We've compiled a short list of marketing mistakes that entrepreneurs often make in 2021. Check it out to see if you're one of them.
Mistake #1: Avoiding publicity
Buyers are becoming more and more critical every year. And this is not surprising, given the steady growth of telephone and online fraud. Its level in Russia alone increased by 76% last year. Against this background, business transparency is becoming an important component of its success.
One of the key ways to prove the transparency of a company to a buyer is to show those who stand behind it. And we are not talking about just showing a photo on a website, no. We are talking about regular communication between business owners and the audience through various tools - a blog, social networks, media, participation in events, personal meetings, etc.
This approach not only improves the brand's reputation, but also increases interest in it, increases recognition and even employee productivity. All together, this has a positive effect on sales and profits.
Research shows that a company's reputation is 45% determined kenya phone number material by the reputation of its leader. And even the market value of companies is 44% determined by the reputation of its leader.
The author of the book “Don’t Work with Assholes” and Stanford professor Robert Sutton cites James Sinegal, the founder and former CEO of the retail chain Costco Wholesale, as an example. He visited all the stores every year and personally talked to their employees and customers. In this way, Sinegal learned about the current problems of each store individually and looked for solutions for them. Thanks to this, it was possible to increase the chain’s revenue several times and reduce the percentage of product removal to 2%. For comparison, in other companies in the retail segment this figure was 10-15 times higher.
Robert Sutton at work, 2012 Source: BusinessInsider
Publicity and personal branding are important not only for top managers, but also for small businesses. And here we have an example.
Stephanie Mitchell, entrepreneur and founder of Sunnystorm Marketing, admits that she used to be afraid to represent her company in person. Specifically, she:
— never posted my photos on Instagram;
— always used the preposition “we” instead of “I” when writing posts and emails;
— didn’t write about my personal experience in the blog, but only about the research of other experts and specialists.
This approach did not contribute to loyalty and trust in Stephanie's company. But it was worth doing everything exactly the opposite - the audience's interest increased sharply. There were more reposts, subscribers and clients. According to Stephanie, videos in which she simply says something on camera attract especially a lot of attention.
The main conclusion: a business owner or CEO should not avoid publicity. His personal brand complements and strengthens the company brand as a whole. This is true for both large and small businesses. Here, we can draw a parallel with product reviews. Those product categories that collect more reviews are usually purchased more often. The same is true for publicity. Those businesses whose owners do not avoid attention and develop a personal brand arouse greater interest and trust in the public.
