There are two huge marketing mistakes that many companies make, and if you're not careful, you could easily fall into one of these traps yourself. You might be thinking, why only two? Because at the core of all your marketing, these two aspects can help simplify the rest of your efforts.
Marketing campaigns have a tendency to become wildly complex. Marketing mistakes that many companies make, however, stem from being too complex and not being able to accurately communicate their message. They are out there to make a scene, a stunt, or a grand gesture that they're hoping their customers would appreciate. But tactics like these are in no way beneficial in the long run.
If you want to create effective marketing messages, you need to understand what catches people's focus. Their attention is important, but it's only temporary. If you want your marketing to be sustainable and effective, you have to fight for your customers' focus.
Marketing is all about effective communication first and foremost, but it can't just be a regurgitation of facts or product features. Marketing works only if the customer understands what you're saying. If you confuse your customers with complicated marketing campaigns, they'll quickly tune out.
Your pitch is only as good as how you say it. In this post, we'll take a closer look at each of these mistakes and how to avoid them. Keep reading for some helpful tips!
Marketing Mistake #1: They're Not Helping People Survive and Thrive
The human brain is good at a million things. But the overriding function of the brain is to help an individual survive and thrive. Everything your brain does is to help people and those that person cares about, get ahead in life.
So when we market our company's products and services: If we talk about our backstory or buzzword-laden descriptions of all the benefits that buyers will get from our product, we're missing an opportunity to help people survive and thrive.
One HUGE marketing mistake companies and business owners make is not acknowledging that everything their customers do, every day, involves helping people survive and thrive. They think it's about making sales or getting their product in front of more eyes. Marketing isn't about those things—it's about using the tools you have to help your audience meet their primal need to survive.
The marketing world is obsessed with metrics like clicks, views, conversions, and sales. They're not bad things to track—they can give you great insights into how your marketing efforts are doing. But at the end of the day (or more accurately, the beginning), marketing is about helping humans survive and thrive through whatever product or service you have on offer. Now that almost every business is online, one of the common marketing mistakes most of them commit is to focus on the wrong numbers. If the profits are high, and your brand's reception and recognition are strong, you wouldn't care a lot about why your last Instagram post got only two likes.
When you write your sales copy, create your website, or send an email to your potential customers, make sure that you highlight how your product will help them survive and thrive. This slight tweak to your brand messaging can help you avoid more marketing mistakes.
Who's at The Center of Your Marketing Efforts?
If all your marketing materials talk about yourself, you can be easily ignored. Even if you're so tempted to share your backstory or how you only started with only $2,000 and a dream. Unfortunately, your customers don't care. It's one of those old-fashioned marketing practices that turned into one of the most common marketing mistakes.
Put Your Customer First - It's More Than Just Being Polite; It's Also Good Business.
They want to know if your brand can help them solve a problem or achieve something that they've been craving for.
As a business, it's critical to establish what your consumer wants since we immediately pose a story question in the mind of our consumer: Can this brand truly assist me in obtaining what I desire?
When we can grasp what our customers desire and express it plainly, the narrative we're inviting them into gets clarity and guidance.
Take a quick look at how you're presenting your brand to your target market. Are you talking about how you bumped into this idea in the shower? Or are you showing them the best-case scenario of how awesome their lives would be if only they chose you?
In Donald Miller's book, Building a StoryBrand, he explains how every successful marketing campaign invites people into a story where they come out on the other side as better people. Miller has helped thousands of companies clarify their messaging and reach more customers.
His StoryBrand Framework positions the customer as the Hero, or the main character in the story.
In your marketing messages, invite your customers into an experience or a success story that they've been craving, and your marketing message will be hard to ignore.
Marketing Mistake #2: Their Message Sounds Confusing
A lot of brands out there invest so much in more publicity, search engine optimization, and all kinds of flashy graphics just to stand out. But no matter how much money you throw into ads, you won't get new customers if you have a confusing message.
If You Want to Reach More New Customers, The Best Way to Start Is With a Clear Message.
A simple, easy-to-understand message is the foundation of all sound marketing strategies.
Remember what we talked about the human brain? It's constantly looking for information on how you can get ahead in life. When your message lands in front of your ideal audience, you better be clear about your message or it can get drowned in all the noise.
Successful companies these days reach more prospects and enrich their existing customers because their message is so easy to share. It's simple enough for them to tell others about the brands they love.
Think of all your personal top three brands. Why do you like them? Nine times out of ten, you have a simple explanation why. You wouldn't spend more than a minute trying to explain why you picked your phone. You can just say, well, it's an iPhone!
Your new and existing customers deserve clarity. If we want to show up for them in the best way, we do it with a clear message.
Every Successful Marketing Campaign Follows This Framework
The StoryBrand Framework is a seven-part marketing roadmap that your brand can follow. It's based on the common elements in all of mankind's favorite stories.
It treats your customer as the main character, the hero of the story. Every hero bumps into a problem. Your role in this story is to guide them into the solution they need, give them a clear plan on how to solve their problem, help them avoid failure, and end their story as a success.
This Framework has helped thousands of brands from Fortune 500 companies to your mom and pop shops.
It will help you simplify your messaging so you can avoid these huge marketing mistakes in the future.
Get to Work and Simplify Your Marketing Strategy
Sign up for the StoryBrand Workshop today and empower your brand with stories that resonate with your ideal customers. See how a clear message can change the way you show up for the people you serve.
In this workshop, you'll be working with StoryBrand Certified Guides to help you establish your brand's story and coach you on how your business can succeed by helping your customers thrive.
Click here for more valuable information!
