Common Local Marketing Mistakes

Greetings,

I was recently asked by a client what were the most common mistakes made by small businesses when it comes to local marketing.

Having dealt with many large and small franchise groups in addition to major corporations with regional marketing teams and other entities with independent businesses like licensed stores, dealers, mortgage advisors and financial planners I think I was well placed to respond to this question.

It didn’t take me long to answer.

In fact, I don’t recall drawing too much of a breath before pointing out the following common Local Marketing errors amongst small businesses…

Firstly, Local Marketing – what Local Marketing? Mistake number one is that all too frequently there are very few active attempts by small business owners to undertake Local Marketing activities. Sad but true.

Then there is the ad hoc approach to Local Marketing which is sporadic and happens in an almost binary fashion – on, off, on, off, more off than on! Yes at least there is some activity but it is undertaken with little regard to who, what, why, when, where and how and most importantly – did it make any money?

A third mistake is that small businesses tend to undertake the same Local Marketing activities that they always have. Let’s face it they become very comfortable. After all the results were great in the past and any downward spiral can be quickly explained away by changes in the market place and increased competition. Indeed!

Another common Local Marketing error is that no formal campaign review is conducted to determine whether activities were successful, can be altered to win new business or dropped altogether. Reviews are seen as tedious, time consuming and cumbersome. But do they have to be?

The next error can be explained in two words: finger pointing. Local Marketing is seen to be the domain of someone else. Maybe it’s the franchisor’s responsibility or the supplier’s duty to do all the work so that the small business owner can just respond to well qualified leads. So we have a situation where both parties look at one another and throw their hands in the air and ask themselves the question “why aren’t they doing more to support me?”

Finally, and perhaps the most common Local Marketing mistake is that there is no systematic approach, framework or principles to guide the small business person in what to do. Too often the small business person is highly skilled in their industry or service but lacks Local Marketing training, knowledge and direction.

Ok, after all that what was the response by the client who asked the question?

“Hmmm, yep, you’re right all those factors apply to our group – you better come and see us.”

And that I did.

As you can imagine, there is some light at the end of the tunnel and thankfully the errors outlined above do not have to be repeated for years to come.

All the best,
Greg