I couldn’t believe what I was reading.
In an interview with StyleList, fashion icon/heiress Daphne Guinness was actually advocating experimenting with your makeup by trying nail polish as lipstick, as she herself had.
Talk about the kiss of death!
There are so many “experts” out there in all fields with advice that is obviously terrible… even to the novice. Not all pieces of advice are so blatantly atrocious, though. Some marketing tips, for example, may seem sensible at first glance. When we peel away the layers, however, we find that, like nail polish on the lips, they’re really rather toxic.
Here are a few that we found interesting:
Bad Tip 1 – Get on every possible social media site out there! At first it sounds like a good idea, doesn’t it? What a go-getter you are if you put your business on every social media site known to man! You’re bound to attract more customers that way, right? Not really. Yes, there are a lot of great social media sites out there, and more pop up all the time… but not every one of them is the right place to showcase your business. Rather than spreading yourself thin on every site available, find out where your current and potential customers are going and set up shop there. In marketing, strategy trumps mere volume. And now for the flipside of this bad tip…
Bad Tip 2 – You really don’t need social media. For some businesses, it is easy to shrug off social media as an unnecessary trend. “My customers don’t use social media much, so why should I waste time promoting my business that way?” Why? Just because your current customers may not use much social media, do not assume that you will never have customers who do. The number of people who use it in some form or other is growing, and your customers may be next. Even if they aren’t, it is wise to start out with one platform that you think can benefit your business. A weekly blog linked to your website on Facebook, for example, can begin to attract new customers to your website and to your business.
Bad Tip 3 – Email is a dinosaur; your business doesn’t need to use it as part of its marketing strategy. Wrong. Let me repeat this. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. A 2013 report from email marketing service, iContact, finds that “83% of small and medium-size businesses say email is important or critically important to their overall marketing strategy.” Think about some of its many advantages. Email is cost-effective and has a high return on investment. It affords you an opportunity to send quality communications in a professional style. It’s personal, going right to someone’s inbox. Members on your email list actually want to hear from you, having given you permission to contact them. Also, bear in mind that email marketing is being brought back to the front burner for businesses because of the advances in mobile technology. This may change the original “rules” of emailing a bit, but it absolutely keeps email a vital part of your marketing strategy.
Bad Tip 4 – SEO is dead, so don’t worry about it anymore. OK, this is a little tricky. SEO (search engine optimization) in the original sense is a thing of the past, and rightly so, because it often resulted in the creation of websites that were focused on ranking at the expense of quality content. In its early form, SEO consisted of methods that today either don’t work or can actually damage your search engine ranking. Modern SEO is more focused on the value of your content. By creating content with relevant keywords, linking your content through reputable websites and directories, and using social media effectively, you can make today’s methods of SEO work for your business, rather than laboring under the delusion that SEO no longer exists.
Bad Tip 5 – Mobile-optimized websites are expensive and unnecessary. Have you ever tried to go on a company’s website on your mobile device only to find that the site was not mobile-ready? Aggravating, isn’t it? You’re in good company. A September 2013 Pew Research study indicated that nearly two thirds of cell phone owners use their phone to go online! Imagine how many of those individuals experience the same frustration. That is a huge number of disappointed potential customers. Thankfully for them, the frustration doesn’t last long. They merely go to another website that is mobile-responsive. Think about it. Which site do you want yours to be?
That list of bad advice is just the tip of the iceberg that causes businesses to sink like the Titanic! What pieces of bad marketing advice have you been given? Did you ignore them, or did you end up in a similar situation as the fashion novices with nail polish on their lips?
Bola Olonisakin is the Creative Head & Chief Online Strategist at GTechDesigns. Bola specializes in coaching entrepreneurs, small business owners
, and corporations in achieving the MAXIMUM PROFIT from their website by increasing visibility and using laser-focused marketing strategy. Download the Ultimate Guide To A Money Making Website to help you discover the 8 Tech-Riffic ways to PROFIT online at http://bit.ly/17beYnp. This post was originally posted at www.gtechdesigns.com
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