Things small business owners must avoid in marketing

Mistakes in marketing can prove to be quite damaging for a small business. Entrepreneurs who do not follow certain marketing practices end up closing the business much faster.

Marketing is the lifeline of any business. It is important for the entrepreneur to know what must be avoided in marketing, to prevent any failures

• Most often, a customer is burdened with lots of details about the product or service instead of highlighting how the customers would benefit from its purchase. An intelligently drafted marketing message attracts the customer’s attention much more compared to hundreds of words that describe the product or service. For sending the right marketing message, identify your customer’s expectations. Explain how your product or service meets all those expectations. Add to that the uniqueness of your product which makes it different from others and satisfies customer’s needs.

• Do not put your marketing efforts without providing a system for measurement of their effectiveness. Marketing is an investment which must give better returns. Whatever you spend on advertisement, promotion of product and your sales force must be accounted and tracked for returns. This measurement will help you to evaluate whether the marketing efforts have been successful or have become a non-value adding activity of your business. The measurement may be in terms of sales value, number of new as well as lost customers. If the product is good, loss of customers can only be due to bad marketing.

• Do not thrust your products on the customer, instead educate your customer about the product and service and highlight the benefits of buying it. You can offer free CDs, video cassettes and bulletins in exchange of their contact details and referrals. By educating the customers while marketing, you can win back many customers from competitors’ camp.

• Do not miss any opportunities to get in touch with your customer after the first sale. Keeping in touch with the customers develops their trust and ultimately helps in the growth of your business. Avoid underestimating the effect of sending season’s greetings or thank you cards and many other ways of reaching out to the customers. It is not an expense, but an investment which develops customer relationship.

• Do not waste efforts in capturing a market not conducive to your product or service. Identify your customers and the target market.

Last but not the least, do not fear making any mistakes, but learn from them.