As a marketer, it’s nice to know you’re performing well and your customers are happy with your communications, but what actions should you be avoiding to make sure this is the case?
Here on the Quikly Blog, we focus our efforts on creating educational content designed to inform you about innovative tactics and psychology principles that can immediately increase consumer response around your key marketing initiatives. We want to make sure you know all you can to do your job as well as you can.
The pieces we write and the interviews we have are meant to show what actions you should be taking on a regular basis (or at least considering). In the spirit of turning our mission on its head, we thought it would be interesting to discuss things you should be staying away from in your marketing campaigns.
Here is a list of marketing mishaps you should avoid:
1. Forgetting the basics
You might not have taken Marketing 101 in school, but if you’ve spent enough time in the field, it’s safe to say you’ve learned which foundational practices work best to help you achieve your marketing goals.
Most often, the “basics” are concepts that have proven to be reliable time and time again. They’re the ideas that marketers pass down from generation to generation, the ones that you see included on websites and in email communications. In other words, they’re principles that you want to know and remember.
Many marketing basics like the importance of leveraging consumer rewards and creating fresh, clear content will be discussed in this blog, in case you need a refresher — just don’t forget to flip the tips to best serve your customers.
Don’t ignore the building blocks your brand is standing on. They exist for a reason.
2. Ignoring consumer rewards/discounts
If there’s one thing you DON’T want to do as a consumer-facing business, it’s ignore the things that make your consumers happy. Consumer rewards and discounts are two of those things.
In fact, in surveying nearly 6,000 consumers three different times since the start of the pandemic, Quikly research revealed that discounts remained a consistent priority. Each time they were asked, consumers said discounts were more important than things like convenience, free delivery and even safety/cleanliness.
To consumers, earning rewards and discounts is like getting a prize for eating your favorite snack — it feels good. There’s something called “Incentive theory,” which says that people are pulled toward behaviors that lead to rewards. And humans have an innate desire to see how their behaviors (like shopping) are leading to greater outcomes (like loyalty points). So, if you reward consumers for spending a certain amount of money, filling out a customer feedback form or engaging with your marketing content they’re more likely to want to do that — and then even come back and do it again in the future.
Of course, you can’t ignore margins, and incentives don’t always have to be discounts. (Get ideas on how to incentivize consumers with more than discounts here), but focusing on the idea of rewarding customers is the idea.
3. Sending too many marketing communications
Being bombarded with information that you don’t want is no fun, and if you don’t like it, you can almost bet your customers don’t either.
Consumers are constantly being contacted by brands asking them to check out a new product or offering them a discount on a service that they may or may not need. While this might just seem like a marketer trying to service their customers, consumers don’t always see it this way. In fact, they can grow quite overwhelmed by round-the-clock messaging from brands.
Reminder: If your content is relevant and interesting, you don’t have to do too much to get your customers’ attention. You’ll already have it.
(Here are the keys to personalizing your email content, so you can ensure it's relevant.)
4. Complicating things
Ever grow so frustrated with something that you say “forget it” and walk away from it completely? If your goal is to keep your customers happy and engaged, then this is something you absolutely don’t want to see happen.
The solution is simple: Create easy-to-understand content that can be comfortably navigated by your customers. You want your consumers to easily ask questions, find the products they’re looking for and be able to pay for their items at the point of purchase.
This guidance should also point back to your loyalty program. It can be tempting to try and come up with a clever new structure, but sometimes the simplest loyalty programs get the most engagement.
(Learn why keeping things simple works — according to psychology — here.)
5. Standing inside-the-box
With so many brands out in the marketplace today, it’s critically important that your brand is able to stand out from the crowd.
Consumers like new things, oftentimes just because they’re new, but also because consumers are human, and we enjoy fresh experiences. As you know, it’s a good practice to give your consumers more of what they enjoy.
Don’t be afraid to think of new ways to serve your customers. We get it, going against the norm can be scary — but it’s true what they say: There’s no reward without risk.
6. Not including purpose in your brand initiatives
Consumers care about the world around them.
Blame it on their moral compass or their strong cultural influences, but consumers have strong opinions on brands and their social responsibilities.
According to the Harvard Business School, 77 percent of consumers are motivated to purchase from companies committed to making the world a better place. That sort of thinking has even translated into innovative forms of standard cause-marketing initiatives.
7. Ignoring consumer psychology
Consumer psychology helps marketers gain more knowledge around consumer buying behavior and can make it easier for you to reach your brand goals.
Understanding why consumers think the way they do can help you predict their movements and quickly offer them assistance. Consumer psychology is here to help you figure out what motivates consumers and add value to their journey in ways they might not have experienced otherwise.
(Check out more information on the benefits of consumer psychology here.)
If you know what not to do, you might have a better understanding of what to do. At least, that’s our hope for this post. And if by chance you do run into any of these mistakes, know that we’re here to help you solve it.
