The 5 Biggest Marketing Mistakes New Businesses Make
You went into business to make money- to chase after your dream lifestyle and to reach financial freedom.
But, if you’re like most business owners you start, find every free resource you can, exhaust your brain, never act, and eventually you stall out.
In order to have a successful business, you need to take the right actions to get clients in the door and have a steady stream of warm leads that are interested in your offer(s).
Easier said than done, right?
With so many marketing trends and so much contradicting advice out there, it’s reallllllly easy to get lost and lose sight of what you were trying to accomplish in the first place.
The reels. The video content. The TikTok hooks. The funnels. The Opt-ins. The Webinars. The Ads. The Blogs. Pinterest Pins. The Podcats.
After working with small businesses and entrepreneurs for 11 years, I’ve noticed a trend. They all seem to get hung up on the same things over ad over again.
The bad news? You’re probably doing a few of these things in your business and you shouldn’t be.
The good news? It’s an easy fix and I’ll show you how.
So, what are these hang-ups and what should you do instead to focus on actually getting visible online and growing your business?
MISTAKE #1: CONSTANTLY CREATING CONTENT + POSTING
What to do instead: Think of social media as a networking and referral tool.
You’re spending way too much time creating new content and posting all day, every day. Stop stressing yourself out! Decide on a schedule that works for you and show up consistently with that schedule. Make sure when people visit your profile, website, blog, or wherever you choose to show up, they know immediately what you do. Be sure to clarify your messaging so you avoid confusion in your audience. You can accomplish this with a couple of posts per week as long as you make sure they are quality posts and NOT just being posted to meet a quota. Once you have a schedule you can maintain, you need to switch gears. It’s time to focus on how you can use social media to your advantage. Place importance on meeting new people, building relationships, and growing your referral network. More content won’t get you more clients, but building relationships will.
MISTAKE #2: SPENDING HOURS RECORDING THE LATEST TRENDS
What to do instead: Make a list of focused daily actions that will generate results.
I’m pretty sure at this point in the social media evolution that everywhere you turn you are being told to make reels or to follow the perfect video recipe for TikTok success. Sure, video content is a must in today’s world of marketing, but that doesn’t mean your week needs to be devoted to recording and editing. These videos are good for reach and the awareness stage of your business, BUT do you know what will get you faster results?
Making a list of daily focused actions that will actually start generating revenue for your business. This means acting with INTENTION.
[I wrote a blog post last week about my top 5 Focused Daily Actions- you read it here.]
This list should contain all of the critical drivers- the things that MUST happen to drive revenue. Without them, your leads and revenue tank and you find yourself in a bad place.
MISTAKE #3: FOCUSING ON “SELLING” INSTEAD OF “SERVING”
What to do instead: Offer value to your audience to build the know, like trust factor.
Mistake number three that I see all the time with online marketing is focusing too much on “selling” your offer and not enough time on “serving” your audience.
No one wants to be sold to all the time, and honestly, it’s a real turn-off to a lot of people. This isn’t to say you shouldn’t sell every day- you absolutely should be promoting your offer. But when you become too aggressive with it and offer nothing of value to your audience, they are going to feel like they’re just a number to you.
When it comes to your marketing strategy, remember who your ideal client is. Remember what they want and need from you. How they like to be approached and spoken to. Take the time to offer value, educate, and build the know, like, and trust factor with them. Address what they are struggling with. Their desires. Their goals. What they need help with.
Your marketing is not about you- it’s about them.
When you show up to serve and give your audience something they can use, your audience will begin to trust you. They’ll take note of what value and transformation you can offer them and that will draw them to you even more.
Eventually, some of them will want to know how they can get more. How they can work with you.
Serving will always be the best approach for making your marketing efforts truly magnetic to your ideal clients.
MISTAKE #4: YOU TRY TO MARKET TO EVERYONE
What to do instead: Find a niche and clarify your messaging.
When you try to market to everyone, you often sell to no one. You need to have the courage to name your market and find a niche.
Most people get nervous here- they feel like they are limiting their opportunities.
This couldn’t be farther from the truth. You see, good marketing relies on good messaging. You’re going to get tired of me saying this but you cannot build a successful marketing campaign without having your brand foundations in place. It will never, ever work.
In order to clarify your messaging, you need to know exactly how to speak and approach your audience. If you try to speak to everyone- your message is going to be too broad and it’s going to fall on deaf ears. When you niche down, you know EXACTLY what your audience needs to hear from you and how you can deliver that message.
Mastering your messaging before you start marketing is the most overlooked marketing strategy there is. But do clarify your message, you first need to choose a niche.
MISTAKE #5: YOU AREN’T LEVERAGING SOCIAL PROOF
What to do instead: Gather testimonials and highlight your success, results, and transformations.
Paid ads can work wonders, but do you know what had proven to be the most important factor when making a purchase online? Social proof.
People want to know that you are legit- that they can trust you and that you have attained these results for others before them.
You need credibility to get sales.
Think about it. When you come across a product or service, ESPECIALLY an expensive one, what is the first thing you do? Your research. You read the reviews. You check out their past successes. You make sure they have a good star rating. I mean, think about how compelling a screenshot of a real customer singing your praises can be.
Showing that people before you have trusted you and seen real results from your service is KEY to making a sale. You NEED social proof to show you are the real deal and that you have the power to change someone’s life.
Testimonials have the power to turn traffic into sales.
Truthfully, building visibility and authority online doesn’t have to be as complicated as it seems. You just need to stop spending time on things that don’t matter and start nailing down a marketing strategy that makes sense for your business and implement it consistently.
Stop doing awkward dancing trends. Stop spending 20 hours a week trying to edit videos that won’t convert anyway. Stop comparing yourself to every other business and what they are doing.
Before building out those complicated funnels, before recording a long webinar series, before stressing out about posting 20x today, be kind to yourself and simplify your marketing strategy so that you can stay focused, and reach the right people with the right message. You can grow faster by focusing your daily actions on doing only the things that actually get you results.
Visibility. Impact. Attraction. Profit.
Our Magnetic Marketing Mentorship includes a TON of different resources for niching down, determining your target audience, clarifying your messaging and positioning, and finding clients. It’s all about finding the right system that works for you.
Want to learn more about the program? Read more here or schedule a discovery call here.
I know building a business can be VERY overwhelming, but I promise it doesn’t have to be so hard or involve countless hours online every single day.
We help entrepreneurs do it all the time.
You can too!