Marketers, like all people, make mistakes. This is the reality. There is an opinion that the one who does nothing makes no mistakes. There is some truth in this opinion, but an even greater part of the truth is that very often many mistakes can be avoided if you know about their existence. Due to the fact that any mistake brings all sorts of losses, we have prepared a list of the most mistakes in marketing strategy to help avoid them.
#1. The Analysis Stage Was Skipped or the Analysis Is Based on Non-Relevant Data
Marketing research is the basis for the analysis of the external and internal environment of the enterprise. The correctness and reliability of the study largely determine the correctness of the conclusions and plans, built on the basis of its results. For marketing analysis, the collection of primary or secondary data is necessary. Obtaining primary data involves the collection of data on the state of the market and its elements from primary sources.
Here are the most significant mistakes that companies make when collecting primary data:
- When planning marketing research, the firm did not clearly define its goals and objectives, as a result of which a large amount of irrelevant information can be obtained that makes it difficult to make the right marketing decision;
- Turing the preparation of the marketing research the company made a mistake in choosing its method of conducting;
- The company made a mistake in choosing the object of study. An example of such an error could be that a company that plans to sell its products directly to a consumer has chosen wholesalers’ managers as its respondents, whose opinion may differ significantly from the opinions of customers;
- The questions proposed to the respondents were not always either correct or easy to understand;
- The company made a mistake in selecting interviewers in terms of their qualifications, communication skills, etc.;
- At the stage of analysis of the results obtained, errors in interpretation were made, and consequently, in the formation of the future strategy of the company.
The collection of secondary data involves the accumulation of information previously collected for purposes not related to marketing directly (statistical directories, periodicals, in-house documentation). At the same time, secondary information has a number of flaws: it may be outdated, controversial, of a generalized nature, and have a dubious degree of reliability.
The lack of monitoring of changes in the market, customer behavior, policies of suppliers and competitors, increases the likelihood of a late reaction to the changes. Lack of information can lead to uncontrollable expenses and financial losses.
#2. There Are No Clear Goals and Criteria for a Successful Marketing Strategy
Seneca said: “When the ship does not know to which pier it needs to come, not a single wind will be fair.” If we don’t understand the goal of the marketing strategy and don’t know what results to consider an achievement, then we solve many problems without approaching the goal.
At the beginning of the journey, make sure that the entire marketing team equally understands the goal, everyone is aware of how to evaluate the realized project and all your marketers have essential skills. Clearly state success criteria. For each project they are individual.
The system of goals of the enterprise can be represented as the so-called “goal tree”. The top is the main goal of the entire enterprise for the period under consideration (for example, for a year). Further, the main goal is decomposed (divided) into the goals of the functional departments of the company – the goals of the production department, marketing goals, goals of the sales department, etc. These goals are formulated in such a way as to ensure the achievement of the main goal.
What is more, each “branch” of this tree does not describe a way to achieve the main goal, but a specific end result, expressed by some indicator. Further, it is necessary to decompose the goals already within each unit: for example, marketing goals can be divided into marketing, promotion, product development, research, etc. Detailing can be continued up to the specific tasks that are set for each employee.
#3. Discrepancy Between the Marketing Plan and the Budgets Developed
The question of budgeting always arises when developing a marketing strategy. Very often, there is no link between the plan that is being developed and the formation of a budget that supports this plan. For the successful implementation of the marketing plan for the product, you need the budget that would allow you to fully implement the planned product management activities.
Ineffective remuneration of marketers can also affect the realism of the plans. To stimulate specialists in most companies, a system linking the amount of remuneration and the degree of achievement of the planned goals is introduced.
For example, if your marketing goal is to expand the customer base, then an important criterion for the budget is the cost of each client, associated with the projected income from each user. You need to find the most realistic answers to the following questions.
- How much will each client cost?
- What is the size of the budget for acquiring new customers in order to achieve planned sales?
If it’s difficult to assess potential profits in terms of how much you can attract customers, set limits on marketing expenses. For these purposes, a key performance indicator (share of advertising costs) is suitable, with which you set the upper bar of the marketing budget, depending on the projected revenue.
#4. Advertising Based on Your Own Vision Only
It is often found that advertising texts, products, commercials are approved by the company’s management on the basis of their personal ideas, on the basis of their personal feelings. If the marketer makes this happen – he makes a big mistake. Advertising or product is actually made for consumers and they must determine the final look.
If it is not possible to test an advertisement or product for a target audience, then you should at least study it, understand what it needs, what it will react to. To do this, you need to find the most painful points of your target audience and develop a marketing message so that it is immediately clear that your product or service is able to solve this problem. Turn to the psychology of colors and perceptions in marketing, and you will understand what basic elements should be in your advertising message in order to reach the consciousness and subconscious of the target audience.
Another blunder is to show ads as many times as the budget allows. This is not correct, because you need to understand that it is necessary to carry out such a number of impacts, which will allow the buyer to fully pass through the sales funnel.
Otherwise, the consumer may be in a “suspended” state, excited, but not satisfied, and therefore will go to seek satisfaction on the side, i.e. will buy the product or service of a wiser competitor.
#5. Disregarding of Customer Retention Marketing
This is a marketing program aimed at increasing customer loyalty to a particular product. In order for such a company to become successful, you need to collect the most accurate statistics on ongoing promotions and informational messages, as well as make an analysis of customers. Retention marketing should be the basis of your strategy. There are two reasons for this:
- It is easier to sell to someone with whom you have already built a strong relationship;
- It is more profitable to sell a product or service to existing customers.
Statistics show that:
- The probability of selling to an existing customer is 60-70%,
- But the chances that a new user will make a purchase is only from 5 to 20%.
To convince the user from the target audience to buy your product, you will have to spend 6-7 times more finance than if you were attracting your client to the purchase. As soon as the user makes an acquisition, make sure that the marketing strategy does not stop. Although the client is already yours, you need to continue to heat up his interest (for example, using storytelling). Otherwise, he will go to competitors. In the era of advanced IT-technologies, it is very difficult to gain customer confidence. Therefore, the strategy of attracting of the target audience comes down to creating a value that potential customers will want to own.
Conclusion
Strategic marketing planning involves combining customer experience with a common direction that a company wants and needs to take in order to succeed. Strategic marketing planning is not a one-time action, but an ongoing process, so make sure that you avoid one type of mistakes and do not immediately commit others. In this article, we tried to collect the most common mistakes of marketers, although it would seem that they are so obvious that it is simply impossible to make them. However, each project is specific, and target audiences are becoming increasingly demanding of brands, so feel free to use our article to make sure that you are not going to step on a rake.
About the Author!
Frank Hamilton has been working as a translator at translation service TheWordPoint. He is a professional writing expert in such topics as blogging, digital marketing and self-education. He also loves traveling and speaks Spanish, French, German and English.
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