Discussing :: How to avoid common marketing mistakes

« back to Forums Index / Article Discussions / How to avoid common marketing mistakes

Mistake #10: Underestimating the importance of current customers. Very true. I work in IT and this is common mistake. Once Vendors have your contract they tend to break promises and treat you unprofessionally. Then suddenly when there contract is about to expire they are your best mate and bend over backwards to keep you happy. But it too little to late. It's a competitive market out there so keep your current customer very happy otherwise you will lose contracts.

As this piece touches on in Mistake 10, marketing is far more then just advertising. Yes, the first obstacle that stops your customers buying from you is their lack of awareness of what you are offering, if they don't know you exist of course they can't buy from you. The next obstacle is they need to see how your product or service can help resolve a problem for them. Both of these can be done through advertising. However, once customers want your product, and perhaps once they have already purchased it in the past, they become their very own market segment, with totally unique marketing needs that often get ignored. They need to access, which sounds like a given, but isn't really. Obviously they need to know how and where they can buy from you, but the process itself needs to be as pain free for them as possible, and their expectations must be met and exceeded. If they come into your store wanting to purchase a product, but be expecting service and advice in choosing exactly which model. If you fail this expectation your marketing has failed. This is true for all contact a customer has with you once they are aware of and desire your product or service, from payment methods, delivery, knowing how to use your product once they have it, and follow up service. The most important market segment is the one that has already responded to your advertising, and if you neglect them then, you've wasted your advertisment.

The most valuable point of the 10 "mistakes" stated above is number 2! No matter how good your product or service, if the market is not there or not prepared to pay what you want, then your business will fail!! If you can't afford to lose money, do your market research, otherwise your business may not reach its potential.

Many thanks for these tips. Clear,easy to follow and I now have some new tools to use