Download 7 Ways You`re Losing Marketing Dollars

Seven Ways You’re Wasting Your Marketing Dollars
By Nella DeCesare
1. Your marketing efforts are only tactical and/or reactive, not strategic.
A tactical-only marketer works very hard at implementing, but cannot really see the big picture. This
marketer may see an issue and work twice as hard to resolve it. A strategic marketer sees the big
picture, plans ahead and utilized resources to handle challenges and prepare for them. See the
difference? If you’re spending a lot of time handling marketing challenges and issues as they come up,
chances are you’re spending time putting out fires, reacting with last minute campaigns or promotions,
and not really utilizing your resources to optimal levels to get the best results. While it’s hard to stop this
cycle, especially if you wear many hats, the trick is to commit to developing a long-term success
strategy – and stick to it, but making adjustments as needed. This will ensure that you have planned
spending, not reactive spending, which will help to track results and provide insight into decisionmaking and planning.
2. You don’t know who your “dream customer” is.
Who is your best and most profitable prospective customer? Maybe you have that profile in your head,
but you really haven’t utilized it on paper or in your marketing plan. If you had a detailed list of your 20
best prospective dream customers and were able to get just one or two, how much would that increase
your revenue and profits? What if you were able to get two dream customers per quarter? Or, per year?
Does it make more sense to market efficiently to your best prospective customers or to spend more
dollars to market to prospective customers that are so-so in terms of your dream client criteria? The
development of your list might take some research and homework on your part, but knowing who they
are and marketing directly to them on all levels could bring you the best, most profitable marketing
return on investment. It’s about quality, not quantity.
3. Your most qualified lead doesn’t live where you spend the majority of your marketing dollars.
Touching back a little on #2, maybe you do know who your dream client is, but you have a lot of wasted
marketing dollars trying to reach anyone that will use your product/services whether they are profitable
for your business or not. Understandably in this uncertain economy, many small to mid-size businesses
are marketing to get any business they can right now. This is a natural reaction to current economic
conditions, as well as the decrease in business lending. But, spending your marketing dollars in the most
strategic and segmented manner will bring you the highest ROI for the least amount of spending waste.
Find out exactly where your top 20 dream customers live (online and offline) and spend your money on
a marketing mix that is a direct line to them. This is not to say you cannot spend dollars on community
image building – just don’t spend the majority of your dollars here until you’ve perfected your strategy
for obtaining new and profitable clients.
4. You don’t spend enough time on marketing and strategic planning.
Everyone is an offender of this! Many small to mid-size business owners wear many hats. This does not
always leave adequate time for smart marketing. Out of a 40-hour work week, you should be spending
at least 2.5 hours a day on marketing. This may seem impossible, but is necessary to keep your
marketing strategy effective and efficient. If you cannot afford that kind of time, hire an independent
consultant to help get you on track. Not giving your marketing and branding the attention it deserves
can not only decrease your revenue growth, but it can also hurt your image – which can much more
costly than hiring a consultant!
5. Unless you get real, qualified leads that convert, stop spending money on yellow page display
advertising.
How often do you use your yellow pages? Mine are stacked on a shelf gathering dust. Many of us turn
to the Internet when we want to find a hair salon, a car dealership, a restaurant, a general contractor or
just about anything. However, some disagree and say yellow pages are still being used. Only you can
determine if this is a wise investment for your business. If you can actually quantify a significant return
on investment from your yellow page display advertising, then it may be worth your dollars. However, if
you do not get good leads that convert into revenue-generating business and you just feel obligated to be
in the directory because competitors are, then you are wasting your marketing dollars on display ads –
no matter what the cost! If you’ve just got to have your number in there, you can get a basic listing in
the yellow pages for free if you have a publically listed business phone number.
6. You’re not utilizing education-based marketing.
Marketing the features and benefits of your product/service is not enough. Your potential customers
need more from you to understand why they need your product/service and to make a purchasing
decision. Your potential customer/client is more likely to buy from you if he/she feels that you have
provided them with free information that has value and credibility. For example, offering industry white
papers or research on your website, providing an industry pamphlet within your direct mail campaign,
providing relevant articles (written by you or your organization) within your email campaigns or blogs,
offering a free educational webinar or seminar are all examples of education-based marketing. The key
to education-based marketing is to build relationships by providing valuable, relevant information and
providing it for free. If you don’t do this, your competitors will – or already are, essentially positing
themselves as the experts!
7. You don’t have a marketing plan specifically for your existing customers.
You have a great marketing strategy in place to obtain new customers, but you have nothing in place for
your existing customers. This is a common scenario among small and mid-size businesses. We focus so
much on obtaining new business that we forget the most qualified lead is the customer we already have.
Existing customers are much more likely to purchase again from you – after all, you already know they
have a need for your product/service. Research your existing customers to find changes happening changes such as acquisitions, new offerings, new CEO – anything that may indicate that more of your
product/services are needed. Also, schedule face-to-face visits to showcase your new products/services
and to discuss a referral program (if you don’t have a referral program, get one now). Or, why not host
an intimate luncheon for your best clients to get them talking together (and you listening!). Even
sharing your upcoming growth plans with your existing clients can strengthen the relationship and
trigger increased sales. Remember to always keep your existing clients in the loop of any news or
events happening at your organization. This ensures that your organization is top-of-mind and will be
there at the precise moment when a need develops!
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