Marketing is an industry that is constantly evolving along with our ever-changing world. As with any industry, marketing is a field that has misconceptions associated with it, often due to the rise and fall of trends, and the constant new gimmicks buzzing around to create short-lived fads that companies try out. Therefore, when it comes to your business, it is important to understand just what marketing can do for you, and to understand the truth behind the myths of marketing. To cut through this clutter we’ve compiled a short list of common marketing misconceptions and why we see them as myths to be busted:
1) Marketing and Advertising are the Same Thing
While marketing strategy often involves advertising, this is just one small piece of the marketing puzzle. Marketing is a continuing, strategic plan that spans across the lifetime of your business, expressing your company’s values, mission, and just how it can work for consumers. This includes everything down to the logo and branding, design of products, implementation of services, and customer experience. It may also include advertising, which is a focused approach to spread word about a product, service, or sale, but comes along with the whole package of the brand experience through its marketing.
2) Everyone Is Your Customer
No matter how strong your product is, businesses need to be prepared for the fact that they will not appeal to everyone. Or at the very least, they will not give as much value to certain markets as they give to others. By knowing your audience, your marketing can become more strongly targeted to this demographic’s needs, and targeted marketing has in fact been shown to give better returns than vague, all-encompassing marketing.
3) Social Media is Only for the Young
Billions of people are active on major social media networks today; this means that almost any demographic can be reached on one platform or another. In fact, numerous studies have been showing that the average age of Facebook users continues to grow as older generations find themselves becoming more active on social media as a way to connect with older contacts.
4) Good Products Don’t Need Marketing
Word of mouth is a powerful tool when it comes to marketing, but how will people know about your amazing product in the first place without marketing? Your brand marketing can also give consumers points of recall and remembrance in order to give recommendations and grow your clientele. For example, if someone sees a great social media post of your product or services, they may be inclined to share this post with a friend with just a quick click, or remember that they were going to send the product info along, and now here is a convenient form in which to do so.
5) Marketing is Only for Creating New Leads
While marketing can be great in creating interest in your business and services, continued marketing with existing clients can create a dialogue between your consumer-base which in turn gives opportunities to get feedback, grow, and keep your existing clients engaged. By listening to consumers, connecting with your clientele, and maintaining strong marketing even after the close of a sale, you develop loyalty with your customers and they will be more likely to come back to you or recommend you to someone else.
7) What Works for Another Company Will Work for Us
No two companies are exactly alike, so neither should their marketing strategies be. What is most important is connecting with your desired consumer demographic in the right way. This might take a little bit of trial and error, but as stated earlier, marketing is an ongoing process throughout your business’ lifespan, which will evolve along with your business.
8) I Know Exactly How My Customer Thinks
Considering how you personally would react to a product, service, or marketing is a great place to start with a strategy, but just because you think you know how a consumer base will think doesn’t mean they won’t surprise you with their thoughts. You may even find that what you think a favourite product will be, turns out to be something else entirely. And that’s okay! Staying connected online, getting feedback, and running polls are all great ways to see what exactly your main client base loves about your business, as well as areas that you might consider working on.
There is so much more to marketing than we have begun to outline here, but at the very least we hope it provides some points to think about when it comes to the marketing strategy of your business. Keeping these busted myths in the back of your mind may make you think anew about the world of marketing and where you want to take your own business’ strategy in the future.
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