If you want to be part of the 5% top-earners in the marketing industry, you must read the 12 mistakes that would cost you the loss of this status.
You need to have a good marketing plan , and use in this plan the most effective strategies possible……AND avoid the most costly ones, the money-wasting ineffective strategies. But also, to avoid anything, you must know it. So here is the story of Miss-Marketing-Mistake , or Mimi in 12 steps : steps 5 to 8

5 – Mimi used the old “one-Step” marketing strategy. Big waste of money!

Mimi use the most common strategy that in fact today small business owners use.
She used different classical media-support, like brochures or flyers, cards, or others, where she simply announced her business name, show a small list of basic features that she promotes, and mentioned her address and phone number.

With that type of marketing pieces, she expected the prospect to be responsive by immediately come to her shop and buy her product and service.
This kind of strategy completely forgets the psychology of the buyer, in the buying process. This one step is skipping all others steps. and drive to little to no response.

Mimi took the tree for the forest: she thought her product would be perceived as an exceptional high demand one ( a $4000 value for $500, or a Rolling-stones last concert ticket…) . But it was not, and she went into studying that “psychological buying sequence of consumers”.

6- the “copy’n paste” the competition’s mistakes.

Mimi deduced from the “this is what every is doing” that it must be “this is the right thing to do” . The mistake number 5 can be a very good demo for this:
look at the ads and promotion that small local business publish in newspapers, and /or magazines : you’ll see they all very similar, basic messaging, basic strategy, and basic small or no results.

We all tend to do this, as we feel safe doing what everyone is doing, assuming that what works for others will work equally for us.
We do not look at the big picture, how the success is build in some one’s business: it comes always from several different elements in a marketing strategy: the location, the targeted niche, the small or no competition, the personality the originality……

We rarely take in consideration all the strategic elements when “copying” our competitors, and we miss the pieces that , put all together, can give efficiency to the completed recipe.

Mimi understood her that she’d better start branding herself, be unique and original, and follow the update rules of marketing rather than her competitors “experience”.

7- Mimi did NOT tell her prospects what to do!

What was she thinking? She was “assuming”! Never do that! Assume that the prospect will know what to do when he has read the ad…. what a costly, not result guaranteed mistake!
Once again, when you look at your competitors most ads, you see generally just the address and phone number at the bottom. When you ask the business owner :
” What do you want the prospect to do , after he read your ad?’
The answer is often:
” but come and buy my product! it’s obvious!”
No, it is NOT.
There are 2 reasons to that:
One is the typical marketing piece contains rarely information that makes the consumer to immediately decide to buy,
and two is the competition for the same product or service is all around, and the prospect is not making a decision to buy, based on one single ad.

If you want to be sure that the prospect will respond to your marketing piece, and take specific action that you want, simply TELL them what to do! You as a business owner must know what that action should be.
To know this, as we say in mistake 6, study your customer psychological buying sequence.

8 – Mimi used the basic ” for more info…call…”

That mistake is closely related to the mistake number 7. We have a marketing piece that announces the business name, list a few features offered , ends with an address and phone number, and with the small invite “Call for more information”.

Doesn’t this sound like you are dumb somewhere, not understanding enough about what is said on the ad? What information should you ask for? Why do you have to call, does it mean this company has no brochure or other literature to describe the product?….
That is the last thing that the prospect want to wonder about.

Also, this “call to call” makes the prospects feel pressured, he can expect to get an heavy sales-pitch when he calls, and he surely will avoid this pain….

Instead of this marketing mistake, brainstorm and be creative with some exiting promise, for taking the action that you say.

For instance, as you are at the end of this part 2 of the story, I can strongly suggest now that your action be to put your name and e-mail address into the form on the left here, and get NOW a free big value content marketing video!