Small businesses have small marketing budgets, if they have any at all. And some of them seem hell bent on wasting what they have. Hear are ten of my least favourite ways of frittering away marketing money and some advice about avoiding the pitfalls.

1.  Spending money on literature that isn’t flexible enough

All too often I’ve been asked by someone what they should do with their glossy brochures after they’ve spent all their marketing budget on them. They’ve made the decision to spend money on brochures, leaflets, etc. before deciding what results they want from them. 

There’s a strong likelihood that this brochure, or whatever, will be very general and not adaptable to different situations. Instead think of using modular elements to tailor for different customers, or short print runs for different circumstances. Alternatives to the glossy brochure don’t have to look cheap – instead a creative approach can be a cost effective way of getting your message across.

Above all start with your customers – how do they want you to communicate with them?

2.  Spending money on literature that isn’t targeted enough

Another problem is that of producing marketing material that isn’t clearly directed to your customers. If you misjudge the process of trying to be flexible you could end up with an alternative that loses sight of the target market and puts across messages that are bland or confusing. Keep your message clear, consistent and relevant to your customers.

3.  Not having an offer and a clear call to action

An issue that’s often seen in small business advertising. The simple fact is that small businesses don’t have the luxury of “brand advertising” purely to build and maintain awareness. Large companies can afford this luxury but for a small business it’s either self-indulgence or a trick missed – and it’s why they often find that advertising doesn’t work.

If you’re going to pay for advertising make sure you have clear offer to make and you tell your audience exactly what to do to take advantage. Your “call to action” should be unambiguous and their means of responding easy to identify – so, if that means a phone call, make your phone number nice and big. If there’s a time limit to your offer (and there should be), that needs to be stated obviously, not hidden away in small print.

4.  Not targeting

Who is your target market? Please don’t tell me it’s “everybody”. “Everybody” is not a market unless you have Coca Cola’s marketing budget.

The more tightly you can define the sort of person or organisation that would buy from you the more precisely you can shape your offering, target your message and determine the tools you use to communicate. And the more you can do this, the less you waste your budget.

5.  Not monitoring and testing

Yes, number crunching can be dull but it’s an important part of marketing. If you don’t know what works you can’t know what to do more or less of. 

At the least you should be monitoring where your enquiries come from so you can tell whether that Yellow Pages advert was really worth the money or whether your Facebook business page produced better sales.

You can test different versions of direct mail and email. You can try different landing pages on your web site. You can track the enquiries that come from your PR or exhibitions. Learn to love your marketing numbers.

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6.  Not squeezing the most value out of what you do

Many small business owners don’t think about their promotional efforts in terms of an integrated campaign. Instead they dabble in different activities as and when they have the time or the inclination. But by making the promotion of their business an everyday activity across a range of channels they’re more likely to see results.

If you’ve issued a press release, is it also posted on your web site? This might help your search engine optimisation and it adds credibility to your business when seeking further media coverage.

If you’re running a competition, how many ways are you using to stimulate interest? Are you collecting permission for future communication as part of the entry process? And how much publicity will you be getting from announcing the winner on your web site, in the press, at your networking?

7.  Not understanding the dynamics of different promotional techniques

Different types of promotional activity have different dynamics. Is your chosen method good for creating awareness or better for establishing credibility? Not all promotional techniques can do all the necessary jobs so you need an integrated mix of channels.

Typically a new customer will have heard about you 7-9 times before they make a decision to buy. Are you engineering this or just trusting to luck? Or, like too many business owners, thinking a single advert will bring in all the business you need?

8.  Doing it yourself – if you’re not good at it

A sure-fire way to waste your marketing money is to do things badly. If you’re not good at something then investing in some professional support.

Whilst a new business owner can always be forgiven for using temporary business cards, a clip art logo will only make them seem unprofessional. Likewise, a “home made” web site is likely to create a similar impression.

9.  Copying the competition

Doing what the competition does just because they do it isn’t going to give anyone a reason to choose you over them. 

Sometimes, of course, they’re doing things for good reason and it’s worth following suit – I once heard someone giving a takeaway restaurant owner the advice not to use put menus through people’s letterboxes because “every takeaway does that and you don’t want to be the same as everybody else” – advice that was clearly barmy.

But often whole sectors can fall into the same promotional practices purely out of habit and this where zigging, as they say, when others zag, can be a great idea. Instead of copying your competition, why not seek inspiration from completely different sectors instead?

10.  Not giving a clear reason to buy from you

Finally, the worst waste of marketing money ever – not giving your potential customers a real reason to buy from you.

You need to understand what makes you different from the competition and communicate it clearly. We’re not talking features, we’re not even talking benefits – think ADVANTAGES. That’s what gives people that real reason to choose you.

It might be something practical, it might be something that speaks to the emotions, it might be a bundle of both. But be sure what it is and be sure that your customers know too.

(Psst. If you can get this right, you can avoid an eleventh way to waste money – not being talkable. Word of mouth recommendation is just about the most powerful marketing technique you can harness – so give people something to talk about).