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All marketers make mistakes. We have so many things on our plate: managing teams, launching campaigns, creating products — you name it. There are bound to be errors along the way. Furthermore, it can cost up to thousands of dollars to fix a single marketing mistake. No wonder 50% of businesses fail by their fifth year.
However, it doesn’t need to be that way. You can easily prevent frequent mistakes to stop unneeded revenue loss and score little wins with the right methodology. Keep reading to learn how.
1. Campaign Overspending
Be honest. Have you ever started an advertising campaign and spent way over budget? The most likely culprit is that you simply left the campaign on or didn’t set a limit.
If it hasn’t happened yet, consider yourself lucky. Either way, one of the first ways to avoid this happening is by having a clear checklist for each campaign. It might look like this:
1. Set campaign goals (leads, traffic, etc.).
2. Set a daily/monthly budget.
3. Produce sales copy and creatives.
4. Double-check settings.
5. Launch campaign.
6. Check in at least once per day.
That brings me to my next point.
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2. Campaigns Not Launching On Time
You put blood, sweat and tears into the perfect campaign. It’s going to change the world. But, it gets delayed.
If a campaign is pushed back, that means results and revenue will be, too. Not good.
How can you get around this? Firstly, I suggest that you set clear milestones for every project, no matter how big or small.
These might include:
• Creating a project outline.
• Setting key performance indicators (KPIs).
• Choosing the target audience.
• Setting budget requirements.
• Deciding on distribution and marketing channels.
Secondly, run the plan by your entire team so everyone is accountable. Ensure that every person and the department has their own milestones and KPIs. Lastly, check in every set period (weekly, for example) to ensure that the campaign is progressing as planned.
3. Tracking And Integrations Breaking
“Why aren’t conversions being tracked?” your client asks. Integrations broke.
This happens when you least expect it, too. Unfortunately, it causes clients to become upset, the data loses its accuracy and other tasks get pushed back as you scramble to fix the problem.
A report by Tricentis found that software failures cost the U.S. economy $1.7 trillion in 2017. Additionally, it affected 3.7 billion people and resulted in 268 years of downtime.
A simple way around this is by having a hierarchy of roles that interact with all the company’s assets on a regular basis. If tracking or integrations break, they will be discovered sooner than later.
Let’s say you’re launching a PPC campaign, for instance. You could have one individual set up the back end of the campaign. Then, the copywriter goes in and produces all the sales copy. A designer uploads the creatives after this. Finally, it’s handed off to the marketing lead to inspect before it’s launched.
There are so many touch points that any bugs with tracking or integrations are bound to be discovered versus if only one person interacts with it.
4. Targeting The Wrong Audiences
You can have the perfect campaign, sales copy and funnel. However, the right eyes need to see it. Otherwise, all that precious time and money gets flushed down the drain.
The reality is that every customer segment is unique. No two groups will respond to an offer in the same way. It needs to be tailored; it needs to be personalized. This is why most consumers become frustrated when content isn’t tailored.
Be empathetic, and research what customers care about. I suggest using surveys and questionnaires to directly connect with customers. Google Forms is a great tool to use for this. Ask questions about their purchasing experience, interests, pain points and needs.
Additionally, make use of free platforms like Google Analytics to collect customer data. Market reports, case studies, white papers and other secondary resources are great for improving targeting, too.
All of your findings need to be used to create specific buyer personas. Tailor calls to action, sales copy and landing pages to each group for maximum return.
5. Broken Forms, Links And Checkout Systems
Think of a sales funnel as individual steps that lead to the end goal: the sale. Every single step needs to be as easy and streamlined as possible. This maximizes how many users will convert.
This is because it makes their experience smoother and more enjoyable. If there are constant bugs, interruptions and hiccups, they’ll be clicking the back button as fast as possible.
It’s typical for little things along the way to get messed up. That’s OK. However, they can cost you leads and sales. There’s one simple way to avoid this: Test your funnels!
Yes, it’s really that simple. Nothing should get launched without thorough testing. Go through the funnel, and click every button and link. Engage with the page as a real customer would. Ask yourself questions such as:
• Do the forms work?
• Are links correct and functional?
• Do buttons work?
• Are pages responsive on all devices?
• Can payments be sent and received properly?
• Do cart and checkout systems work?
Fix anything that isn’t working as intended, and get important pages perfect. Once everything is greenlit, launch it with confidence.
Conclusion
Mistakes happen all the time in business. However, they can be very costly. They can result in lost leads, sales and — perhaps most importantly — time.
The most common mistakes I’ve witnessed over decades as a marketer include overspending, campaigns not launching on time, broken integrations, incorrect targeting, and broken pages (a.k.a. human error).
Many of these can be prevented by having thorough systems and steps in place. Double-check progress, integrations and settings on a regular basis. Nothing will slip through the cracks this way.
Test every page, product and funnel before it’s offered to the public, as well. Obvious bugs will hurt customer experience, performance and branding.
