No apologies for posting another great marketing cartoon from Tom Fishburne…
Read the original post at…
…for the inspiration behind the cartoon and an interesting case study about a small and spunky fashion company called Betabrand.
My list of 7 marketing mistakes that I tend to see in the cases that come across my desk…
1. Not applying the principles of direct response marketing as outlined in “Scientific Advertising” by Claude Hopkins.
2. Failing to build a customer list and a list of prospective customers. No list, no business.
3. Neglecting existing customers and failing to communicate with them often enough.
4. Not having a clear USP or at least a clear answer to the question “Why should anyone do business with you”?
5. Failing the “What’s In It For Them”? test in any communication. Closely linked, failing the “So what?” test.
6. Not testing!
7. Bragging! Bit of a fine line here. If you win awards that add to your authority and credibility, then it’s OK to mention that where appropriate. Awards can also be newsworthy and a reason for a promotion. What’s not good is endlessly going on about awards that you might be excited about but the customer doesn’t really care about,
OK, there are a lot more than just 7 marketing mistakes, but these are among the majors.
Something that I see surprisingly often as well, is launching a product that has no clear benefit to the client. It staggers me at times how often businesses don’t know their market very well and what competing products are available.
Business owners and marketers face enough challenges without making “unforced errors”. Make sure you follow the core principles of direct response marketing and you’ll keep marketing disasters to a minimum.
UPDATE (18 October 2011):
The “7 Deadly Sins” theme can be used in your marketing in different ways.
In this previous post…
“Medieval Monk Inspires Classic Copywriting Template”
…I discussed how you can use this theme for special reports and lead generation as well as the main theme for a sales letter.
So, this is hardly a new marketing idea…
…but there are always new ways to apply it.
I think the concept works so well because it both plays on the “curiosity” factor…
… plus the “fear of loss” that’s implied…
…and a certain element of, shall we say, fascination with the “seamier” side of life.
Now, I’m sure that doesn’t apply to you of course!
But the continued success of “scandal sheets” and our celebrity obsessed culture would back me up on that point when it comes to the population at large.