What do Coca Cola, Pepsi, Tommy Hilfiger, Ford or Persil detergent have in common (not the one that washes whiter than white, the other ...)? These are all big brands that, at one point, went wrong with their marketing strategy . Despite the colossal means allocated to the publicity cause or to pre-launch studies, these companies have suffered setbacks. In this article, we walks you through the most common mistakes that currently make a marketing strategy fail .
Not having a medium-long term vision
Having your head in the handlebars is not bad in itself. The
problem is never to lift it to project yourself . If you have only short-term
goals sales management and an insufficient plan to achieve them, you are likely to face serious
setbacks.
In short, not having a clear vision for the future of your
company, its market or its positioning, leads you towards an announced debacle.
Not mastering all the fundamental aspects of the value chain (product, service,
distribution, after sales, environmental impact, etc.) as well.
Use a method from the last century
By that mean methods that have worked but are totally
obsolete or unsuitable for today's consumer.
Allergic to advertising and ultra connected (80% of
consumers according to IFOP get information on the web before buying, and 61% make
their decision online), consumers are now in control of all sales channels .
Nowadays, the basis of marketing consists of:
• interact
with his client (or his persona ) in a transparent way
• anticipate
and respond to its problems
• meet
current and future needs
• get to
knows him better in order to retain him and transform him into an ambassador
• offer
them an irreproachable shopping experience and customer relationship
• have a
sustainable, transparent entrepreneurial approach with a social or societal
impact.
However, even being up to dates with the latest marketing
trends , companies often build their annual budget , with the good old
reassuring strings, and sprinkle here and there with a few digital actions,
such as a Facebook "strategy" by example, or the hiring of a
community manager . These methods lead you at best to precarious success, at
worst to powerful rout.
Do not have tools that collect data
A method, as modern as it is, without powerful tools is
doomed to fiasco. Powerful tools without a modern method too. This is why we
must always review working methods BEFORE investing in tools. Three seem
essential to us to apply a modern marketing strategy :
• A website
effective and efficient , built to generate business .
• A CRM (
customers relationship management tool ) to collect customer data. A clean and
up-to-date file is the goodwill of a company and a determining factor in its
valuation .
• A
marketing automation tool : it helps send the right messages to the right
people, at the right time according to a very specific context. He is the link
between prospects and the company, between customers and salespeople, between
salespeople and marketing.
Sales VS marketing = setbacks guaranteed
If you want to grow your business , you need to include
sales reps and all sales teams (including customer service and customer
relations) in the same process and "align" them. An effective
marketing strategy finally marries teams Sales and Marketing .
If they work on the same tools and share the same goals , around
the customer then they will be successful.
Otherwise, it's the usual berezina and for sure, at the end
of the year, everyone will blame themselves. In short, the adage divide to rule
better (divide et impera) has lived.
No or too little digital
Not investing enough in digital when determining your
marketing policy is a professional error, especially after recent crises
(Covid, yellow vests ...).
I am not talking to you about tactical levers like social
networks which are only a powerful
megaphone, sponsored Facebook campaigns or the Linkedin profile that you have
created for yourself or for your company. I'm talking about building your
marketing strategy by starting by establishing your digital plan around the
customer .
Today's consumer has changed a lot . and will continue to
evolve. You have to accept it. However, we still see too many timid digital
marketing strategies "because my job has not changed so much" .
Admittedly, it is the sector that is really progressing if
we are to believe the advertising freelances, but an increase in advertising
budgets (classic display, keyword purchases, etc.) remains tactical and
therefore does not represent a real investment strategy. however. You are only
praising audience and not building your own.
To refuse to see that the consumer has changed and to
isolate himself from the web is quite simply:
• to help
make room for your competitors and new entrants
• to show
an old - fashioned image of your business
• to
deprive you of many opportunities today and tomorrow
• to
abandon your customers and prospects because you are no longer listening to
their expectations
To proclaim oneself the king of "client-centrism"
You must have seen many signs and other posters highlighting
messages such as " our priority: it's you ", " our only object :
to satisfy you" or other nice phrases giving you confidence before the
purchase.
It's one thing to realize that customer experience is
everything today, but putting it in place is quite another. Everything takes a
start, but if you are highlighting a buying experience that makes your
competition look bad, make sure you control the ENTIRE sales cycle (before,
during, and after).
If once the product or service has been sold, customers find
themselves faced with an unreachable, insensitive, or even unfriendly
after-sales service ... the flashback is likely to be particularly spicy (from
the classic bashing on social networks to the big scandal a Saturday afternoon
in the middle of the showroom for the most nervous).
If you make the customer experience your main focus , invest
in this approach , go beyond the simple marketing facade "to do like
thing". A loyalty program does not guarantee the loyalty of a customer.
Disappoint it once, and you won't see it again.