19 Costly Marketing Mistakes.............

Happy almost New Year. I think that the biggest mistake we make in marketing is not tracking our numbers.  If your ROI is not good, change your message or method. If you run the same ad, with same message, in the same place, your ROI will probably not go up and your money will flush away. The old " people need to see your name out there so advertise with us," is complete bunk. If your not making a good profit, stop.

prouddadx3 wrote: Happy almost New Year. I think that the biggest mistake we make in marketing is not tracking our numbers.  If your ROI is not good, change your message or method. If you run the same ad, with same message, in the same place, your ROI will probably not go up and your money will flush away. The old " people need to see your name out there so advertise with us," is complete bunk. If your not making a good profit, stop.

I actually collect ads from service businesses (fliers, newspaper, mailers) and what I notice most if I lay them before me is that they are all the same ad.

They use different wording, colors, offers, but they are all the same. Very seldom do I find any real benefit to the service presented. Most actually think they are getting somewhere with their company name slapped at the top.

Nothing is worse than using a name as the focal point. The reason being is if they do not need carpet cleaning at that moment the ad is tossed. They sometimes need to be manipulated (in an ethical way) to realize they need this service and they need it from you.

If you start collecting some ads yourself you will notice one common trend

Big name

Big coupon

Maybe some scribble about "we are the best because", "customers love us because..", "we are #1 for..."

People do not care about self glorifying ads. Do they care about us saying we are the best or do they care about getting rid of the dust mites buried in their carpets causing allergy problems with their children? (I pulled that out of my butt for an example)

Taking something that you have observed that your customers care about should be the focus of the entire advertising campaign. Both on a micro and macro level.

To rest your company on a price point is going to cannibalize your business. Those who focus on the actual coupon over all else will eventually whittle down the worth of their service.

I guarantee if you build up value in the service you can sell at a higher amount. Most fear this as they do not know exactly the benefits of what they do. They think they are in the carpet cleaning business.

Mercedes is in the "transportation business" technically, the end result is giving people a product to get them from A-B. Ford, Chevy, Honda, they all have the exact end result.

They turn all their features into benefits and create an experience. They done this so well that people actually feel they are part of a exclusive club owning one.

People pay way more for Mercedes because they have justified the cost.

Now there are a lot more people looking to go from A-B without the features these days, they don't care about style so much. That is also why now we need to build up value even more. There will be a plethora of companies terrified offering their service for a nickel. 

As we all know people are pretty aware you "get what you pay for". Sure some will roll the dice, but more will not.

It cost me the same to sell my service at $150 as it does to sell it for $59. I would rather get more quality clients and make more money per hour than a bunch of bargain hunters that will need a better deal to shop again. (if ever)

The only way to get people to pay more is to offer them something so valuable they can't refuse. The only way to do that is know why majority of your customers pay for your service.

As far as Joe Polish goes, he is good at marketing. Don't look at the stuff he sells look at all the carpet cleaners he sucks in. I am not into his products but his method for attracting carpet cleaners is pretty good.

My windows cleaning business is marketed the same way carpet cleaners do. Marketing is marketing.

Once when I saw a flayer for a furniture store and it didn't look like a regular flayer it actually looked like a passport and in every page it had a country name and a picture of furniture that was made in that country 

Here are the four biggest problems I see with people in this industry:
1) They spend 80% of their efforts on the technical side of this business which is really only 20% of what makes their success.
2) They lack in consistency.
3) They treat this as a job they own, not a full fledged business which has a sole duty of providing a good living and retirement.
4)  Their carpet cleaning/water & smoke damage business will wither away, not be sold for a profit.

Still a great list and resource after all these years. Thanks

Marketing is like fishing, you attract the fish you bait for. If you throw out a cheap bait, you'll reel in price-driven customers who'll swim away the moment there's a better deal. Advertise the value you bring to the table, and you'll hook clients who appreciate quality over a quick discount.