All of us, at some point, start to acquire some bad habits. And even the most experienced marketer can fall into this trap. Starting without a plan in place, focusing on the wrong metrics, cutting corners to meet deadlines… the list goes on.
But fear not! Bad habits are broken just as easily as they are started when it comes to marketing.
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Take a look at some of the bad habits we’ve listed here to see if you are guilty of them. If so, don't worry! You’ll quickly realize they're easily avoidable.
Too Much Boasting
Have you ever went for coffee with a friend you haven’t seen in a long time and all they do is talk about themselves? You literally can’t get a word in edgewise. That’s probably the last time you’ll want to see that person again.
The same goes for boastful marketing.
Talking about yourself or your company won't increase your customer base. People don’t care that you think your company is the greatest in the world. They care about how you can help them.
Instead, offer your potential customer information that will help them on their home buyer’s journey. You'll want to provide value in the form of informative blog posts, downloadable guides, checklists, etc. Offering these types of free materials will help your customers in their buying journey and keep them coming back to you for more information. And, as an added bonus, high-quality content will bump up your rankings!
That doesn't mean you can't talk about yourself at all! Just keep it within reason, and subtle.
Trying To Be Everywhere
Do you think your home building business needs to be on every single social platform out there? Are you having a hard time keeping up with juggling social media, content marketing, email marketing, paid ads, and PR?
Trying to be everywhere is exhausting and unnecessary! Focus on where your audience spends the most time, and be there. However, don’t forget to align your content with your platforms.
For example, if you're blogging about home builder industry news, share it to LinkedIn and Twitter. If you have a new blog post geared towards your buyer persona(s), promote it on Facebook so they can check it out. If you want to share photos of your show homes, post on Instagram, and so on.
Finding ways to streamline your processes whenever possible is highly beneficial. Automated marketing software such as HubSpot allows you to publish and monitor your content, run and manage social media and email advertising, track your progress, integrate your marketing and sales, and so much more! Having the ability to automate operations like that can free up your time as well as produce significant results.
Bad Quality Backlinking
You know that having backlinks improves your search ranking by giving your site domain authority. So what do some marketers do? They buy backlinks. This is a direct violation of Google’s guidelines and you can bet they’re on the lookout for it! If your site all of a sudden gains thousands of backlinks, Google will know and you can get blacklisted and your rankings will drop.
Proper back linking takes time and is probably one of the most time-consuming aspects of SEO. A few suggestions for getting quality backlinks would be:
- Write great articles
- Start guest blogging
- Submit to web directories
- Create Pillar content
You will gain many benefits from quality backlinks so take the time to do it right.
Marketing Shmarketing
Do you see marketing as a necessary evil? Marketing is necessary but it doesn’t have to be evil. Marketers who view it as a chore — out of obligation — can send a bad message to their potential customers. And not having a solid plan in place can add to this negative perception, but we'll get to strategy in the next section.
Marketing is a way to reach out to your audience with informative and fun material that will help them make an informed buying decision. Whether it’s blog posts, email newsletters, or just a fun post, focus on attracting potential home buyers to your website, converting them into leads, nurturing those leads, and closing them as customers.
Having No Strategy
In order to have any kind of results, you need to create and implement a solid plan that will produce those results for you. Some marketers try many different things to see what works without having a plan.
Do not throw something at the wall just to see what sticks!
Want to get more people into your show homes? Set out a plan to create a solid conversion funnel that guides them toward taking the desired action you'd like: visiting a showhome and signing on the dotted line! Focusing on creating a strategy that speaks to your ideal buyer where they're at in each point of the marketing funnel is the key to marketing and sales success!
Expecting Too Much, Too Quick
Marketing is not an exact science. Expecting grand results from everything you put out there is a recipe for failure. You cannot predict how your audience will engage with a campaign that you’ve worked hard on. And yet you can slap something together very quickly and it may get the most engagement.
Focus on the metrics. Are there certain blog topics that outperformed all the rest? Are some of your CTAs getting way more clicks than others? By evaluating your current marketing efforts you’ll be able to see what’s working and what isn’t and plan better for future campaigns.
Not Being Mobile-friendly
Have you checked out your website on mobile? How about your emails? You may think you’re sending beautiful email newsletters with gorgeous images of your show homes but if they don’t show up properly on a smartphone or tablet, you could be losing your audience.
Test your email marketing out on all platforms. Using a single column email template with a readable font size is best practice. And make sure your buttons are large enough to click on.
Are you guilty of any of these habits? Even the best marketing strategies can fall short if good systems aren’t in place. As long as you recognize these habits, you can fix them. Use the tips we’ve suggested here and you’ll soon be on your way to marketing success!
Originally published July 9, 2019
