20 Horrified Marketing Sins That Kill your Sales and Profit Making. So, are you committing any of these sins?

Imagine you’re walking down the street and you see a sign that says “Grand Sale! Everything is 50% off!” You’re intrigued, so you go inside the store.

But once you’re inside, you’re disappointed. The store is cluttered and disorganized. The staff is rude and unhelpful. And the products are overpriced.

You quickly leave the store without buying anything.

That’s what it’s like for customers when they encounter a business that’s making marketing sins.

Marketing sins are mistakes that businesses make that alienate customers and hurt sales.

Now in this article, I’ll reveal the 20 most horrible marketing sins that businesses make. I’ll also show you how to avoid these sins and improve your marketing results.

Wait! Before we get drowned into the ocean of this insightful power-pack article. 

•  What are marketing sins?

• And why are they so harmful to your business?

Marketing sins are mistakes that businesses make that alienate customers and hurt sales.

These sins can be anything from 

• Not having an online present [ Strong Digital Channel]

• Having a poorly designed website to 

• Using outdated marketing tactics.

Marketing sins are harmful to businesses because they can cause customers to:

• Avoid your business altogether

• Choose your competitors over you

• Spend less money with you

• Be dissatisfied with your products and services

• Tell their friends and family to avoid your business

The 20 most horrified marketing sins that businesses make And how to avoid them

Going further, here are the 20 most horrified marketing sins that businesses make:

• Not making it easy for customers to buy from you

• Not upselling and cross-selling your products and services

• Not automating your business

• Not understanding your target audience

• Not tracking your results

• Not creating compelling content

• Not using social media effectively

• Not running paid advertising campaigns effectively

• Not having a strong brand identity

• Not providing excellent customer service

• Not offering discounts and promotions

• Not building relationships with customers

• Not asking for referrals

• Not staying up-to-date on the latest marketing trends

• Not testing and optimizing your marketing campaigns

• Not using email marketing effectively

• Not using video marketing effectively

• Not using influencer marketing effectively

• Not using content marketing effectively

• Not using native advertising effectively

So, start reading on properly and to the end of this article to help you avoid these horrified marketing sins and improve your results from now henceforth.

Horrified Marketing Sin #1: Not Having a Clear Target Audience

61% of consumers say they’re more likely to buy from a company that understands their needs. 

Your target audience is the group of people who are most likely to buy your product or service. If you don’t know who your target audience is, you’re basically throwing darts in the dark.

To define your target audience, you need to consider factors such as age, gender, location, interests, and needs. Once you know who your target audience is, you can tailor your marketing messages accordingly.

Example:

A company that sells baby products might target new parents and grandparents. They would focus their marketing messages on the benefits of their products for babies and their families.

How to Correct This Sin :

To define your target audience, create a buyer persona. A buyer persona is a fictional representation of your ideal customer. It should include demographic information, as well as information about their needs, wants, and pain points.

Sure, let’s get on with the 20 Horrified Marketing sins

Horrified Marketing Sin #2: Not Offering a Valuable Product or Service

If your product or service doesn’t offer any value to your target audience, they’re not going to buy it. No matter how good your marketing is, you can’t sell something that people don’t want or need.

To create a valuable product or service, you need to solve a problem or meet a need for your target audience. You should also make sure that your product or service is high quality and competitively priced.

Example:

A company that sells a new type of toothpaste that claims to whiten teeth in two weeks might be offering a valuable product. Consumers who are looking for a way to whiten their teeth quickly and easily might be willing to pay a premium for this product.

How to Correct This Sin

When developing your product or service, focus on the benefits it will offer your target audience. What problems will it solve for them? What needs will it meet? Once you know the benefits, you can develop marketing messages that highlight those benefits.

Horrified Marketing Sin#3: Not Having a Strong Sales Funnel

A sales funnel is a process that leads potential customers from awareness to purchase. It typically includes stages such as awareness, interest, decision, and purchase.

If you don’t have a strong sales funnel, you’re losing potential customers at every stage. You need to have a system in place to nurture leads and move them through the sales funnel.

Example:

A company that sells software might have a sales funnel that looks like this:

• Awareness: The customer becomes aware of the company’s software through a blog post, social media ad, or other marketing channel.

• Interest: The customer visits the company’s website and learns more about the software.

• Decision: The customer signs up for a free trial of the software.

• Purchase: The customer converts to a paying customer.

