Brand marketing mistakes can affect consumers’ perspective of a company. So the following tips will hopefully steer you away from failure and into a better understanding of how to create a successful and thriving business.
Inconsistent content
You?ve probably heard the phrase, “content is king”. Whoever made up that term was onto something. In a time where online is taking over print and bloggers are becoming more influential than magazine journalists, just about anyone can create interesting and engaging content.
The internet is your oyster. Use this to your advantage. If you look at any successful business, chances are there’s also a blog to be found, updated on a weekly basis. In fact, companies with blogs produce 67 per cent more leads per month than those without. This is definitely something to consider if you want to draw in engagement and activity.
However, it needs to be consistent there’s no point doing the odd post here and there. Whether it’s weekly, monthly or yearly you need to be consistent. It’s also a good way to keep your customers in the loop of things going on within the company.
Lack of online engagement and social media understanding
If your brand marketing strategy doesn’t involve social media then you are missing the mark and your business will suffer. That’s where most consumer activity happens. A study into social media found that 67 per cent of consumers use a company’s social media site for servicing. Some 33 per cent of users prefer it as a means of contact rather than the telephone or email.
Also note that every brand is?different. Whilst Facebook campaigns work for some, Instagram sponsorships work for others. Find out what works for you and you will definitely see better results.
Similarly, if you have social media but leave it for days without a tweet or a post, chances are your customers will either unfollow or will be less likely to engage when you do post. The most successful companies are consistent and speak directly to customers.
Not going mobile
One of the biggest brand marketing mistakes is not going mobile. A recent report showed over half of traffic to retail websites comes in via smartphones and tablets. Mobile commerce now accounts for 36 per cent of UK e-retail sales. So if your business isn’t mobile friendly, it could deter consumers from buying from your products/services.
Too much selling
No consumer wants to receive shouty emails, tweets or phone calls with your brand talking about what it offers time and time again. While it may seem like the quickest way to get a sale, it’s detrimental to your brand. The odd sell in email doesn’t hurt, but try to blend it in amongst other content that is less about you and more about your sector as a whole.
Ignoring negative feedback
Many businesses hate negative feedback. It’s not a great feeling, yet as a brand you have to take this negative feedback and turn it into something positive. If the customer did not like something and took the time to leave an opinion, surely that means you are missing the mark somewhere. Rather than have a strop it’s better to take these things on board and improve for next time.
If you receive negative feedback over social media, it always looks better if you reply to that customer by apologising or perhaps asking if they can elaborate so you can really get to the heart of the problem.
Failure to measure results
A failure to measure results can sometimes be the pitfall in a brand marketing strategy as everything will be all over the place and inaccurate. This task can sometimes be a little overwhelming, meaning the data is a little off. It may be best to have an in-house marketing and SEO executive who can measure results accurately using websites such as Google Analytics.
Having a loose brand marketing strategy, or no strategy at all
Many brands lose out on consumer activity by not having a solid strategy in place from the get go. There is a well-known business statistic that 90 per cent of organisations fail to execute on strategies. Without it, business objectives and goals seem unachievable and perhaps a little unclear. It will leave employees without any solid idea or plan.
A recent study into business development found that ?Fuzzy business objectives, out-of-sync stakeholders, and excessive rework” meant 75 per cent of employees lacked confidence that their projects would succeed. It’s best to come up with a plan that covers every aspect so everyone knows what they?re working on.
Not knowing your customer
This is quite a common mistake. Bosses think they know their customer going by what they are offering, yet without any market research how do they really know who they are targeting” Not knowing your core customer can cost your business. Again, it comes down to planning, strategy and market research the latter of which isimperative.
The wrong branding
Branding can make a huge impact on corporate success, and sometimes the simplest yet consistent methods works. Look at the likes of Nike and Starbucks. Both are able to engage an audience while being recognisable against competitors. An interesting study found that a signature colour can boost brand recognition by 80 per cent which is a huge amount. Ensure your branding is both appealing to the consumer.
Budget
Budgets can be a tricky area to tackle and often can be lacking in some areas, leaving out core elements of a business. If you have a substantial budget for product development, but have a poor budget for marketing then your consumers won’t see the amazing products you are creating. What’s the point” Marketing is a crucial element for getting maximum exposure.
Written by the experts at Romax
