Today we are myth-busting some common misconceptions about MARKETING.
Myth Number 1 – Advertising and Marketing are the same things!
Just writing that made my marketing hair just stand up.
Advertising and marketing are definitely NOT the same things!
They are two very different things.
Think of this concept as a cake.
- Advertising is a slice of cake.
- Marketing is the WHOLE cake!
Marketing and Advertising do have the same goal – to get business and get your business in front of more buyers – but they aren’t the same thing!
Advertising is simply a single strategy that falls under the umbrella of marketing.
So, in a nutshell, if you pay to serve an ad to your audience you are advertising. If you’re using a much broader approach to reach your audience, you are marketing.
Remember, MARKETING IS EVERYTHING!
Myth Number 2 – You need to have the gift of the gab to be good at sales.
The answer to this is No, you don’t. And to be frank I think that these days, it might help if you don’t!
Sales is so much more about listening – ACTIVELY LISTENING!
Listening with intent.
It’s not about knowing everything there is to know about a certain product or service.
It’s about knowing everything you can about your customer or client and how that product or service can solve their problem, their roadblock, their challenges.
Sales is much more about:
- Asking quality questions
- Building trust
- Having clarity
- Tailoring
- Listening
- Building relationships.
Just talking AT someone because you know everything and you just need to let them know that you know everything will more than likely cause your customer to start walking backwards and out of your world!
It’s like Myth 1 – if all you are doing is advertising then you are missing out on sales.
When it comes to Selling – if all you are doing is talking, you are missing out on sales.
Sales really is not hard. In fact – it should be simple or simpler if you learn to actively listen.
Myth Number 3 – Social Media is Free marketing.
Oh dear – it’s not. It REALLY is not free at all.
Yes, it might feel that way because there’s no money coming out of your bank account to pay Facebook or Instagram or any other platform, but it’s definitely not totally free.
Because – how much an hour are you worth?
If you gave up your business and went to work for someone else, how much an hour would you require? $30, $50, $200 an hour?
Well, that’s what you doing your Social Media is costing your business.
If you spend 15 hours a week doing social media marketing and your hourly rate is $50 per hour – then each week social media is costing you $750.00.
So, from a strategic business point of view, are you getting $750 worth of sales or leads from social media? No? Well then perhaps you need to look at your strategy, your content or possibly outsourcing to someone who’s cheaper or just better at it than you.
Free in business is never free – because time is the only resource we can’t make more of.
Myth number 4 – People are always looking for the cheapest price.
This one is a BIG Myth Busted.
Most people are not only after the cheapest price. Absolutely not.
While for a few people – yes perhaps.
But, for the majority of people – NO.
People will only compare your price if you concentrate on your price.
If it’s a price war you want, then that’s the exactly buyers you’ll get – the ones who want the cheapest.
This is where my favourite concept – Human to Human marketing – comes in.
The large majority of people want to get to know, like and trust who they are buying from, want a great experience and want benefits over features over price.
If the large majority of us purchased on price, they’d be no small business and they’d be no BMW type companies as well.
Look at the people who sell what you sell but at a higher price point.
Ask yourself “What do they offer?” as part of their experience or expertise that you don’t have in your offers.
People buy WHY you do what you do, they don’t buy what you sell.
That’s why people who are passionate about their businesses do so well. People buy their “why”.
What’s your WHY?
Myth number 5 – The way to make money is to have more things to sell.
More choices = more dollars.
But this is so often not the case because a confused buyer doesn’t buy.
Too many choices makes for a bad customer experience.
Think of the best restaurants in town – they probably have a small menu – maybe a page or 2 – not 7 or 8.
A while back I went to an eatery that had 101 Parmas to choose from (my 3 kids love their parmas) – it was almost impossible to choose. It took me literally ages and I think, from memory, I gave up and just asked my son to order for me – it was his choice to go!
Some of the best cafes in my town have a small menu. A small menu of food they do extremely well. It’s great to go there and when they change the menu, it’s exciting to try new things!
Not to mention it’s a fabulous business decision as far as systems and processes go, I’m sure.
If you make candles, the idea isn’t that you keep making more and more fragrances, but in fact the way to become more profitable is to get those people to come back again and again to buy their favourites and refer their friends.
To become a very profitable business you don’t need more products, you need more repeat customers.
So there you go – 5 marketing myths busted.
To recap the 5 myths were:
- Advertising is Marketing
- You need the “gift of the gab” to be good at sales
- Social Media is free marketing
- People always buy the cheapest priced item
- Offering people lots of choices will make more profit.
Which one resonated the most with you?
CONTACT JENN:
If you are needing some help to come up with your marketing for 2022, book a discovery call with me!
We can have a chat about your goals, your struggles and roadblocks and what’s holding you back and how I can help!
Send me a message on any of my social platforms or book a call at: https://calendly.com/jenn-smm/discovery
I also have my brilliant Facebook Group dedicated to all things small business – Like Minded Business Owners. If you aren’t already a member I would love you to jump in and join the group, and become a part of such a wonderful community who are so supportive of each other and in sharing of their knowledge!
Or you can DM me on Instagram or send me an email jenn@jenndonovan.com.au
I wish to acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the land, the Yorta Yorta People, on which I conduct my business today and pay my respects to their Elders past and present. I extend that respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples reading this blog post today.
About the Author:
Jenn Donovan of Social Media & Marketing Australia. Jenn’s a coach and mentor from rural NSW and is all about empowering business owners to earn what they’re worth so they can make a bigger difference in the world. The Founder of Buy From a Bush Business, Co-Founder of Spend With Us – Buy From a Bush Business Marketplace and host of the very popular podcast Small Business Made Simple, Jenn is all about community and humans interacting with humans! H2H Marketing – human to human marketing. Jenn talks the talk but importantly walks the walk! Jenn’s online community is over 320,000 with her famous Facebook Group currently at almost 320,000 members and still growing every day. She’s the major of her own little online city!
Get in touch – www.socialmediaandmarketing.com.au
On Instagram – @jenndonovan_
On Facebook – Social Media and Marketing AU
Or on LinkedIn as Jenn Donovan
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