How to Correct This Sin

To create a strong sales funnel, you need to map out the customer journey. This will help you identify the different stages that customers go through when making a purchase decision. Once you know the customer journey, you can develop marketing messages and sales strategies that are tailored to each stage.

Yes, let’s patiently continue with the 20 Horrified Marketing sins

Horrified Marketing Sin #4: Not Using a CRM System

A CRM (customer relationship management) system is a software tool that helps you track and manage your customer interactions. It can help you automate tasks such as lead nurturing, email marketing, and customer service.

If you’re not using a CRM system, you’re missing out on a valuable tool that can help you improve your marketing and sales results.

Example:

A company that sells e-commerce products might use a CRM system to track customer purchase history, email preferences, and other important data. This information can then be used to create personalized marketing campaigns and improve customer service.

How to Correct This Sin

Choose a CRM system that is right for your business size and needs. There are many different CRM systems available, so you’re sure to find one that fits your budget and requirements.

Horrified Marketing Sin #5: Not driving enough traffic to your website

Your website is your digital storefront, so it’s important to make sure that people are actually visiting it. If you’re not driving enough traffic to your website, then you’re not going to make any sales.

There are a number of ways to drive traffic to your website, including search engine optimization (SEO), pay-per-click (PPC) advertising,  content marketing amongst others.

Example:

A company sells handmade jewelry online. They have a beautiful website and a great product, but they’re not getting any sales. They didn’t realize that they need to drive traffic to their website in order to make sales.

How to Correct This Sin

The company could implement an SEO strategy to help their website rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs). They could also run PPC ads to target potential customers who are searching for keywords related to their products. Okay, still on the 20 Horrified Marketing sins

Horrified Marketing Sin #6: Not converting enough visitors into customers

Once you’ve driven traffic to your website, you need to convert those visitors into customers. This means making it easy for them to find what they’re looking for and to make a purchase.

There are a number of ways to improve your website’s conversion rate, including having a clear call to action, making it easy for visitors to navigate your website, and offering competitive prices and shipping rates.

Example:

A clothing store has a website with a wide selection of products. They get a lot of traffic to their website, but their conversion rate is low. This means that not enough of their visitors are actually making a purchase.

How to Correct This Sin

The clothing store could improve their conversion rate by adding clear calls to action to their website, such as “Shop Now” and “Add to Cart” buttons. They could also make it easier for visitors to navigate their website by creating clear menus and categories. Let’s ride on about the 20 Horrified Marketing sins

Horrified Marketing Sin #7: Not providing excellent customer service

Customer service is essential for any business. If you don’t provide excellent customer service, then your customers are more likely to shop elsewhere.

There are a number of ways to improve your customer service, including responding to customer inquiries promptly and courteously, resolving customer problems quickly and efficiently, and going the extra mile to make your customers happy.

Example:

A restaurant has a website where customers can order food online. The restaurant gets a lot of orders, but their customer service is terrible. Customers often have to wait a long time for their food to arrive, and the restaurant is slow to respond to customer inquiries.

How to Correct This Sin

The restaurant could improve their customer service by hiring more staff and by implementing a system for tracking and resolving customer complaints. They could also make it easier for customers to contact them by providing a live chat feature on their website.

Horrified Marketing Sin #8: Not Building a Strong Brand

91% of consumers say they’re more likely to buy from a company they recognize and trust.

Your brand is what sets you apart from your competitors. It’s your unique identity, and it’s what customers will remember when they’re deciding who to buy from.

If you don’t have a strong brand, you’re invisible to your target audience. You’re also more likely to price wars and make other marketing mistakes.

Example:

A new clothing company called “Fashionista” launches without building a strong brand. The company doesn’t have a clear identity or target audience. As a result, Fashionista’s products are indistinguishable from those of other clothing companies. The company also struggles to compete on price.

How to Correct This Sin

Fashionista could have corrected this sin by taking the time to develop a strong brand. This would have involved defining the company’s core values, target audience, and brand positioning. Fashionista could have also created a unique brand identity, including a logo, tagline, and visual style.

Tips for Building a Strong Brand:

• Define your core values. What do you stand for as a company? What makes you different from your competitors? Once you know your core values, you can communicate them to your target audience through your marketing.

• Identify your target audience. Who are you trying to reach with your marketing? What are their needs and wants? Once you know your target audience, you can tailor your marketing messages accordingly.

