When you think about bad marketing habits, what may come to mind is not creating enough content or not being consistent with content. While those are certainly examples, there are so many others.
Today we’re shedding some light on five marketing habits you might need to change or avoid altogether.
TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES:
[00:39] Intro
[01:23] What is a Bad Marketing Habit?
[02:44] 5 Bad Marketing Habits to Break or Avoid
[09:47] You Can Change Your Bad Marketing Habits
[10:35] Bloopers
RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:
Meghan’s Free Workbook “Content Strategy From Scratch”
[Theresa] If you’re looking to generate revenue in your business, you need to market it. I know, I totally blew your mind with that statement! LOL
The real trick is figuring out which marketing strategies and tactics work best for your stage and type of business.
[Meghan] Right. However, as a busy solo entrepreneur who is figuring out most things on your own, it’s easy to make marketing choices that don’t serve you. That’s when you start to develop bad marketing habits.
What Is a Bad Marketing Habit?
[Theresa] OK. Before we get started, let’s define what we mean by bad marketing habits.
We are NOT referring to “black hat” marketing. Black hat marketing is the use of unethical and sometimes even illegal strategies to promote online business. (Source: Marketingschools.org)
We know you’re committed to ethical marketing practices, and that’s not what today’s episode is about.
[Meghan] When we say “bad” marketing, we’re talking about the things you do that either affect you or your business negatively or that don’t support growth. These are strategies, tactics, or actions that are:
- Wrong for your type of business
- Too advanced or not advanced enough for your stage of business
- Unhelpful, undesirable, or damaging
- Outdated, burdensome, or even bad for customers
[Theresa] How do you know if the marketing strategies you’re using have become bad habits? Here’s a hint.
A marketing strategy has become a bad habit if you’ve been doing it for some time, but it’s not producing results or you’re having a near impossible time keeping up with it. However, you keep on doing it anyway.
So, today we’re going to share five bad marketing habits that are absolutely hurting your marketing productivity.
5 Bad Marketing Habits to Break or Avoid
#1 Creating Content for Content’s Sake
[Theresa] Years ago I read a startling statistic. Former Google CEO, Eric Schmidt said this, “Every two days now we create as much information as we did from the dawn of civilization up until 2003.”
That’s mind-blowing! And what’s crazy is he said that back in 2010. So imagine how much content we create every two days now!
But I digress. My point is that many solopreneurs get into the bad habit of creating new content just for the sake of creating it.
The cycle goes like this:
- Create content.
- Distribute content.
- Toss content aside.
- Rinse and repeat.
All this process does is cause exhaustion.
[Meghan] So, stop creating content for the sake of having something to publish. The act of creating and publishing content itself isn’t meaningful. That isn’t what drives results. It’s the purpose, intent, and reason behind your content that produces results.
Content marketing supports your broader business goals. So, spend some time writing a content strategy to identify your goals. Then develop a content calendar to create content that’s profitable and purpose-driven.
Speaking of which, I have a new free course on how to create your own content strategy from scratch that should be live when this episode launches. I’ll include a link to it in the show notes.
#2 Not Choosing a Niche
[Theresa] Another bad habit you may have formed is not choosing a niche. We understand that your product or service may work great for anyone. But when you try to sell to anyone through your content, no one answers the call.
There is a fear that accompanies niching. And that fear is missing out on potential leads that can possibly generate revenue. The misconception is that you’re leaving people out and that your “pool” gets too small. But, nothing can be further from the truth.
[Meghan] Remember the saying, “The riches are in the niches.” Creating content for a specific customer avatar makes your marketing more targeted and more effective.
You’ll attract the right people since you reduce any confusion caused by speaking in generalities. And, when you lead with authority and confidence, you’ll catch other fish in the net you cast.
#3 Doing Content Marketing at the Last Minute
[Theresa] Another bad marketing habit you may have formed is implementing your content marketing at the last minute.
When you don’t have a plan and you’re trying to fit all of your content marketing tasks into a busy schedule, [LINK] you’re setting yourself up for failure. Successful content marketing takes forethought, planning, and time.
Sure, sometimes we all have to create content at the last minute. But, that’s not sustainable long term. So, it’s not the ideal state of affairs.
[Meghan] No, it’s not. In fact, unplanned content marketing means that you’ll end up producing content for content’s sake! Or, you’ll get overwhelmed and abandon your marketing since it’s too difficult to manage when you’re haphazard about it.
So, to maximize your marketing productivity quit the last minute marketing. Plan your work in advance and always mind your strategy, which is your north star when it comes to your content.
#4 Buying Products You Don’t Really Need
[Theresa] This next bad marketing habit is something both Meghan and I are acutely aware of because we’ve done it many times in the past. And that is investing in too many online courses and too many apps.
For me, a mindset issue was always at the root of my online course purchases. That mindset issue was imposter syndrome. I believed that I didn’t know enough, so I therefore needed to learn more.
Over time, more education became the excuse. It gave me permission to not do whatever thing I wanted to do. I’ve heard it called “procrasti-learning”, which I think is quite accurate.
Discover 5 bad marketing habits you need to break or avoid to be more productive in your business and effective in your marketing.Click To TweetI’ve had to do some work on my own limiting beliefs. That work has helped me embrace my expertise, skill and knowledge. It also helped me understand that oftentimes the best way to learn something new is to just go and do it. Then, if I hit a snag, I identify who or what can help me.
If this is your issue, get to the bottom of why you’re procrasti-learning!
[Meghan] Over the years, I realized that the action of buying a course or an app felt like the solution. In other words, you get some sort of peace and satisfaction from the purchase, when in reality that’s only the first step in solving whatever problem you’re trying to solve with the course or app. You still need to take further action.
But people overlook that, and then the act of hitting the “buy” button becomes the instant fix, but the purchase doesn’t actually solve the problem.
Anyway, you can rack up a bunch of unused purchases, and that’s a waste of money, so you definitely want to stop that!
#5 Trying to Do Too Many Marketing Tactics at Once
[Theresa] And the last bad marketing habit is trying to do too many marketing tactics at one time. You’ve heard of Shiny Objects Syndrome, yes? This is like that.
With so many different strategies and tactics to try, it’s understandable that you’d want to do all of them. But in order to be truly effective, especially as a solopreneur, it’s best to stick to just a few content marketing tactics, at least until you’re ready to outsource.
Otherwise, you’re going to spread yourself too thin. And that leads to feeling overwhelmed. You definitely want to avoid that, especially when it comes to your marketing.
So, start small. Perfect your process. Then add in another strategy as needed.
[Meghan] I’ve been guilty of moving from one tactic to the next, and it didn’t end up helping me. In fact, it hurt my results.
In my case, I didn’t stick with some of the tactics long enough to give them a chance to grow my business. And, I probably looked like a flake to my audience to some degree. But, that’s how you learn.
You Can Change Your Bad Marketing Habits
[Theresa] It’s inevitable that you’re going to pick up a couple of bad marketing habits. That’s one of the necessary, messy parts of business.
Before you can change any bad habits though, you first must be aware of them. Don’t be afraid to look at your stuff. It’s not a reflection of who you are. Sometimes you need to make mistakes in order to figure out the right path.
[Meghan] That’s right! We all have bad habits. The key is awareness and an openness to change what’s not working well.
[Theresa] Alright everyone, that’s it for today!
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