5 Marketing Myths To Avoid

When it comes to marketing your business, there are some myths that will ruin your chances for success. Below are 5 of these marketing myths.

Myth 1: Advertising and marketing are the same.
No they are not. Advertising means buying space or time to relay a message. It can be important to marketing or irrelevant, depending on the company and its goals. We told one of our retail clients to stop advertising and sales went up (that’s unlikely to happen very often, sales rising when you stop advertising, but point made sales didn’t decline.) Instead of throwing $250,000 out the window, the owner put the money in his pocket.

Myth 2: No Time for Marketing
I don’t have time. Actually, you can’t afford not to market. If you want to run a viable business that supports you and your family, you must find a way to consistently bring in high quality leads and customers. Otherwise you will have a lot of time on your hands when the sales stop coming in!

Myth 3: I Only Need Word of Mouth not Marketing
Wrong. You are giving control of getting new business to others. when will the person refer you, what will they say. This is why you should not rely solely on word of mouth. What if they don’t refer you, now you won’t get any business, when you could be marketing your business proactively and guaranteeing new customers and lead.

Myth 4: Everybody Needs My Product/Service
That’s what YOU think. Most of them don’t think they need it …and most aren’t ready to spend their money for it.

The hazard of this myth is that it causes many marketers to believe they can succeed without doing much marketing or selling. They think their product or service is so special that it should automatically generate hordes of paying customers. Unfortunately, it doesn’t happen that way. Building a successful business is hard work – most of it devoted to finding customers. Even if most people can use your product or service, you still need a marketing strategy to reach them and a persuasive sales message to close sales. source: frugalmarketing.com

Tip: Look for narrowly defined niche markets where your product or service solves a unique need of the customers. Focus your marketing on them instead of trying to reach a broadly defined general market. You’ll generate more sales and enjoy a better return on your advertising expense.

Myth 5: Design Does Not Matter
All design matters, but good design matters most. Be it branding, creating a Web site or product packaging, the need for design and its impact on business is unavoidable. Think of it as a first impression: It can be good, it can be bad, but no matter what, a first impression always counts.

To evaluate just how design is a benefit (or liability), we have to understand how it is measured. Measuring such a subjective field may seem like a daunting task, but the first — and most important — step in evaluating design is to determine its purpose. Good design serves a purpose. And by defining an objective or problem to solve, we set a benchmark against which we can measure success. Good design will solve problems and open doors. Bad design won’t.

In addition to serving as a building block for a strong, recognizable and respected brand (think Apple, Nike or Target), design can achieve less concrete business goals. Design can communicate the intangibles like credibility, personality and value. Good design can improve your bottom-line; it can enhance customer, client or user experience.

In addition to helping you make that all-important first impression, good design will give you control over a memorable professional image.
source: utahvalleybusinessq.com