One of the biggest challenges of marketing is to find what differentiates you from your competitors and shout it from the rooftops. So many businesses think they are telling consumers why they are different but in reality, they are doing the exact opposite.
Let’s discuss some common marketing pitfalls that most companies fall into when they try to make themselves stand out from the crowd.
Pitfall #1: “The Best”
Personal story: I am the ninth youngest of eleven kids. While we were a lower-middle class family we had a lot of love and safety. We always had enough. Nevertheless, if I were to have taken, let’s say, an extra cookie for dessert (without permission), my mom would tell me, “There are 10 other kids in this family. You’re not special.”
Today, telling your child that they aren’t special would be considered parental blasphemy but honestly, it was true and completely appropriate. The same is true for your products/services. They are not special. As much as you might want to describe your products and services as “the best,” they are not. They aren’t “the best,” because “the best” is impossible to prove. There is no agreed-upon metric and almost every other business makes the same claim.
(Think of Buddy the Elf running into the coffee shop, congratulating them that they have “The world’s best cup of coffee.”)
When consumers see ads like “We offer the best customer service” and “Our knowledge far surpasses the competition” they tend to metaphorically (and sometimes literally) roll their eyes. Your ads become white noise between YouTube videos and Instagram reels. Even if your offerings were the best to ever exist, no one will listen to you because everyone else says offerings are the best too.
If your products and services are what differentiates you, you’re fighting a losing battle.
Pitfall #2: “It’s New”
There is a biblical teaching that says, “There is nothing new under the sun.” This truth can be proven by the simple fact that matter cannot be created and it cannot be destroyed. But still, businesses every day promote that what they do is new and has never been done before.
Let’s look at the most egregious example of this marketing philosophy, the midnight infomercial. If I see another ad for a weight loss drug made from a newly discovered herb located deep in the heart ofthe Himalayan Mountains, I’m going to lose it.
The less egregious examples are ads that say, “We take a new approach to financial advising.” Maybe you do. Maybe, just maybe, no one else in history takes the approach to wealth management that you take. But you know what? It doesn’t matter. Consumers are conditioned to not trust companies that say what they do is new.
Pitfall #3: “Just do it (or don’t)”
Okay, this one might sound slightly contradictory at first, but hang with me. Meaning, technology itself and technology platforms like social media are changing so quickly that business owners can easily get overwhelmed and become uninformed. So eventually, they’re faced with making one of four decisions.
- They self-select out of marketing.
They say “I’ve lost so much money and haven’t seen any ROI” or “I don’t have the time.” They completely stop talking about what they do. Bad idea.
- They market out of obligation.
They say “I know social media is big these days so I better just make a post. I don’t have the time to be a full-time marketer so I will just post what I do because that’s what people pay me for.
- They take the burden on themselves.
Business owners could be described as smart, savvy, hardworking, or any combination of similar traits. This means that if they take the time to learn how to market their company well, they might be able to do it. But at what cost? Every minute they spend working on building their marketing capabilities is time not spent on building the business and increasing revenue.
- They pay an out-of-touch marketing firm.
Too many marketing firms sell what they do to clients but they never actually take the time to properly get to know their clients. This means that they often produce surface-level, “low-hanging fruit content” concerning what your company does rather than who your company is.
Conclusion:
Of course, businesses need to talk about what they do. However, there is a high likelihood that if “what you do” is the sole focus of your marketing efforts, your efforts will not yield the results you want.
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