5 Mistakes Entrepreneurs Make With Marketing and Branding

5 Mistakes Entrepreneurs Make With Marketing and Branding

Marketing, when done correctly, is considered as an investment to a business. Since entrepreneurs can’t splurge huge amounts of money on the promotion of their products and services like larger brands, they need to be very particular about their marketing plan to ensure that not a single marketing dollar gets wasted. A great marketing plan can bolster the market reputation of a business and can help it win the trust of its targeted audience eventually, whereas a bad marketing plan can hurt its business prospect in more than one way.

Building a brand image is never easy. It takes years to build a solid brand but it takes just a few seconds to ruin it. Don’t believe us? Well then, try posting something nasty via your company’s social profile and you will see how the reputation of your company comes crumbling down [safety notice – don’t try this at home/office].

The thing is that most entrepreneurs have no idea about promoting their brand and for that reason, they try different things only to find themselves in deep trouble at the end. Sometimes they prioritize product development over marketing and branding and sometimes, they just ignore the concept of branding altogether. Here are some 5 mistakes entrepreneurs make with marketing and branding:

You Have no Idea About Your Targeted Audience
Imagine a scenario that you are selling anti-aging products and you are targeting mainly teenage boys. The probable outcome of this bizarre marketing initiative is easy to predict – a big Disaster. You need to realize the truth that you simply can’t target everybody around. You need to identify your targeted audience first before even thinking about marketing products. Culture, age, sex, geographical locations etc all play pivotal role while choosing your targeted audience.

You Don’t Care About What People Are Saying About Your Brand
Some business owners tend to remain oblivious to the fact that people might be discussing about their brand right now on different social media sites. You may never know that an irate customer might be venting his anger by spitting venom about your brand on Facebook or Twitter and if you don’t intervene right now or don’t redress his problem, things might go out of your hand. You need to keep a hawk eye on different social media channels otherwise a small issue can get snowballed into a major crisis.

You Are Trying to Be Everywhere
Some business owners are of the opinion that they should be active on social media channels. Now, there are over hundreds of social networking sites available and that means, there is no way you can be active on all of them. Try to identify those platforms that draw large number of your targeted audience and be active on those platforms. Limit the number of official social account to 4 or 5.

You are Trying to Do Everything By Yourself
Some business owners try to do everything all by themselves. It is good to keep eyes on everything but it will drain all your energy at the end of the day. Moreover, sometimes it is good to appoint a professional rather than doing all by yourself and messing things up miserably.

Your Business Does not Have a Website
You gotta be kidding, right? Why would a business not have an official website in the digital world today? To boost the brand presence of your business on the web, your business needs to have a website. There is no way around it. You need to invest some marketing dollars on design, hosting and content. Make the website live as soon as possible otherwise all your attempts to bolster the brand presence of your business will fall flat on the ground.

If you are looking for some great books that provide insights into marketing and branding, I recommend the following 5 reads:

Guerrilla Marketing in 30 Days by Jay Conrad Levinson and Al Lautenslager – Listen to my interview with Al here
Business in Blue Jeans by Susan Baroncini-Moe – Listen to my interview with Susan here
Startup Mixology by Frank Gruber – Listen to my interview with Frank here
Everyday Entrepreneurs by Ken Horn – Listen to my interview with Ken here
How To Get Unstuck by Barry J Moltz – Listen to my interview with Barry here

As an entrepreneur, what are some other mistakes you have learned to overcome with your business or in life? Share your answer in the comments below so others can chat and learn as well.

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Cody Faldyn

Cody is a blogger, social media specialist, graphic designer, and the Marketing Evangelist behind The Entrepreneurs Library. With a long time passion for personal growth, Cody helped create a website and podcast with the intent to educate aspiring entrepreneurs on the latest and greatest books on business growth and personal development.