Startups fail and don’t understand the importance of Marketing. “They think that they don’t need it.”
This blunder essentially originates from failing to understand what marketing is. Marketing is deemed to inform the world concerning your business, despite that no one realises what marketing actually does for them and their company. Because of the broad functions of marketing, many people have the expertise to a precise aspect or tactic of marketing and they conclude “that as marketing”, without apprehending that what worked for one type of business might not work for the other business. Every business is different and their demands are different too.
It is essential to seize the positioning and messaging for your product in order to understand who your target audience is. That is the main belief of marketing, which most of the companies and their people don’t recognise.
While some companies give importance to branding others give importance to performance marketing. The common link is that you are attempting to obtain access to a particular group of people trying to convince them for your product or business and compel them to take make the final decision. This attitude that most startups have is “let’s build it and attract more” usually fails.
Here’s an overview of what startups get wrong about marketing their services and products.
Wrong Budgeting
When you start a business and want to run it successfully it is very important that you budget everything correctly. Budget plays a major role in the success of any business. When you are doing marketing you have to know what should be your marketing budget. Spending blindly without a plan will only land you in trouble. You will soon be out of cash and find it difficult to handle your other finances.
Don’t have the right resources
Despite knowing that the candidate is a perfect fit for their company, mostly start-ups compromise on hiring that best candidate to save them their money. It is obvious that when you compromise on quality then you will not get the right resources. At this time they must try to hire resources from other companies who can take care of their marketing activities. While they are busy with other things, marketing can be done through online marketing companies. There are many expert online marketing companies in India that will be able to help you. These companies have a team of experts who study your business and plan the marketing strategies accordingly also keeping in mind the budget of your company.
No Marketing Strategy
Not doing marketing and doing marketing without any plans are two different things. When you don’t do marketing no money is invested, but when you do marketing blindly without knowing where to spend, then there is a big problem here. You need to have a proper and perfect plan in place in order to get the results. Since you are a startup, you have to manage your finances very well. Marketing plays a great role in the success of your business, so doing it the right way will fetch you better results. But one wrong step can lead to the downfall.
No clarity between Branding & Marketing
There is a major difference between branding & marketing, and most companies fail to understand the difference between the two. Marketing is a process used to make a connection between the customer and the brand. Companies to multiple activities based on customer behaviour to enhance profits. While branding is doing a set of activities that companies do to leave an impact on the customer’s mind making them loyal towards your brand.
Once you know how to create a brand image with branding activities and then doing marketing for the brand then you will be able to fetch better results. Branding makes a reputation of the company while marketing helps to enhance sales. A brand is for your customers to recognize it, while marketing is done for the company. If you are able to understand this difference and plan activities accordingly then you can save a lot of time & money.
Lack of Proper Data Analysis
When you start your own business, you need to do data analysis on a regular basis. You need to study the market well and understand where your product or services will work the best. If you target the wrong audience expecting to change the way people think you might land yourself in trouble. The thought that “we will target a different group and create a brand there” will land you in trouble. With the help of Big Data, you can analyse the market, the customer behaviour and plan whom to target accordingly. Most startups lack proper data analysis leading them to make wrong decisions enduring to great losses.
The aim of marketing is to know and understand the customer so well, the product or service fits them and sells itself. – Peter Drucker
Half Knowledge of the Market & Product
There is a saying “half knowledge is more dangerous than no knowledge”. When you are starting a business you should have complete knowledge of what your product should be and who should be your target audience. Only knowing that this product is in demand will not be sufficient. If a product or service is in demand, it’s important to know among whom it is in demand. What group or the age of people demand this?
Let’s say for example; You hear that formal shoes demand is increasing in the market and you start a business of selling formal men shoes online. But, you are marketing it to the college students as you think they need a variety of shoes so they will buy and you get zero results. All your money has been wasted. Here is where your study went wrong, you do know formal shoes are in demand, but you did not research further to see which group of people demand it the most. The obvious answer is working professionals. If you had marketed it to the office going people, your sales would have increased.
The thought that you don’t need and that you know all is what lands your startup from where you began. You need to hire the best people on your team, who will help you to get the best results and grow your business.
Conclusion
Startups fail in their marketing attempts because they don’t know how to do it. One wrong step can lead to failure. They may have knowledge about marketing but not necessary that they may have the complete and correct knowledge. Proper research of the market, knowing the demand for your product or services and knowing your target audience will help you do the right marketing activities for your business.