• Position your brand. How do you want your target audience to perceive your brand? Do you want to be seen as a luxury brand, a budget-friendly brand, or something else? Once you know your desired brand positioning, you can create marketing messages that reinforce it.

• Develop a unique brand identity. This includes your logo, tagline, visual style, and overall brand personality. Your brand identity should be consistent across all of your marketing materials. 

Okay, let’s get on with the 20 Horrified Marketing sins

Horrified Marketing Sin #9: Not Investing in Marketing and Advertising

Many businesses make the mistake of not investing enough in marketing and advertising. They think that they can save money by doing everything themselves or by relying on free marketing channels.

But the truth is, marketing and advertising are essential for any business that wants to grow. Without investing in marketing, you’re not going to reach your target audience or generate leads and sales.

Example:

A small business owner named Sarah decides to save money by doing her own marketing. She creates a website and starts posting on social media. But Sarah doesn’t have any experience with marketing, and her efforts don’t generate much traction. As a result, Sarah’s business stalls out.

How to Correct This Sin

Sarah could have corrected this sin by investing in marketing and advertising. She could have hired a marketing consultant or agency to help her develop a marketing strategy and create effective marketing materials. She could have also invested in paid advertising platforms like Google Ads and Facebook Ads.

Tips for Investing in Marketing and Advertising:

• Set a budget. How much money can you afford to spend on marketing and advertising? It’s important to set a realistic budget that you can stick to.

• Develop a marketing strategy. What are your marketing goals? Who are you trying to reach? What marketing channels will you use? Once you have a marketing strategy, you can start to allocate your budget accordingly.

• Create effective marketing materials. Your marketing materials should be well-written, visually appealing, and relevant to your target audience.

• Invest in paid advertising. Paid advertising can be a great way to reach a large audience quickly. However, it’s important to choose the right advertising platforms and target your ads carefully.

So, let’s get on with the 20 Horrified Marketing sins

Horrified Marketing Sin #10: Not Tracking Your Results

One of the biggest mistakes that businesses make is not tracking their marketing results. This is like driving a car without looking at the speedometer. You have no idea how fast you’re going or whether you’re on the right track.

If you’re not tracking your marketing results, you won’t be able to tell what’s working and what’s not. This means that you could be wasting your time and money on ineffective marketing campaigns.

To avoid this sin, make sure to track all of your marketing results. This includes things like website traffic, leads, and sales. You can use a variety of tools to track your results, such as Google Analytics and HubSpot.

How to Correct This Sin

Once you’ve started tracking your results, you can start to make adjustments to your marketing campaigns as needed. For example, if you’re not getting any traffic from your social media campaigns, you can try different types of content or targeting different demographics.

Alright, let’s get on with the 20 Horrified Marketing sins

Horrified Marketing Sin #11: Not Being Patient and Persistent

Marketing is a long-term game. It takes time and effort to build a successful brand and generate leads and sales.

If you’re not patient and persistent, you’re likely to give up too early. And if you give up too early, you’ll never see the results that you’re looking for.

To avoid this sin, it’s important to be patient and persistent with your marketing efforts. Don’t expect to see results overnight. It takes time to build relationships with your target audience and earn their trust.

How to Correct This Sin

One way to be more patient and persistent with your marketing is to create a marketing calendar. This will help you to plan and schedule your marketing activities in advance. It will also help you to stay on track and avoid getting overwhelmed.

Another way to be more patient and persistent is to track your progress over time. This will help you to see how far you’ve come and how much your marketing efforts are paying off.

Now, let’s continue on with the 20 Horrified Marketing sins

Horrified Marketing Sin #12: Not Having a Professional Website

A study by Clutch found that 88% of consumers say that a well-designed website is important when deciding whether or not to do business with a company. 

Your website is often the first point of contact that potential customers have with your brand. It’s important to make a good impression.

If your website is poorly designed or outdated, it will send the wrong message to potential customers. It will make them think that you’re not a serious business.

To avoid this sin, make sure that your website is professional and well-designed. It should be easy to navigate and should provide all of the information that potential customers need to know about your business.

How to Correct This Sin

If you don’t have a professional website, there are a few things that you can do to fix this. You can hire a web designer to create a custom website for you. Or, you can use a website builder to create your own website.

If you’ve the technical skills. Then go ahead to design one good one for yourself, for your business success. Make sure you’ve all the necessary information needed on it-such as your contact information, product or service descriptions, and a call to action.  

