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Published Article
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| Fundamental
Strategic Marketing Mistakes to Avoid |
This is a pretty tough
global economy and it is critical for a company to leverage
every bit of their marketing resources. So, if this is the case,
why are so many companies shooting themselves in the proverbial
foot by breaking some of the most fundamental rules of marketing?
It’s a very simple question with complex answers –
here are some of the pitfalls to avoid:
| 1. |
Believing a second
rate web site communicates integrity: So many web sites
are just plain funky looking (graphics, text, menus, etc.)
- nice professional term, but it’s descriptive of
some of the dreck that passes for web site design. A company
should not forget that perception is reality on the web
and people aren’t going to do business with a company
that can’t field a decent web site – end of
story!
|
| 2. |
Deploying a marketing
strategy that’s all over the map: Is Yahoo a Search
Engine, a Portal or a Hollywood Media company? They are
the classic 3D hologram advertisement for a company that
can’t figure out what it wants to be when it grows
up. A company must pick a marketing strategy and then
stay the course – changing direction every time the
wind shifts is not a good business strategy and creates
more motion than action.
|
| 3. |
Forgetting real
brand development: Branding became the “.com”
rallying cry for every newby wet behind the ears with
an Internet dream to become a billionaire by selling dog
food on the web (I’ll leave the sock puppet out of
this) – we all know this didn’t work. But that
does not mean a company should ignore brand development
– it’s important to remember that a good brand
is built one marketing process at a time; everything that
a company publishes, develops or communicate is part of
the brand building process, which in turn defines the
company’s market position.
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| 4. |
Ignoring distribution
channels by selling direct via an ecommerce web site:
A company should not build and launch an ecommerce site
and start selling direct to customers and forget about
a distribution channel. It’s imperative to give the
customer the choice to buy direct from your company or
locate a distribution channel partner via a look up capability
on the site. And, if you really want to win the hearts
and mind of a channel never sell below retail (SRP) –
and afford the channel the opportunity to discount your
product so they can compete effectively with you.
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| 5. |
Making competitive
analysis a low priority: Too many companies forget about
their competitors after the business plan has been written.
They don’t take the time to review them on a periodic
basis and try and figure out how to deliver goods and
services differently, which in turn drives competitive
advantage and a long-term sustainable business model.
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| 6. |
Poorly
thought out Investor Relations press release: Do companies
actually think investors are just plain stupid and don’t
really read an IR (Investor Relations) directed Press
Release carefully? Investors are typically very bottom
line oriented – they want to know about revenue growth
and real strategic partnership developments that help
the company grow and not much else. Just throwing fluff
out in the market and hoping this will drive investors
to invest is just plain shortsighted stupidity.
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| 7. |
Thinking
any/all consultants know your business better than you:
Reporters and consultants (including this one) have driven
just as many companies into the ground with bad advice
as much as they have helped them – companies must
realize a consultant is typically not down in the trenches
and they can make some bad calls – it’s important
to filter their advice.
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| 8. |
Letting the inmates run
the asylum – customers should help a company refine
its product marketing strategy by working as partners.
If engineering tells marketing “the customer doesn’t
really know what they want but we do” the red lights
should start flashing danger - the company may be in serious
peril and at the very least need new focus and direction
for product marketing.
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Lee Traupel has
20 plus years of marketing experience. He is the co-founder
of a Northern California and Brussels Belgium based, privately
held, Marketing Services and Software Company, Intelective
Communications, Inc., http://www.intelective.com.
Intelective focuses exclusively on providing services
to small-to-medium-sized companies that need strategic
and tactical marketing services. He can be reached at
Lee@intelective.com.
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