8 Common Marketing Myths

Dec 15, 2022

When it comes to marketing, it can be easy to fall for the many myths out there – especially as marketing changes and evolves over the years. We’ve put together a list of the most common marketing myths we see and provide you with details on how you can overcome all of them.

1. Small Businesses Don’t Have to Have a Marketing Plan

Small businesses tend not to have the budget larger corporations do when it comes to marketing – but that doesn’t mean it can afford to be ignored. Instead, smaller companies must be strategic with their smaller budgets to develop a plan that works for and benefits their bottom line. Completely ignoring marketing altogether will not do a business any favors and, in fact, could cause your company to fall into obscurity if no one even knows you exist!

2. Results Will Happen Overnight

Marketing campaigns take time. They do not happen overnight. In fact, it could be months before you see any results from social media marketing, SEO, and other advertising campaigns.  Instead, a business should focus on long-term growth that generates revenue rather than short-term bursts of activity. Seeing results overnight can actually be a sign of shady marketing practices in many cases.

3. Everyone Should Be Considered My Company’s Audience

While you may be tempted to market to everyone on the internet, this is not an efficient form of marketing. In fact, you’ll likely just be throwing money away as your business, product, or service won’t appeal to everyone on earth. Clearly understanding and defining your audience to create a “target audience” is essential to crafting a strategy that serves your business while effectively reaching the people most likely to buy your product or service.

Social media apps on an iPhone

4. My Business Should Be on Every Social Media Platform

This marketing myth has been around for a while – but many people unfamiliar with social media or marketing still believe it. There are dozens of social media platforms, with Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and LinkedIn only scratching the surface. That doesn’t mean you need to be on every single one. First, your social media manager likely doesn’t have enough hours in the day to tackle them all! Second, it’s very unlikely that your target audience is actually on all of them, too. Therefore, you should only be on the platforms you know your target audience uses.

5. Marketing Strategies Aren’t Important

Some businesses post on social media or craft a blog and call it a day. Sure, it’s marketing, but is it really effective? Likely not. Marketing strategies are essential to actually seeing results from your social media, blog posts, or other marketing avenues, or else it’s like throwing spaghetti at the wall and hoping it sticks. Your strategy should clearly outline your target audience, when they’re most active, where they’re active, and effective ways to reach them. It’s also a good idea to develop a marketing funnel to nurture your potential customers and turn them into sales.

6. We Have a Social Media Page; We Don’t Need a Website

A social media page is not a replacement for a website. While social media is important, it simply can’t fulfill all the needs a website can. Instead, you want your platforms to drive clicks to your website. You can give them easy-to-navigate information about your hours, products, services, and contact details. If you simply used social media, your audience would have to sift through your posts to find the information they need and will likely just move on if they can’t immediately locate it.

7. Only Digital Marketing Matters

While digital marketing is definitely at the forefront these days, it shouldn’t be the only avenue your business takes. In fact, traditional marketing can still make a huge mark in many industries. It’s essential to understand where your marketing will make the most bang for its buck, and for many businesses, that can be both social media and brochures, commercials, or billboards. Effective marketing strategies use the best of both worlds to reach target audiences.

Employee at a desk with a laptop

8. Anyone Can do Marketing

Most people have Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Twitter accounts, and even personal blogs these days. However, that does not make them all experts on social media marketing, video marketing, and blogging for businesses. Marketing is not easy if you want to see results, and, as stated earlier, a social media post or an article here or there won’t do your business any favors. 

There is much more than meets the eye. From identifying the target audience to knowing what content to produce and understanding where to promote your business to how much to spend, there is a lot to consider when it comes to marketing. It’s best to work with the experts.

By working with someone who knows the ins and outs of marketing, you can harness their expertise and experience to benefit your business and your bottom line. They can help you overcome these myths and others to truly see the results you need out of your marketing strategy.

Want to stop worrying about marketing and focus more on your business going forward? Partnering with Cole-Dalton Marketing Services will allow you to take advantage of the latest marketing trends, best SEO practices, and more – all to benefit your company. Let’s have a conversation today !

The post 8 Common Marketing Myths appeared first on Cole Dalton.

