15 Mistakes To Avoid When Promoting Your Business Products

Coming up with an idea, turning it into a product, and launching it in the market takes lots of work. 

For small businesses, promotion is a vital part. You might be selling the best products but if you are not promoting enough,  you are going to end up losing opportunities 

There are lots of examples where businesses did everything right in making the product. But, still, end up in pitfalls of common mistakes when it comes to promoting small business products. 

Important Points To Remember Before Product Promotions 

Promotion plays a huge role in how your product is going to perform in the market. Without doing the right promotion, you might end up not having proper exposure to your product in the market. 

Not just your people will don’t know about the product but you will not get an engaged audience too. It will affect the sales and eventually the growth of your business. 

Since promotion is so crucial. It’s important to understand the points of using it.  

Tell A Story

Image source: campaignmonitor 

Most of the business forget the basic point of selling the product and i.e. No one wants to buy a product in the first place. 

No one is interested in buying anything until it’s not solving their problem. So instead of selling them a product, tell them a story, share your experiences, and show them how your product can help in solving their problem. 

Instead of highlighting the benefits and features, Use the story for changing the game. It will cover the all needed points but also add emotional engagement with your audience. 

Takeaway: Never make up the story. Instead of telling them lies, add how you started to make the products, what inspired you, and also involve customers to make it more appealing. 

Do What Others Can’t 

There are lots of unsatisfied customers and that’s how the businesses are running even the competition is getting higher and higher. 

The key point is what you are doing that no one other can do. If you are offering a product that is not possible for your competitor to make, you are already getting your audition ready. 

Failing is not something you can ignore forever. However, trying new things and exploring the market will help you in gaining more perspective about what your customer needs. 

Look out for places where customers are discussing their thoughts. In comments, you will get lots of people saying what they can’t find and that’s the goldmine for you. 

Takeaway: Instead of playing it safe, do something new, and be ready to fail. 

Market Existing Customers 

Well in the 1990s, Pepsi and Coke were dominating the market. The companies spent 100 million dollars and even more on promoting their brand. 

Meantime, the consumption of milk declined in California. To promote milk, the National Dairy  Board and California Adversary Board approached the GS&P ad agency, also known as Goodby, Silverstein, and Partners. 

They used their $23 million on promoting and making the advertisement. Where the other agencies believed that attracting new customers won’t work. GS&P worked on the current milk fans. 

Image source: fastcompany

And with that “ Got Milk? “ an advertisement was made. Even today, the ad campaign is considered one of the best ones.  The sales were still declining but they increased by 7% in 1995.

Takeaway: Focus on existing exciting fans of your products. When you can’t increase sales, increase demand. 

New Product, New Brand Name

Sometimes your current brand is not efficient enough to promote your product.  Especially when you have multiple products. Instead of using one brand name, you can start with a new one. 

For example, P&G aka Procter & Gamble brand promoted their products with their new brands. The list includes : 

• Ariel
• Head & Shoulder 
• Olay 
• Pampers 
• Pantene 

The idea is to introduce your product with a new image so the customer can like it. As for you, choose the name that you think will fit your product and you feel confident that people will like it. 

Also, it will save you from wasting your money and time on something you feel won’t work. 

Common Product Promotion Mistakes You Should Be Avoiding 

Product promotion is important as you share the information regarding your product to your customers. 

Also promoting the product helps your customers to know what they will get from it and what you can do for them. 

But since not every product promotion ends up with good results. The reason behind failed promotions are these common mistakes, make sure you are not doing it for having the results you want. 

1. Not Working With Influencers 

80 % of impressions on the internet are driven by only 6% of its overall users. 

It’s not easy to promote your product in the market without having your audience. To get the new audience, you need to tap into more options that can lead you toward a larger audience. 

Image source: wordstream

However, finding the channels like that is not simple either. And that’s why small businesses look for influencers. 

Influencers marketing is a new trend and promoting your product through them can make dramatic changes. 

There is a 59% of customers base who make their buying decisions based on whom they trust and know. 

Influencers are a good option to reach those customers. You can get in touch with influencers in your niches. And ask them to share their reviews or recommend the products to the audience. 

Not working with influencers is not just stopping you from getting in touch with a whole new audience. Also, it’s limiting your reach and blocking you out from your potential audience.

Pro Tip: Never choose randomly, Go with who shares the same niche as you. Also, avoid profile overstated with your promotional ads. 

