Top Six Things That Absolutely Terrify Marketers

With Halloween around the corner we at HeartFire Media wanted to talk about the top six things that absolutely terrify us when it comes to marketing. Often times we meet with clients who need direction on what to do and how to do it when it comes to their company or product.

This is why we are here.

Marketing is much more than just posting on Facebook.
Marketing is much more than sending out a press release once a month.
Marketing has evolved and now, more than ever, it’s important to get it right.

Here are the six things that make us scream (and die a little) inside:

1. Destroying Emotional Impact – Everyone will tell you that the best kind of marketing taps into our emotions. Our feelings often lead us to test drive a car, buy an iPad, switch cable or even phone providers. We get excited when we get emotional and suddenly spending money or taking time out of our day to drive to a store isn’t that big of a deal. When you forget to relate or get to know your customer, often times you’ll miss out. They won’t connect with you and chances are when they need whatever you’re offering, they won’t even think of you. Even big companies like Coca-Cola understand this phenomenon. Their “happiness” campaign made millions of people smile. They tug at our hearts and even if you don’t want to think of Coke, you can’t help it.

2. Starting Without A Plan – Someone once said, “Hope is not a marketing strategy,” and isn’t that the truth! Marketing requires many pieces before it’ll work. From your website, to email, to social media, you need to have a clear plan of where you’re spending your time and what exactly you’re working towards. Without this vital piece, you will most likely spend more marketing dollars than you’d like and your product or company won’t see any growth or sales. Make a schedule, plan, and think about how your marketing components can work together. Not sure how to plan, we can help!

3. Trying to do everything – If you’re having a hard time completing your marketing plan, it’s probably because you’re trying to do too much. It’s important to remember that you don’t have to be on every social media outlet nor do you have to send an email out every day. Ask yourself, what makes sense for your audience? What social media networks do they use? How often do they want to hear from you? It’s vital that you know the answers to these questions. If you don’t know the answers, you can send out a simple online survey or hire a team (like HeartFire Media) to assist you.

4. Cutting Corners – Number four is closely related to number three! Often time companies try to cut corners and look for the cheapest options when it comes to marketing. When it comes to your logo, your website and the overall look of your company, the last thing you want to do is find the “cheapest deal possible.” It’s like they say … you get what you pay for! This even rolls into social media management, press releases and more. Cutting corners can also result in lack of consistency with your brand. Your consumer must be able to recognize you. There’s a reason why McDonald’s chose the golden arches. It works!

5. Expecting overnight success – Marketing is not an exact science. It’s important for you to know that just because you have an amazing product or business, this doesn’t mean you are going to be successful overnight. You can never be sure how your audience is going to react. The things you do might not perform as well as you’d like. When it comes to launching a new product or company it typically takes 90 days or more before we find out what works and what doesn’t. With the digital world changing on a daily basis, this means we often have to change as well. What worked in 2014 may not necessarily work in 2016. The phrase “well it worked last year” is meaningless. If you expect overnight success you will be disappointed.

6. Lack Of Mobile-Ready Site – The last time you were on your phone you most likely visited a website. Think about what happens when you land on a site that is not mobile-friendly. I don’t know about you, but we get pretty frustrated and often leave that site instantly. Without a responsive mobile site, you will lose any possible new business. Do yourself a favor and make sure your website is mobile-friendly. You have one chance to make a first impression. Also, don’t forget that Google penalizes companies for not having a mobile-friendly website, so if you were trying to get SEO rankings, that is a major search engine killer.

If you’re guilty of any of these, don’t feel bad! This is why we are here. HeartFire Media is the best marketing company in San Antonio and can solve any of these problems and show you how to have and incorporate effective marketing. This is literally what we do! For more information or for a free consultation call us today (800) 235-3964 or visit heartfiremedia.net to learn more about who we are!

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