It is said that every failure is a stepping stone to success and every mistake is another opportunity to learn. However, when you are a small business owner, too many mistakes will completely ruin your prospects. 80% of all small businesses fail within the first 18 months of operation due to one too many miscalculations.

Small business marketers have no margin for error as they’re mostly short on resources and time. Here’s a list of the most common marketing mistakes small business owners make and a few tips to help you avoid them:

1. Not taking your website seriously enough

It's a fact. Your website is going to be your #1 selling tool.

Most small business owners don’t focus on developing a website for their business thinking it would be costly. Truth be told, the one-time investment on a professional up-to-date website that showcases your work in lush detail is most likely insignificant compared to all the profit it will bring in the long term. Moral of the story? If you don’t have a website that’s working for you yet, have one designed and developed ASAP.

2. Not targeting the right audience

Imagine trying to sell chocolates to a diabetic patient – will it go well? Probably not! If you don’t research your target audience and recognize their needs, you’ll never be able to market your services successfully and compel clients to purchase them.

First, research the preferences of your target audience and use the data to answer the “where”, “what”, “when”, and “why” questions and specify all the details that impact buying decisions of your target audience. Then, begin your marketing campaign by focusing on people that can really benefit from your services.

3. Not tracking results

What’s the point of all your efforts if you don’t have any idea whether it is generating leads or increasing your sales? If you are not tracking your performance, you’ll never know what works and what doesn’t. You won’t even know where improvements must be made, so all your marketing budget will go to waste.

With Google Analytics, built-in analytics in social media platforms, and other tools to track performance, you should not ignore tracking your marketing results and you should always continuously be making improvements where and when they’re required.

4. Not focusing on the competition

In the business world, competition is always intimidating, but that doesn’t mean we should not pay attention to our competitors. By studying other businesses in your niche and seeing how they market their business, you can learn a thing or two to improve your own marketing efforts.

For example, you can see which social media platforms your competitors are using to promote their products and how the audience is reacting. This way, you can target your marketing efforts on the same platform to give your competitors a run for their money.

People learn from the mistakes of others, that’s why we’ve shared these common mistakes of small business owners to help you learn. Hopefully, now you better understand how to avoid these marketing mistakes and begin to take your business to new heights.