Common Marketing Errors That Will Destroy Your Business! - By: Vlad Ehrsam, Posted on: 2006-12-05

Mistakes are part of doing business and employees make them daily. Factors such as the size of the business, the number of associates, and a failure of management to review progress within departments. You will have to recognize and address marketing strategies if you are to avoid making the easy mistakes.

No Marketing Plan

Most small business owners don't have a marketing blueprint. Many lack a working marketing plan because of the manner used to fund their enterprise. It should not be surprising to learn that over half of small businesses begin with very little start-up capital because they do not seek investors to help fund their enterprise.

Success in any business depends upon a carefully constructed marketing plan. You would not go on a road trip without a map, so why go into business without a plan to guide you on the journey? Going into business is inviting failure and if you simply break the marketing down into its core elements, you will find that you feel more confident about your business and its chances of success.

Being Oblivious to the Market

It is not uncommon for someone to not analyze their market by asking the who, what, where and when questions that can help you understand it. Your target market must be accessible because if it is not, you are in trouble.

"Who" refers to the type of customer that purchases the company's products and/or services? This often begins with listing by genders, age groups, ethnic groups, and local establishments.

"Where" is the location of the company's prospects, for instance: the neighborhood within a specific radius of the location, and the company's competitors' customers?

"What" Refers to the limits that are set? Location is important! Know the company's competitors' location, and areas they are servicing. This is helpful in determining if any limitations exist.

Interchanging Products and Services

Business diehards often enter one endeavor after another without being specific. Mass confusion occurs when this happens because there is no definition of "what type" of products and/or services the company sells. Most of these businesses use the term "full-service" as a title of what they do for the customer. Interchanging products and services may fatten your profit, but it causes too much customer confusion to be worthwhile.

Lack of a Business Plan

A business with no plan guiding it is destined for problems. You also don't want a plan that is dependent upon the actions and advice of others. People want things that are tangible so your dream must be believable and a plan helps make it so. Every step in the process should be carefully thought out and executed by you and you alone. The foundation of a company ultimately rests upon your knowledge and experience.

Not Responding to Customers

The business world continues to spin faster and faster so you need to immediately respond to the concerns of your customers. Slow response times can cost you customers. The holidays are a great example.

A customer in a hurry jogs into a department store and cannot believe that there are at least fifty people or more waiting in line to be helped.

A: Does the customer patiently wait in line? B: Does the retail manager open another register?

Of course, the answer is (B). In order to keep the customer happy, the retail manager opens another register to accommodate the crowd.

Avoiding common marketing errors is easy once you realize you're committing them. Take a course of action and review your strategies on a monthly basis, at least. Hire a professional business consultant to help you work through the quirks. It's an investment well spent.

Free Article brought to YOU by ArticlesOn.com, where you'll find Articles On Everything! Visit http://articleson.com to get more free content.

About the author: Vlad Ehrsam is the chief writer at Full Info on Business, it's one of the webs most up to date Business sites, why not sign up for the free Business newsletter.
This article is available as a unique content article with free reprint rights.

Please Rate this Article

5 out of 54 out of 53 out of 52 out of 51 out of 5 

Not yet Rated

Excellent Hosting Service