Marketing often presents visible (and invisible) pitfalls that even the most experienced of marketers can fall into; holes in your marketing strategy that can end up derailing your entire campaign. We’ve identified four marketing risks that can bring an end to your marketing campaign - we’ve also listed the lessons that you can learn from them!

Hype

Wild and flashy, with a heavy emphasis on visual and emotional attachment, hype is primarily criticised as a marketing ploy to fool consumers. Building up expectations then under-delivering on those promises is one of the best ways to have your marketing campaign remembered with infamy. So how do you avoid building too much marketing hype?

One way is by being subtle - don’t become overbearing with your campaign. Bad hype will make your target market begin to have doubts in your products. In a world where simplicity is often favourable over intricacy, take advantage of this by being clear and straightforward.

Not having a plan

It is surprising how many experienced marketers still fall in this area. While a strategy for real-time marketing does exist, it’s often hard to distinguish the fine line between not having a plan and having no idea what you’re doing at all. Often this is due to the campaign running into unforeseen circumstances, or a lack of time to form a strategy.

There is really no insight here: you should always have an idea of what you’re doing. It’s essential to have a strategy in all campaigns. The worst thing for marketers is to present a product that they have no idea about.  Having a plan allows for guidance and an overall end goal for you and your product.

Over-experience

It’s easy to think you have a handle on matters when you’ve been doing it for a while - it’s also easy to trip when you’re looking too far ahead. Having too much experience can often skew your perception of the current (or future) field of marketing.

It is always important to keep an open mind. Update yourself with the latest trends in marketing, and learn from other campaigns and how they market themselves. Dare to work with a formula that your audience isn’t familiar with to make an impact. The most important lesson to learn here is that even if you’re an old hand, you can still learn new tricks.

Under-experience

On the other hand, a lack of experience can also be disastrous for your marketing campaign. This mostly applies to startup companies that don’t have a dedicated marketing department, however it also happens to companies that branch out into unfamiliar territory. Under-experience can make you vastly under or overestimate your marketing strategy’s effectiveness, leading to diminished leads and a campaign that lacks impact.

In this case, it’s advisable to ask for help or alternatively collaborate with an agency that are experienced with marketing. Many companies offer marketing services at a reasonable cost, allowing you to come up with a solid marketing strategy without the expenditure that you would have to pay a dedicated marketing department.

Marketing spoilers are difficult to navigate, but with time, patience and effort (as well as a solid marketing strategy and a little bit of quick thinking) can help increase your campaign’s effectiveness. Keeping these tips in mind can help strengthen the reach and impact of your marketing, allowing you to keep yourself in the minds of your audience.

Interested in learning more marketing tricks? Download our free Marketing Pillar eBook, or contact myCEO today for more information on how we can help you improve your business.