“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” – Thomas Edison
Marketing Mistakes
Who are you as a business? What are you trying to achieve? Who you are even marketing to? Far too many businesses get overwhelmed trying to answer these questions. Maybe you can relate. You brainstorm, you work a bit, then you brainstorm some more. Pretty soon, you’re on the verge of burnout, making one marketing mistake after another:
- Doing more brainstorming than actual work.
- Questioning your identity more than analyzing data.
- Asking AI instead of customers for answers.
- Spreading yourself too thin by being and doing too many things.
Ironically, in the process of finding yourself, you might lose your customers. In the process of trying to be the most you can be, you might fail to grow. Trying to be all, do all, for all is the biggest marketing mistake you can make.
You’re not a convenience store, you’re a brand.
In order to avoid the biggest marketing mistake ever, you have to stop trying to be a marketing god. You cannot be amazing at everything and make everyone happy. Perfectionism only leads to depression and failure.
Take a look at the most successful brands in the world: Amazon, Starbucks, Apple, Walmart, to name a few. They pinpointed their identity, worth, customer, and price point. Then they hustled! In the process of working hard and marketing themselves, they figure out by trial and error what works and what doesn’t. When an idea tanks, they don’t get stuck, they keep trying. They recognize that failure is an important stepping stone toward success.
Maze vs. Highway
Entrepreneur Patrick Bet-David hits the nail on the head when he talks about the importance of focusing your efforts, disregarding what people think, and appealing to one audience:
“As a marketer, you don’t ever want to have a bipolar personality. See, some brands are all over the place. They’re almost like kids that try to please everybody. But the highest form of maturity is when you become independent of the opinion of others. What this means as a CEO is that you need to position yourself, realize who you are, and stick to it. The biggest marketing mistake you can make is to try to appeal to every single customer. You just can’t do that. No one has ever done it and become massive.”
You have a choice: continue walking the maze or drive the highway. The best way to avoid the biggest marketing mistake ever and actually get somewhere with your business is to stop driving all over town with your brand. Hop onto the interstate, pick a route, and drive!