5 Marketing Mistakes You Must Avoid

Marketing mistakes are common for new entrepreneurs. Most often these mistakes are a product of lack of planning, impatience and starting with tactics before strategy. And while many mistakes are easy to recover from, some can be fatal to the survival and growth of a business.

So today we’re diving into the “5 Marketing Mistakes Startups Must Avoid in Order to Survive”, according to Entrepreneur.com. Head over to the article to get even more information on how to prevent making these marketing mistakes.

Spending money on marketing before you have product-market fit

First things first, you need to prove you have buyers in your target market willing to pay your price and use your product or service.  This involves lots of organic (aka FREE) marketing tactics along with research and development. 

If you throw a bunch of money at paid marketing before you have proven product-market fit, you will waste loads of time, resources and money. 

So get out there, pound the pavement, build your audience and get super clear on your target market and viability.

Trying too many things at once

Stop the shiny object and FOMO (fear of missing out) behaviors. Marketing only works when it’s well thought out, targeted and strategic. 

When you are distracted by all the opportuniites and need revenue you will make decisions based on fear.  No one can do everything well, so focus on one thing at a time.  

Once you have product-market fit, start with one channel and build from there. 

Cutting off a marketing campaign before it has time to work

Marketing requires patience.  Even paid marketing doesn’t give you an instant return on investment. 

Craft a targeted campaign, put 100% into it, and give it at least 3 months to show you relevant data.  

“Scaling” without scalable unit economics

Slow and steady wins the race with marketing. From finding product-market fit, to uncovering which channel is effective at minimal cost, it’s a slow climb.

When a strategy is working, put more into it in stages. You need to know if the cost to gain new customers is sustainable before you throw everything you have into one channel.  It costs to grow and scale, so be sure to progress sustainably.

Risking it all on one bet (marketing campaign)

There are zero guarantees in marketing.  Do the best you can with the resources you have.  Just be sure not to spend more than you can afford to lose.  The worst case scenario should be losing money while your business still survives. 

Conclusion

Here’s the bottom line according to Kenneth Burke’s article, “5 Marketing Mistakes Startups Must Avoid in Order to Survive”. “It’s okay to make mistakes, but most are avoidable, and you can still keep the upside opportunity. Go slow at first, so you can go fast later. Do the small things really well in the beginning, and as you gain traction, you’ll be able to do the bigger things faster, with less risk and with higher profits.” 

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