2.  Not Creating Promotional Video Of Product 

Image source : vidyard

Video marketing can engage the laziest buyers too.

For creating a video, you don’t need a huge budget. You can simply start recording with a story behind your product. 

Promotional videos are one of the eye-pleasing ways to attract more attention. You can simply shoot a  video without working too much on it. 

But the video should be interesting, fun and something to tell. Value is a key and with your promotional video, you can tell exactly what your product can do for the customers. 

Creating a video for your product, you can use these ideas too – 

• You have a ‘ how-to’ video showing the guidance, benefits, features, and other important points. 
• You can also add unboxing videos, showing the product’s overall look.
• You can show behind the scenes about the history of the product. 

3. Mistaking Spamming As Promotion 

One of the biggest mistakes you can ever commit in marketing is – Spamming your customer. 

Now when almost every business is using social media and all possible platforms to promote its products. The cases of spamming and bragging have become more prominent than before. 

When you are promoting your products, make sure not to post automatic links, and spam your audience in the name of promotion. 

You are going to lose their trust and they will end up stopping following you. 

Then, how to promote your product without making it look spammy to your buyers? Here are a few points to remember – 

• Find a wingman for you. Someone who can praise your product for you. 
• Be subtle about promotion but be powerful too.
• Tell Stories, answer the questions, and be genuinely helpful. 

4. Not Listening to What Customers Want To Tell 

Communication doesn’t work one way. And the biggest problem, as well as repeated problems, is companies keep sharing their information without listening to what their customers are saying. 

To get the ROI and brand exposure, start listening to what your customer response about your product. 

It’s the biggest loss of not listening and paying interest to your customer, Ignoring the pain points are going to cost you more than you know.

5.  You Don’t Have Enough CTAs

For an effective marketing program, CTA or Call to Action is the most important ingredient.  It’s compelling and foundational for no matter what marketing investigation you are taking online. 

Missing CTAs or not having enough can do serious damage to your business. 

Image source: neilpatel

CTAs affect conversion, business, revenue, and profit. Thus, your CTA should be attention-grabbing, efficient, and impact the rates of your sales. 

To make sure you have the efficient CTAs, Follow the checklist. 

• Must have attention-grabbing and highly constant CTAs 
• Use actional copy and add words like Start, Download, and Register. 
• Use ‘few items left’ ‘limited offer’ etc for creating a sense of urgency.

Pro Tip: To Checkout the sites which have perfect and enough CTAs, Neil Patel’s website is a perfect example. 

6. You Are Not Using Google My Business 

Image source: croud

Promoting your product using google’s business profile is a new approach. However, there are still lots of companies unaware of the benefits the options offer. 

Using your Google business profile, you can create your google my business post.  It’s a simple yet effective approach for those who google your company on search engines. 

You can create and navigate your post from your GMB dashboard. You can also create posts like ‘ What’s new ‘ and ‘ Offer’ etc. 

To get most of it, you can also – 

• Add photo sizes according to google guideline 
• Use four given sections i.e. FAQs, product & services,  posts, and photos. 
• Make the maximum visibility 

7. Not Spreading The News Via Email 

Email marketing is fantastic for promoting your business products. 

There are 82% of consumers who open their business emails. 76% of them do purchase via the email subscription. 

When you are promoting products, not using your email marketing for spreading the word. You are keeping potential customers away from your product and unaware too. 

For this, you can run a small email campaign targeting sharing news about the new product launch. You can build a series of emails and Or design as focus pieces to your email newsletter. 

When you are going for email marketing, follow these points too : 

• Use preheaders that will increase the chances of people opening the email 
• Make sure to highlight the subject line.
• Keep the focus on showing the benefits and features of your new product. 

8.  Not Encouraging The Reviews 

In today’s market where people are surrounded by-products from all possible sides. It’s hard for them to choose something new. 

Because of this, the customers have lots of questions and doubts before they ask to try something new. 

Reviews are the most reliable option for them. It helps tell what to expect from the product. Also, it gives assurance and a clear idea about what sellers are offering. 

There are 84% of customers who trust the reviews and check it before buying anything. 

Being a seller, Reviews are one of the most effective, and the best way for promoting your products is to let your customer do that for you. 

And for that reviews are the ideal options. You can take advantage of reviews given by the audience on different platforms, Share it on your website and social media along with credits.

You can ask your customers to share their reviews in the form of videos. Or you can use testimonials and other forms as well. 

