Huge Misconceptions about Marketing Your Business and How to Avoid Them!

Properly marketing ecommerce companies is a hotly contested topic with wide-ranging opinions. Depending on the source, marketing pros often give advice that sometimes seems less designed to increase your traffic and more designed to increase your dependence on the marketing ecommerce agency.

This list of common marketing misconceptions will help you parse fact from fiction and give you a clearer sense of where to focus your time and efforts to build a marketing strategy that makes the most sense for your ecommerce business.

Early Marketing Misconceptions

Young businesses or those just exploring marketing options often repeat similar misconceptions about marketing the business. Below are some of the most common marketing misconceptions a company can make.

Advertising Is the Same As Marketing

Many new business owners believe that marketing and advertising are the same things. Advertising is a form of marketing, but marketing ecommerce does not always include advertising.

My Business Can't Afford Marketing

Fledgling businesses often don't have excess cash, so many new business owners believe they need more money to afford marketing. However, this belief is wrong for two reasons:

First is the underlying assumption that marketing and advertising are the same things. They are not, as explained above. Second, many marketing activities can be done that are low-cost but can result in notable rewards. For example, running flash sales, offering returning customer discounts, and email marketing are low-cost marketing activities that any business can easily implement.

Marketing Results Should Be Immediate

Another common misconception is that as soon as a marketing tactic is employed, there should be noticeable results immediately. Of course, some marketing strategies will bring quick and noticeable results, but this is only sometimes the case.

The key to any marketing strategy is to be consistent in your implementation. Learn as you go and adjust your strategy as needed, but there is no substitute for taking planned and tactical actions consistently.

Advanced Marketing Misconceptions

Regardless of whether the business has attained a level of success, companies that have been around for a while often have marketing misconceptions that follow similar themes.

Ecommerce Marketing Isn't Necessary to Maintain Static State

Business owners often think they will stay consistent once they have achieved a certain level of sales. This situation can be true for some industries, but it is never a foregone conclusion.

Ultimately, having a solid marketing strategy is crucial to keep your existing customer base and grow it further. Action often must be taken to keep customers loyal to your brand and coming back for more products or services as needed.

A Marketing Strategy Isn't Necessary to Grow

Often, this misconception is rooted in the idea that marketing and advertising are synonymous. Advertising may not be necessary to grow, but a solid marketing strategy is essential to any conscious growth strategy.

What is the difference? Advertising is a way of promoting your products or brand, while a marketing strategy can include several tactics to garner interest, engage potential customers, and keep existing customers loyal. A marketing strategy is specific to your ecommerce platform and can be dynamic. As the market or your needs change, the marketing strategy can adjust as well.

Marketing Is Only For Customers

This misconception may sound silly at first, but consider that marketing only to single customers is cutting out a huge potential market share. So instead, consider marketing your business to other businesses and offering benefits to larger-scale orders.

Marketing to other businesses is often a game-changer. For example, with some business clients, you can quickly scale your business at a rate far greater than marketing ecommerce efforts directed at customers alone can achieve.

Marketing Strategy Must Be Product-Focused

The last misconception is that a marketing strategy must be built around your product. This can be a costly mistake.

You can market your product all day, but if you're unclear about who your customer is and you don't target your marketing campaigns, you're unlikely to see benefits. Be clear on who you are targeting as a customer and speak to that customer. Speak to the customer in words, photographs, and via all facets of your marketing tactics and campaigns.

Focus Your Marketing Efforts, Today

By understanding that advertising and marketing are not the same, that a marketing strategy is essential for growth, and that marketing can include targeting other businesses and focusing on the customer rather than just the product, you can avoid costly mistakes and build a successful marketing strategy for your business or ecommerce agency.

Once you're clear on your customer and have a marketing strategy, take action regularly and deliberately to achieve the best results. A clear plan directed at specific customers that are implemented consistently is the best way to market your business and attain steady growth.