Drinking too much coffee, staying up late, endless scrolling on social media, or overindulging on chocolate â we all have a few bad habits that weâd like to break. We are human, after all. So business marketing gets affected as well.Â
And just like how quickly we ended up overeating take-out during the endless months of lockdown, itâs just as simple to slip into bad habits when it comes to marketing. When thereâs so much happening in the marketing world, itâs understandable to look for the quick way out.
Itâs easy to jump on the latest trends, push out campaigns in record time (with little thought), and schedule a bunch of memes on your social media accounts. But, weâre sorry to break it to you; good marketing isnât easy (and if it is, then youâre likely missing out on something).
The success of your business depends on a good marketing strategy, but what makes a good marketing strategy? Well, it starts with building strong marketing foundations.
But letâs start with the lousy marketing habits that are holding you back.
Here are ten lousy marketing habits to avoid in your marketing strategy
These ten bad marketing habits have no place in your growth marketing strategy. Ditch them, and youâre on your way to more growth.
Grasping at every new shiny tool & tactic
âOoh, look at this new marketing tactic!âÂ
âOh wait, this looks betterâŠ.â
âNo, no. This new tool is the one to level up our marketing.â
Shiny Object Syndrome in marketing is a thing. And itâs no surprise when thereâs seemingly a new marketing tool or tactic popping up every week.
Thereâs nothing wrong with keeping an open mind and experimenting with your marketing, but continuing to move on to new tools and tactics at the expense of ones that work isnât a great idea.
Targeting âEVERYONEâ as your audience
Talking to more people wonât lead to more sales. It just leads to wasted budgets. Because, no matter how much you think everyone could use your product or service, itâs simply not the case (unless youâre selling toilet paper).
Youâll get far better results if you target a specific audience. Use data analysis to identify your best prospects and employ tactics you can measure, such as direct marketing.
Not doing research
Youâre not going to buy a house without first researching the neighborhood, checking out the houseâs condition, and analyzing whether the price fits in with your budget. So, why would you put together a marketing campaign without first researching your competition, customers, and marketing landscape?
Market research provides critical information about your market and your business landscape. Without it, you have no idea who youâre marketing to, let alone how to talk to them.
Wanting to be on EVERY social media platform
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, Tumblr, Pinterest, Snapchat, ClubhouseâŠthese are just the more mainstream ones. The list of available social media platforms is getting longer by the day.
But that doesnât mean that you have to be on ALL of them. You really shouldnât. Only stick to the social platforms that your audience is using.
Not knowing how to translate marketing into business impact
Have you heard of ROI? Itâs your return on investment on the marketing that youâre doing. If you do not measure your ROI, you have no idea what impact (if any) your marketing is having on your business.
Growth marketing is all about translating your marketing into business growth.
You are not listening to your audience
You are guessing what your audience wants to see leads to an uninformed, ineffective marketing strategy that loses valuable time, money, and, eventually, customers.
Listen to your audience via surveys, analytics, and social listening.
Jumping in with no marketing strategy
Baking a cake, taking a road trip, and throwing a surprise birthday party are all things that you could probably get away with âwinging.â But theyâd all work out far better if you had a clear, well-thought-out plan in place.
The same applies to your marketing. Jumping in with no strategy can result in confusing, mismatched, and sometimes harmful messaging for your brand.
Buzzwords & marketing cliches
Us marketers LOVE a few buzzwords and cliches, hey? Weâre all guilty of it. Why? Because theyâre easy. Theyâre the first phrases that pop into our head â but only because weâve heard them so many times!
Itâs okay to throw in a few buzzwords and cliches now and then (sometimes, there isnât any other way to say something). But try not to overdo it â we know youâre better than that!
Not enough analytics
Weâre living in a data-driven world (there we go with a buzzword), so not using your data and analytics is the most significant marketing offense you could do. Itâs all right in front of you â all you have to do is analyze it and use it to inform your future marketing decisions.
You miss out on many valuable insights when youâre not using enough analytics in your marketing strategies.
Too many analytics
No, weâre not trying to confuse you. We did say that itâs a bad habit not to use enough analytics, but itâs also not great to rely only on analytics.
Focusing too much on your analytics can result in robotic, non-creative marketing. Also, having too much data can get overwhelming and confusing, which isnât helpful either. Aim for a healthy mix of analytical and creative thinking.
Play a game of Bad Marketing Bingo with your team
We all like to think that we have the most original, creative, and innovative marketing ideas. But, we tend to all do a lot of the same thing. Itâs not a bad thing; itâs pretty funny.
Many of us have built our businesses âfrom the ground up, helping our customers âdo more with less with our âworld-class,â âone-stop shopâ products and services. And, of course, weâll all âgo the extra mile. So, whatâs wrong with saying it?
Have some fun with your marketing team and download our âBad Marketing Bingoâ game to see how many bad marketing habits, buzzwords, and letting your brand has fallen victim to cliches.
And once youâve had a good laugh, get in touch with our team to help take your business to the next level with our in-depth marketing insights. Weâll help you build a solid marketing foundation that avoids the above-mentioned lousy marketing habits.