Marvelous marketing myths: part one

Twelve out of ten marketers disagree

I get it, it’s a huge field and a no less confusing one. Out of ten marketers, 12 disagree and only one of them has relevant advice for your individual business and branding needs. It’s like speaking to doctors: the conversation is full of foreign vocabulary and big words, but unless you are one of them, you only understand the ‘ands’ and ‘buts’.

I’m allowed to say that – I’ve been in marketing for more than 20 years.

Marketing is key in the success of your business

Regardless, marketing is key in the success of your business, in reaching your audience, in building long-lasting relationships with them and even with your employees and business partners. What you want people to think about your company and what people actually think isn’t telepathy - it’s marketing. Let’s tackle some of the most common myths surrounding it so you can finally get your fair and important share of marketing magic:

• Marketing and advertising are the same.
  ‍Often,these two words are used interchangeably. However, advertising is merely abranch of marketing. Marketing is geared towards building long-termrelationships, trust and loyalty. It creates a brand that your customers wantto rely on and interact with, a story that they are drawn to. Marketing helpsyou get your brand off the ground and keeps it flying. As part of marketing,advertising is the activity of making your products or services known andpersuading your target group to buy them. Think of marketing as being thetheater, the actors, the producer, the plot, the stage and the setting, while advertisingis the paid chair that the audience sits down in.  
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• We're too small and don't need it!
  As a smallbusiness owner or start-up, your resources are limited – both financially andin terms of time. So it’s no surprise that one of the first things to be putoff until later is marketing. But without marketing, your future customerswon’t get the message or, in the best case, will only get the wrong one andlater becomes never because you’ll be busy chasing after them. Often, this alsohappens because marketing is mistaken for advertising alone, but it’s thefoundation for any communication with your customer and thus indispensable for yoursales activities. Marketing for small businesses requires great considerationfor available resources and reproducibility, creative solutions and strategicplanning to ensure you optimize your budget and outcome. It’s a long game toplay, but one you will definitely lose if you don’t play at all.
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• I don't need marketing for my existing customers.
  We’ve circled back to the difference between marketing and advertising. Yes, your existing customers know you exist, but that doesn’t mean they will stick around forever. It’s like being in a romantic relationship. Unless you keep the love alive, one might start to wander. Customer retention and long-term loyalty require you to market to existing customers and build your brand’s reputation beyond their initial purchase.
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• If i build it, they will come.
  Having a website only means that you are online. With over one billion websites worldwide, just having one simply isn’t enough anymore. Your website needs to be found, it needs to attract people and it needs to keep the attention of the visitor. So before you pay a web designer or use a template to create a digital business card, make sure to cover your basics. Think about brand development, product features, storytelling and, just as importantly, keywords and search engine marketing. I repeat: BEFORE you start designing your website and certainly before you go online. Otherwise, you’ll just have to do it all over again, and that means more money and more time spent.

Interested in a few more fun myths like the social media trap or the B2B communication?
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Curious about more? Check out marvelous marketing myths: part two