Pro Tip: To encourage your audience to share reviews, you can give offers. Also, host customers of the day along with their reviews to appreciate their efforts. 

9. Failing To Offer USP Of Product 

USP or unique selling proposition is a unifying statement that makes your product different from what others are offering.  

If your product doesn’t have it, then you need to create one. Customers compare the product in eerie step, there should be something in yours that they had to pick it. 

Image source: marketingresults

Without offering the USP of the product, you can’t grab the attention of your audience. And if you can create one, then it’s a serious problem. 

USP is expressible and it should take only one to two sentences.  It should be obvious for anyone in one glance what makes yours different. 

You can also differentiate yourself based on – 

• Customer service
• Fast delivery 
• Better return services
• Prize
• Features of your product 

10. Not  Tracking & Taking Records

No matter if you just started or already established, if you are not tracking and keeping records you will know what worked for you and whatnot. 

Also keeping metrics and tracking the results of your market activities shows you the overall planning success rate. 

Make sure you are using Google Analytics. Also, tracking your records allows you to look back and see where things went wrong. You can learn from your mistakes and improve. 

Tracking records gives you the idea of where you need to improve. Also, you can know how many plans and new strategies are working for you.

When you are promoting your product, make sure to keep everything in the record.  You can use the data for the next promotion too. ALo at some level it gives you ideas and predictions. 

11. You Don’t Have A Website

It doesn’t make sense to not have a website at this stage. But surprisingly, only half of the small companies have their websites in the USA right now. 

The website is the utmost thing for business right now. Without having one, you can’t sell the product you are hoping for. 

Today, customers look for information before they invest money in any product. Not having a website can work against you. If they google you and they didn’t find any site, it will affect the trust level and also make a bad first impression. 

You don’t need to have a fancy website.  It just should have all the information needed with a simple look.

 Especially when you are not planning to do direct sales, don’t invest too much in making your website either. 

12. You Are Not Using Ads 

There are 1 billion active users on Facebook. And the numbers are daily.  Facebook is offering you a large base of users who might be interested in what you are offering.

Image source: entrepreneur 

Ads, specifically on Facebook are useful. The reason is, it’s based on personalized data that they get from their user’s account. 

It gives you a specific audience that you are targeting. It includes major factors like profession, interests,  locations, age, gender, etc. 

Ads have their options and types too. You can pick what fits your budget and customize it according to your requirement. Also, it gives you tracking the whole process too. 

13. Not Celebrating On Social Media 

Social media platforms are the fastest way to promote products. Use the platforms for your benefit and celebrate the launching of new products. 

Image source: later

You can create a whole buzz and keep your audience excited as well as hooked about your new product. Also, you can start polls for getting more customer engagement. 

Not using social media or not paying enough attention to it can cost you a lot. First of all, you are not getting in touch with an audience who is willing to buy your products. 

Second,  not promoting your products on social platforms also decreasing its reach and customer engagement. 

Pro tip: Use techniques to engage your audience. Ask them to share their experience or share their photos along with the products on their social media, Make sure to use hashtags for it. 

14. You Are Not Hosting Events 

Hosting an event is not just to make your customers feel excited but also a great way of promoting your products. 

You get a chance to engage with your audience and personally recommend them to use your products. Also when you are face to face, you can describe better what you can offer. 

You don’t have to host fancy events. It can be as simple as you want to, start info sessions from places like fitness centers,  spa, salon, etc. 

Also if you like, you can start an outdoor open house for drawing or something similar to draw more crowd toward you. 

Since the pandemic is going on, you can also host the virtual event. It’s effective and works great for promoting your product. 

For virtual events, you can host – 

• Live sessions. Choose your platform and invite people to join you. 
• Do event around influencer but as the product revelation at the end 
• Run Q&A, you can record it or do it live. 

15. You Are Not Writing A Blog 

When you promote your product, you are also going to need landing pages where the visitors can go.

Writing a blog about a new product launch and promotion can help in getting into details. By this, your customer will know what the product is all about and what are the benefits and features too. 

The quality blog also helps you in engaging and re-engaging your customers. It improves your website ranking and helps in getting more visitors to your page. 

Make sure when you are writing the blog, you add all the needed details. Also share it on social media and emails.

Not just for promoting the product but you can use a blog for creating links too. By this, your customer can see overall product launches and try them. 

Frequently Asked Questions ( FAQs) for avoiding when promoting a small business product

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