5 Marketing Pitfalls to Avoid in 2010

To start off on the right foot in 2010, here are 5 common mistakes to avoid, when building your marketing plan for the year:

·         Be wary of joining the social marketing frenzy. As I have said in the past, social marketing is an additional marketing channel through which you can connect with customers. It is not a completely new way of marketing. So much trash has been written about social marketing lately that it is easy to get caught up in the euphoria of “free social marketing.” It’s not free, and like other channels, if not used properly, it will not produce positive results.

·         On a similar note, resist the urge to devote too much time to “grass roots marketing.” One newsletter I recently received suggested that marketers “blog their brains out” in 2010. This doesn’t sound like a good program to me.  Instead, concentrate on developing solid value propositions, targeting your customers, and crafting your messages carefully. Then figure out how to get the word out…via social marketing channels as well as conventional channels. Don’t rely on the channel to develop the message.

·         I have always found it wise to “front load” your marketing program so that you have a busy set of activities during the first half of the year.  This way, if things go well, you will be able to continue, and perhaps expand your program. If things don’t go well, you will still be able to complete a solid set of activities to meet your personal and your company’s goals.

·         Devote time and effort to experiment with new tactics and service providers. Last year, for example, I found that Jigsaw (www.jigsaw.com) was a better source for email addresses than some of my other lists, while Facebook proved to be ineffective for my marketing needs. Since the landscape is constantly shifting, you need to be constantly trying new things. Run pilot programs to test your ideas “under the radar,” before devoting significant time and money to new projects.

·         Make sure your annual goals are aligned with corporate goals and that these goals are highly-visible. On a related note, even if you are not asked to do so, build, maintain and distribute a high-level timeline and tracking document so that your marketing program is completely transparent. Managers and other people in the company often wonder where all those marketing dollars go. Make it easy for them to see the value your program brings to the company. I will try to write more about this in an upcoming blog.