give-ask strategy? Salespeople use it constantly. On a very basic level, this strategy involves giving something of value several times and then asking for something in return once. For example, this could look like a landscaping company sharing helpful lawn tips over social media, creating a blog to answer common landscaping questions, or offering free consulting calls on landscape projects. After giving these things, the landscape company would then ask for their audience’s business.
TextUs sums it up best:
“When you give and create a valuable connection first, you can then go for the ask to schedule demos, book meetings, and get answers to your questions — but only if you’ve built up enough emotion for them to be familiar with you and willing to respond to your ask.”
Avoiding Social Media
If you think your business/brand is too boring for social media, I’m here to tell you— this is completely false. I understand the whole thing can be a little intimidating; there’s a lot to think about— which platform to use, establishing a content strategy, and trying to come up with fresh content will resonate with your audience.
But folks… it’s 2022, and your business/brand needs a social media presence for long-term growth, brand awareness, and credibility. It may sound like a big undertaking (and I know it can be), but you are only hurting your business/brand by staying ‘off the grid.’
If you need some help getting started on social media, here’s a roundup of some blog posts you may find helpful:
Misunderstanding Your Audience (Or Not Knowing Them At All)
To successfully Market anything, it’s critical you know the reason you’re Marketing. You need to really understand your target audience, and I’m not just talking about their demographic information. Ask yourself:
What motivates my audience to buy?
Why should they buy/work with me?
What problems are they facing? Why?
Why am I the one to help them solve those problems?
What does my ideal customer or client look like?
Once you can answer questions like these, you’ll better understand who you’re Marketing to— and you won’t be shooting in the dark, hoping just maybe-with-sugar-on-top, to reach the right consumer with your Marketing efforts.
If you find yourself doing any of these things, don’t fear! There’s always time to turn around your Marketing game and get strategic about who you’re reaching and how you’re reaching them!
If you need help avoiding these common mistakes, let me know! The entire reason TAC(t) exists is to help businesses/brands achieve their goals through thoughtful, strategic Marketing tactics that actually work.