Maybe I just pay attention to marketing more than the average person, but I am continually surprised by the amount of wasted effort and money people spend on marketing. So much so, I thought maybe I would just simplify the process for companies and easily define for them 5 ways to waste their marketing dollars

Wasteful idea #1: Don’t collect email addresses.

One of the most cost effective ways to communicate with clients and prospects is through email. When you don’t spend the effort to ask permission to add your contacts to your email distribution list, you are not utilizing one of the most cost-effective ways to stay in front of them.

Wasteful idea #2: Get big Yellow Page Ads

I am constantly surprised by the amount of money still spent in this area. Do people still think Yellow Pages is worth the money? Come on! I have talked with companies who spend $1,000, $2,000, even $5,000 per month on ads.

Wasteful idea #3: Don’t put effort into your website

Your website is a view into your company 24×7. It speaks for you when you are not there to speak for your company. Many times, it is the first impression a prospect or “influencer” may have for your company. For many of our service clients, one or two new sales in a year as a result of website improvements can more than pay for the effort.

Wasteful idea #4: Sponsor events without purpose

It’s amazing how many opportunities small businesses have to sposor something. A table at a networking event here, or a sponsor at a community event there, or for $$ we will put your logo on this here. Unless you see it worth doing as “good-will” such as an opportunity to give back to your community (which is not marketing any more by the way), you must adhere to a couple of principles: first ask what you should expect as a return on your investment, and secondly ask to speak to someone who has done it before you to make sure they feel it was a good investment for them. Not always does that mean it will be for you, but you can learn an awful lot that way.

Wasteful idea #5: Buy print ads

You want to blow through a marketing budget quickly, buy print ads. They are as expensive as they ever have been, but now there are much more cost effective ways to advertise including Google ads, even Facebook ads if your target audience is found there. Be creative when trying to reach your audience. We have two clients that actually traded ad space. One placed the other’s ad on their website, and the other printed flyers and taped them to their take-out boxes. Little to no cost for each!

These points seem pretty simple when you step back and think about it. Be honest with yourself if you are spending money in the above ways. Are you just doing so because you want to do “something”? Is there a better way to spend your marketing dollars? If you want some help doing it better, give us a call.

I recently read a post on Chief Marketer titled “Design Your Site to Meet Customers’ Needs”. It’s a quick read and I suggest you read the full blog, but below are the main points. I agree with most of the rules but also feel it fails to identify what we at Three Hats Marketing think is the most import rule: Define the Business Objectives of your Website. Without first defining how your website is going to support your business in some capacity, you are operating in the dark. I appreciate the importance of marketing you site, but without setting a stake in the ground you really have no direction. So we feel you first have to start with the defining the business objectives of your website and then define how you are going to market it.

The other point we would suggest different is to define the Key Performance Indicators of your site. What equals success? It has to be more than simply how many visitors, length of stay or pages per visit. Some would argue that this is part of defining the business objectives. I agree with that to some extent but feel it is important enough to be a rule of its own. Perhaps it would replace Denise B. Hearden’s rule #4 as I hope it goes without saying – you need someone qualified to define and design your website.

Kudos to Denise though as this is a good list of 8 Simple Rules…

1. Develop a marketing plan for your Web site.

2. While developing your Web site marketing plan, ask yourself “What is the purpose of my Web site?”

3. Understand the users of your site.

4. Make sure the strategy behind your Web site design comes from someone qualified.

5. Don’t try something new because it looks “cool.”

6. Drive traffic to your site!

7. Is your content fresh, or is it the same material you put up there when your site was first created?

8. Monitor and measure your site.

Denise B. Hearden (denise.hearden@johnsondirect.com) is the e-marketing director of Johnson Direct.