Forecasting the Next Ten Years of Marketing

10 Apr, 2024
Marketing is gearing up for significant changes as we enter the new decade. With new technologies, shifts in buyer behavior, and changes in consumption culture, the way businesses reach out to customers will look very different in the coming years. While we can't say what marketing will look like in 10 years, we can examine emerging trends and strategies to forecast its future. Here are some predictions experts are suggesting could take shape moving forward. Increasing Personalized Advertising Personalized marketing should undergo even more profound transformations in the coming decade, leveraging advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence and data analytics to forge deeper customer connections. With the ability to glean insights from vast amounts of data, companies will craft highly tailored ads and messages that resonate with individual preferences and behaviors, fostering stronger brand-consumer relationships. From dynamic content customization to predictive marketing algorithms, the era of hyper-personalization will redefine how businesses engage with their target audiences on a one-to-one level. Advanced Device Communication The proliferation of voice-enabled devices and virtual assistants heralds a new era in consumer engagement, requiring marketers to adapt their strategies to communicate effectively through these mediums. As voice technology continues to gain traction, companies must anticipate the rise of voice commerce and tailor their approaches to accommodate this emerging trend. By leveraging conversational AI and natural language processing, brands can deliver seamless, personalized experiences that resonate with consumers, whether shopping, seeking information, or interacting with digital assistants. Wider Use of Virtual Reality Virtual reality (VR) is poised to become a ubiquitous tool in the marketer's arsenal, offering immersive experiences that transcend traditional advertising methods. With VR, brands can transport consumers into captivating virtual environments where they can interact with products and services unprecedentedly, fostering deeper engagement and brand loyalty. As VR technology becomes more accessible and sophisticated, expect to see a proliferation of immersive marketing campaigns that leverage the power of virtual experiences to captivate audiences and drive conversions.

The Power of Storytelling

12 Mar, 2024
Marketing tends to focus on analytics and systems, but we sometimes forget about one powerful tool that has existed since the beginning: storytelling. From our ancestors telling ancient myths to be passed down for the generations to come to modern-day brand narratives, stories have held the power to inspire and connect in all different ways. Today, consumers face a constant bombardment of advertisements and catered content; using the power of storytelling in marketing campaigns has become critical for businesses, especially smaller firms aiming to create meaningful connections with their target clients. Why Storytelling is an Effective Strategy When a brand uses storytelling to convey its message, it connects with the audience emotionally. By telling a compelling story, marketers can create a memorable experience for consumers, making them more likely to remember and engage with the brand. Additionally, storytelling allows marketers to communicate the brand's values and personality more authentically. Instead of bombarding consumers with sales pitches, storytelling enables brands to share their stories and build trust with their audience, increasing brand loyalty and customer engagement. The Emotional Resonance of Stories At the heart of storytelling lies its ability to bring out emotions and create profound connections on a human level. Unlike traditional marketing messages focusing solely on product features or sales pitches, stories can engage the audience's imagination, stir empathy, and spark genuine interest. By weaving narratives that resonate with their target audience's hopes, dreams, and challenges, small marketing firms can create a powerful emotional bond that transcends transactional relationships. Building Brand Identity and Authenticity Storytelling is a potent tool for small businesses to authentically define and express their brand identity. Through compelling narratives that reflect their values, mission, and vision, small firms can differentiate themselves from competitors and carve out a distinct identity in the minds of consumers. Whether recounting the founder's journey, highlighting customer success stories, or showcasing the company's commitment to social responsibility, storytelling allows small businesses to humanize their brand and foster customer trust and loyalty.

A Guide to Employee-Generated Content

13 Feb, 2024
In a world of "influencer marketing" and brand deals, companies can easily overspend their marketing budgets and get caught up in the frenzy. An influencer may feature your product or brand only for their videos to perform poorly. At best, you lose out on the money spent sending the product to the influencer and whatever you spent on hiring them. At worst, your business gets a bad reputation online, and customers don't take your brand seriously. Consider that influencer marketing is just the "shiny new toy" in marketing. In that case, companies should continue to produce consistent, cost-effective outcome. One source for this? Your Employees. Employee-generated content refers to any videos, pictures, or copy that employees publicly post about their position and the company. Find out the benefits of employee-generated content (EGC), what this content can look like, and how to implement EGC into your overall strategy. What Does Employee-Generated Content Look Like? The beauty of employee-generated content is that it can take many forms. Any content your employees make that involves details about their role, the company itself, or the relationships they've developed with coworkers or customers/clients can be EGC. A simple, straightforward EGC piece can be an employee spotlight for new hires or veteran employees. You can choose to craft employee spotlights as infographics with a picture of the employee along with some fun facts about them, write a long-form piece from an interview with the employee speaking about their time at the company, or even long or short-form videos with the employee speaking on their experiences. While these methods may require the help of a graphic designer, copywriter, or videographer, the idea is that the employees generate the content by speaking about their experiences and introducing themselves. Other ideas for EGC pieces might be "day in the life" videos following a specific employee throughout their day, reflections employees have from conferences or professional development opportunities, employment milestones or recognitions, or even just pictures employees take with each other or showing what happened that day. There are limitless options and iterations for employee-generated content, and the key is to find out what works well for your business and why.
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