10 modern marketing myths that small businesses tend to buy into
In nearly 40 years of working with small businesses, especially start-ups, I’ve found that inexperienced salespeople, due to their lack of marketing experience, often believe common marketing myths. And unfortunately, you will make poor decisions based on these myths, at best wasting limited resources and at worst putting your business at risk.
A myth is a traditional story used to explain a custom. These myths are repeated from business to business, from generation to generation, until they take on a life of their own that may or may not have any basis in the reality of today’s marketplace. Over the years, I’ve compiled what I call my Ten Modern Small Business Marketing Myths.
#1The Rational Buyer: As business people, we are trained to approach decisions rationally, gathering relevant facts, analyzing trade-offs, looking for alternatives, including cost, and then deciding on the best path. We assume that everyone else makes purchasing decisions based on the same rational basis.
The reality is that while some consumer purchasing decisions are based on rational thought, most
they are more influenced by emotions, convenience, identification with peers or fashion. Using a promotional strategy based on the Rational Buyer myth—for example, emphasizing reason and logic rather than emotion in your ads—may be missing out on a large chunk of potential market.
#2The Magic Answer: This is one of my favorites. It holds that in any given situation there is a Magical Answer that will solve all problems.
The Magical Medium is a common variation. It assumes that there is one advertising medium that works for everyone in all situations. She usually focuses on TV, as it’s the most visible and glamorous — “If we could afford to be on TV, we’d have more clients than we could handle!”
While television is certainly the advertising medium of choice for some businesses, for many small and narrowly focused businesses, it may be the worst option.
#3 The Knockout – This myth goes something like, “If we could find the right opportunity (magic answer), we could really take a huge chunk of market share away from the competition (knockout).”
The “nobody” who has an idea, pursues it with vigor — and is also lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time — and hits it big (i.e., takes the competition by storm ), is a common “hero” among businessmen. But they are also rare!
If you look at the big picture, you’ll see that most companies succeed not by one breakthrough (a Knockout Punch) but by doing dozens and dozens of little day-to-day things a little better than their competitors.
#4 We Have No Competition: A company that believes it has no competition is living in a fool’s paradise. For decades, the mighty Sears, Roebuck refused to believe they had any competition, until they were on their knees, facing the pit of extinction.
Whether we are talking about the global market in which mega-corporations compete, or the narrowly defined, more or less local markets in which most small businesses operate, the reality is that today’s consumer has much more choice. of products to choose from and many more places to buy those products than they can possibly use.
#5 Best Mousetrap – This one has many variations:
• “Just invent the best mousetrap and the world will open a path to your door.”
• “Our products are so good they sell themselves.”
• “Our reputation is our best advertising.”
The truth is that today’s market is full of mousetraps. They are available at virtually any store and at virtually any price you want to pay. So even if you could find a better mousetrap, the market is likely to greet your amazing invention not with a thunderous stampede to your door, but with a disinterested yawn.
#6 Everyone is our customer – The core belief here is that every person living in a given market area is a potential customer. When, in fact, the demographics of the area, the products offered, the price of the products, the location where the customer can find the products, and the presence and relative strength of competition in the market… All tend to define and limit the pool of potential customers.
A business that understands this and learns as much as possible about its customer pool will spend advertising and promotional dollars much more effectively.
#7 Price Is Everything – The only reason most people buy anything is price – they will go where it is cheapest. Therefore, the only way to compete is to reduce the price. That is the basic reasoning behind this myth.
There is no doubt that price is important. The growth of Wal-Mart and other price-oriented mass merchandisers is proof enough that consumers love a bargain, or what they perceive to be a bargain.
However, for the locally owned small business trying to cut price to keep up with the big boys is a fools game they can’t win. There is always someone willing to do it a little cheaper or accept a little less markup. What the small business must do is find ways other than price (for example, serving a small, specialized niche) to compete.
#8 We don’t have to promote: This myth is common among well-established companies that fall into the complacency trap. They believe they “own” their customer pool and don’t have to find new customers or do anything to retain existing customers.
In our over-hyped marketplace, if you’re not talking to your customers or prospects, reminding them what you have to offer that the competition doesn’t, you can be sure someone else is telling them what you have to offer. that you don’t
Without a doubt, customer loyalty and positive word of mouth are two of the most powerful competitive advantages any company can enjoy. But by themselves they may not be enough to ensure the continued success of a business.
#9 Just make more sales calls – The assumption here is that marketing is a numbers game. He maintains that all he has to do is make more calls and he’ll sell more products, perhaps ignoring the fact that his product line hasn’t been updated in a decade.
A variation is that if you just post enough ads, things will change, again ignoring the fact that the competition has recently remodeled and expanded their store and is now open nights and weekends.
#10 How can we do it cheaply? – I make a significant distinction between spending limited resources wisely and simply looking for the cheapest way. Some of the most common mistakes I’ve seen that arise from buying this myth are:
• Choose a secluded location (ie, low rent), when your business depends on foot traffic.
• Choose the cheapest advertising medium on the market, even if your audience doesn’t really include many of your customers or potential customers.
• Hire only inexperienced, minimum-wage people when the high-tech nature of your products demands a knowledgeable sales force.
Did you identify with one or more of these myths? Do not be ashamed. It is human nature to seek clear and pleasing explanations for what we see around us. This is how myths start in the first place.
Mine is the Myth of the Magical Response. I still want to believe that if I could read enough books, attend enough seminars, get enough experience… That I could “know it all.”
The important thing is to recognize that, to one degree or another, we all buy myths about marketing. And through this recognition, not allow myths that are no longer valid to influence our decisions.