10 Marketing Mistakes to Avoid At All Costs

With the business landscape forever in flux and changing at a rapid pace, it's tough being a marketer. You have to constantly learn and master new technologies, communication platforms, and audience pains all at the same time. And it's dreadfully easy to make a mistake.

In the Slideshare below, we list 10 marketing mistakes that can be fatal for companies. With proper planning, careful execution, and the appropriate tools to help, you can make sure your team doesn't make these mistakes in your next marketing project!

10 Marketing Mistakes You Should Never Commit

The 10 Marketing Mistakes to Avoid

01. Trying to be everything to everyone

You can't solve everyone's problems. You have a target audience, an ideal customer. Segment your lists. Aim for the sweet spot. Don't try to be a Swiss army tool.

02. Trying to go it alone

Activate your network, followers, influencers, or partners to grow your brand's presence. Get them involved in helping you create and promote inspiring stories, great visual content, or helpful resources.

03. Ignoring SEO

If you ignore SEO, you’re chances of being found on the web diminish considerably, and your business will never gain the online credibility it needs for search engines to send you the right visitors.

04. Following each new trend

Do you look into each and every new trend or strategy before making moves? That could be burning your team out and severely limiting the impact of your marketing.

05. Promoting your brand on social media all the time

Nothing's more boring than the dinner guest who only talks about himself. Don't be that guy. Instead, be helpful, be genuine, share stuff which your contacts will find useful.

06. Running your campaigns with email/spreadsheets

Using the wrong tools will result in lost productivity and inefficiency. The quality of your work and the swiftness of your response time will suffer. Instead, use a proper work management tool — like Wrike.

07. Working in silos

Are your Lead Gen, Content, SEO, Web, and PR teams working from the same playbook? Are you aligned with the Product and Sales priorities as well? Working in silos will kill your growth potential.

08. Not measuring your efforts

Always measure and adjust your plan according to the results of previous performance. Make sure your efforts are not being wasted by posting/emailing at the wrong time or to the wrong segments.

09. Forgetting your current customers

Do you stress about growing awareness and bringing new prospects into your sales cycle, but forget about who's paying the bills today? Don't ignore your current customers — keep them happy, focus on repurchase and retention, and don't forget about upselling when it will benefit your current clients!

10. Forgetting "calls to action"

Do readers of your blog know where to go when they're done reading? Do you give visitors to your web pages a place to click next? Do you have CTAs on key social sites and profiles?

A few examples of good CTAs:
— When you create an eBook landing page, clearly let your visitors know that they can download the book.
— When you write blog posts, end with suggestions: "read this article next", "share your thoughts", or "give our product a try".

What do you consider a deadly marketing mistake?

Hit the comments and tell us what other marketing mistakes can tear a company down.

Marketing 3 min read

5 Marketing Operations Myths Debunked

Marketing operations is a hot topic, especially for businesses looking to stretch their marketing dollars farther. And yet misunderstandings abound concerning what marketing ops teams do and how they do it. So, we're tackling 5 common misconceptions surrounding marketing operations to set the record straight. First things first: what exactly do marketing operations teams do? They work to increase the efficiency and agility of the marketing department, aligning marketing efforts with both overarching business strategy and other departments (like sales and IT). Marketing ops manages strategic planning, budgeting, MRM marketing, process development, professional development, and marketing technology/data in order to measure and improve marketing performance and identify best practices. Myth 1: Marketing Ops' main goal is to justify marketing efforts. Fact: Marketing ops teams are objective. They don’t have quotas, so they can look at campaign results objectively to measure performance and attribute credit impartially. Their main goal isn’t to prove the ROI of marketing efforts, but rather to boost ROI through improved processes, analytics, etc. Myth 2: Marketing Operations is part of demand generation, and Marketing Operations managers come from traditional marketing roles. Fact: Marketing Operations teams are completely independent from other marketing departments, and marketers aren’t necessarily the ones filling marketing ops roles; they’re coming from finance, IT, sales ops, and other analytical, process-oriented positions. Myth 3: Marketing Ops is all about technology and data — automating processes, analyzing results, and crunching numbers. Fact: Gathering data isn’t enough, good marketing ops means interpreting it, understanding the business' objectives and how the marketing organization fits into the larger organization, and driving change within the organization. Marketing operations teams need to consider first and foremost the customer experience; only then can they determine how to tailor the marketing approach to improve that experience and boost engagement. Myth 4: Revenue generation is the realm of Sales Ops. Fact: Good Marketing Ops teams consider their marketing organization's process and strategy by considering this question: how does it contribute to revenue generation? At the Marketing Operations Executive Summit, they shared that "Marketing is now the strategy arm that is leading, and sales is following.” Marketing ops and Sales ops teams need to be closely aligned when it comes to revenue generation, not participate in hand-offs or operate independently. Myth 5: Your company needs a full-fledged Marketing Operations department in order to have effective marketing operations. Fact: You can improve your company's marketing operations right now, with the resources you already have. This article gives tips on identifying someone within your current marketing team who would be a good fit for taking on some marketing operations/marketing technologist responsibilities. And this article covers 6 ways your current marketing leaders can improve your marketing operations processes without hiring a marketing ops role (or spending any money at all). Learn About Marketing Operations Facts and Figures Find out which skills are most desired among marketing operations managers, the top challenge facing today's marketing departments, and how high-performing companies are boosting marketing revenue contribution by 69% in this overview of current marketing operations statistics. Sources: Marketo blog, Venturebeat, Wikipedia, Allocadia.com

