There are a lot of things that I hear over and over about marketing that simply aren't true, or are just misunderstood.
So, I'm going to go through the biggest marketing myths that I've come across and put the record straight about them...
MYTH 1: You need a big budget to be successful
Yes, having a decent budget can help, but you absolutely DO NOT need to have a lot of money to run a successful campaign. Small business with minimal budgets have found success using social media and optimising their website's SEO, which doesn't need to break the bank.
MYTH 2: You've built your website, so there's no need to update it
Your website needs regular maintenance in order for it to keep ranking on search engines. The more frequently a website is updated, the more favourably it is seen by Google etc., and can affect your ranking (which is why regular blog posts are so important, and often underrated!)
MYTH 3: SEO isn't that important
SEO is MASSIVELY important! I cannot stress this enough; if your website has poor SEO, it will not do well on search engines and will not easily be found by your targeted audience. There is no point having a website if you're not going to bother with SEO.
MYTH 4: The more website traffic you have, the more money you'll make
In theory, the more website hits you have, the more sales you will make, but you could have a high rate of traffic without many visitors actually making a purchase. This could be because the website isn't easy to navigate or links do not work, so you need to ensure that your website is fully optimised in order to convert the number of website visitors into customers.
MYTH 5: Social media isn't worth using
Social media is definitely here to stay, and it is such an important avenue for marketers; it should not be disregarded. With social media, you can immediately reach an audience and easily trial different ideas to see what campaigns work and what doesn't.
MYTH 6: You need to be on every social media platform
There are so many social media platforms out there, that it is literally impossible to be on all of them; and not all of them will be relevant to your business. When you first set-up your business, you need to choose two or three platforms to focus on, and as your business grows, you can consider exploring other platforms. Not all content suits every platform, and creating content can be time consuming, so you need to bear in mind your workload and how much time you want to dedicate to social media.
MYTH 7: Email marketing doesn't work
Email marketing isn't always easy, and it is heavily dependent on having the right audience/contact list, but if you do have the right audience then email marketing is a must! BUT - never pay for email addresses!
MYTH 8: Negative comments or feedback on social media is not good
You are never going to please everybody, and at some point, someone will respond negatively to something you post online. Whilst this can be upsetting and frustrating, try to look at it as an opportunity to explain your perspective and reasoning, as well as showing your audience that you are a real person that they might relate to.
MYTH 9: You should post on social media everyday
Social media is about quality, not quantity; you need to ensure that the posts you share are high quality, rather than just sharing anything and everything. If your audience is bombarded with poor quality, irrelevant posts, they are likely to un-follow you or not use your business.
MYTH 10: Marketing is just about being creative
Yes, being creative is a big part of marketing, but there is also an analytical side that has to be considered. A lot of marketing involves statistics from website hits, conversion rates, sales, to profit/loss figures, and these need to be understood, explored and explained in order to see what campaigns worked, what didn't and where improvements can be made. Without the analytical side, the business cannot grow and be successful.
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