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The History of Marketing Operations (Infographic)

Marketing Operations is on the rise, with many companies turning to marketing ops teams to make their marketing efforts more efficient and effective. While Marketing Ops is still a relatively new field, its beginnings stretch back to the 1920s, and its evolution through different marketing disciplines provides insights into its importance, benefits, and increasing popularity. Keep reading to learn all about the hot new field that’s been identified as one of the fastest-growing professions in marketing. Share this infographic with fellow marketers on social media, or use this embed code to post it on your own site: Infographic brought to you by Wrike Current Marketing Ops Trends Learn more about marketing ops with this overview of popular strategies and common practices: State of Marketing Operations and MarTech in 2015

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How to Find the Details You Need for a Buyer Persona that Converts

If the marketing field has a golden rule, it’s this: know your customers. And not just in a vague, “females, 18-29 years old” way. You need to know what kind of job your customers have, what their goals are, the daily challenges they’re facing, what they find funny and frustrating — all the details necessary to connect to them on a human level. Only then can you offer an effective solution that will attract their attention and convert them into happy customers. Getting to that level of detail and familiarity can be trickier than it sounds, however. Painstaking market research is time-consuming and difficult to maintain on an ongoing basis, especially with so many emerging channels and trends influencing buyers in new ways. Here are our tips for building an accurate and effective customer profile that’s unique to your best prospects — and keeping it accurate as your market and customer base continue to evolve and you continue to embrace conversion rate marketing. As it turns out, the best resources are right at your fingertips — members of your own team! 1. Talk to sales. Find out the central problem most buyers are looking to solve using your solution, the one question they ask time and time again, and the most common misconception about your product. For instance, if you find that many customers are unaware that your software has a certain feature, maybe add a brief video showcasing that feature to your website's home page, or write a blog post highlighting its functionality and use cases. 2. Consult with customer support. They can offer a treasure trove of insight into your customers’ perspectives and ongoing problems. What common issues are your customers struggling with? How can you make it easier for them to adopt your solution? What resources can you provide to improve their experience with your product and recommend it to others? 3. Keep an eye on online communities. Browse LinkedIn groups, Quora, Reddit, and popular review sites to see what conversations your product is inspiring. How are people discovering your product? Are they using it in conjunction with another tool that you could partner with, or in unexpected or innovative ways you could highlight on your blog? Use these conversations to inform a deeper understanding of who your customers are and shine a spotlight on members of your community. 4. Monitor your analytics. Which pages of your website have the most views? Which blog posts have the highest number of comments or social shares? What kinds of search queries or keywords most often lead people to your site? The more specifics you know about what your customers are looking for and the kind of content that catches their eye, the easier it is to optimize your campaigns. 5. Go straight to the source. Spend an hour or two each week picking up the phone and talking to a few current customers, or sending a handful of personalized emails. Establish and maintain genuine relationships with people who actually use your product, listen carefully to their experiences and insights, and then keep them top of mind when developing your marketing materials. Applying the Power of Marketing Ops to Your Business Once you’ve nailed the buyer persona and attracted a potential customer’s attention, how do you create a marketing strategy that will convert them into paying customers and continue to grow your business? Download our free eBook, 5 Steps to Transforming Marketing Operations for Maximum Growth, for tips on delivering an exceptional customer experience, selecting the right tools to support your marketing efforts, and the key metrics you should use to fuel your success.

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10 Marketing Mistakes to Avoid At All Costs