Horrified Marketing Sin #13: Not Creating High-Quality Content

72% of buyers say that content is an important factor in their purchasing decision.

One of the biggest marketing sins you can commit is not creating high-quality content. This is because your content is the foundation of your marketing strategy. It’s what attracts visitors to your website and blog, and it’s what convinces them to become customers.

If your content is poorly written, inaccurate, or outdated, it will reflect poorly on your brand and turn potential customers away.

Example: 

A company that sells software creates content about the benefits of their product. However, this content is poorly written and contains several grammatical errors. As a result, potential customers are left with a negative impression of the company and their product.

How to Correct This Sin

To avoid this sin, make sure that all of your content is well-written, accurate, and up-to-date. You should also have your content proofread by a professional before publishing it.

Horrified Marketing Sin #14: Not Using Social Media Effectively

71% of consumers say they’re more likely to buy from a company they follow on social media. 

Social media is a powerful marketing tool that can help you reach a large audience and connect with potential customers.  

However, if you’re not using social media effectively, you’re missing out on a huge opportunity.

Here are a few common social media marketing sins to avoid:

• Not posting regularly

• Posting content that is not relevant to your target audience

• Not interacting with your followers

• Not using social media analytics and related others. 

Example: 

A company that sells clothes has a social media presence on Facebook and Twitter. However, they only post once a week and their content is not relevant to their target audience. As a result, they have very few followers and their posts don’t generate much engagement.

How to Correct This Sin

To avoid these sins, make sure that you’re posting regularly, posting relevant content, interacting with your followers, and using social media analytics to track your results.

Horrified Marketing Sin #15: Not Building Relationships with Other Business owners 

Networking with other business owners is a great way to get your product or service in front of a new audience and build relationships with potential partners. However, many businesses don’t bother to network with other business owners, which is a big mistake.

Here are a few tips for building relationships with other business owner:

• Patronize them 

• Help them out in their business progress where you can offer that help

• Reach out to other business owner and introduce yourself and more. 

Example: 

A company that sells food products has digital channels. However, they don’t assist with digital channels support where they can or interact with other food bloggers on social media. As a result, they’re missing out on a great opportunity to reach a new audience and build relationships with potential partners.

How to Correct This Sin

To avoid this sin, make sure that you’re guest posting on other blogs, commenting on other blogs, sharing other blogs’ content on your social media channels, and reaching out to other bloggers to introduce yourself.

Horrified Marketing Sin #16: Not Optimizing Your Website for Search Engines

Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of optimizing your website so that it ranks higher in search engine results pages (SERPs). When your website ranks higher, more people will see it, and you’ll get more traffic.

If you’re not optimizing your website for SEO, you’re missing out on a huge opportunity to reach potential customers.

Example:

A company that sells shoes has a website, but they haven’t optimized it for SEO. As a result, their website doesn’t rank well in SERPs for relevant keywords like “shoes” and “buy shoes online.”

How to Correct This Sin

The company should hire an SEO expert to optimize their website for relevant keywords. They should also make sure that their website content is high-quality and relevant to their target audience.

Horrified Marketing Sin #17: Not Running Paid Advertising Campaigns Effectively

Paid advertising can be a great way to reach potential customers who are already interested in what you’re selling. But if you’re not running your paid advertising campaigns effectively, you’re wasting your money.

Example:

A company that sells software runs a paid advertising campaign on Google AdWords. But they’re not targeting their ads to the right people. As a result, they’re not getting any conversions from their campaigns.

How to Correct This Sin

The company should carefully target their paid advertising campaigns to the people who are most likely to be interested in their software. They should also use negative keywords to exclude people who are not interested in their software.

Horrified Marketing Sin #18: Not Offering Discounts and Promotions

Discounts and promotions can be a great way to attract new customers and boost sales. But if you’re not offering discounts and promotions effectively, you’re missing out on an opportunity to increase your profits.

Example:

A clothing store offers a 10% discount to all new customers. But they don’t promote this discount on their website or social media. As a result, very few people know about the discount, and the store doesn’t see a significant increase in sales.

How to Correct This Sin

The clothing store should promote their discount on their website and social media. They should also use email marketing to promote the discount to their existing customer list.

Horrified Marketing Sin #19: Not Making It Easy for Customers to Buy From You

If you want customers to buy from you, you need to make it as easy as possible for them to do so. This means having a clear and concise sales process, a user-friendly website, and multiple payment options.

Example: 

A company that sells clothes online has a complicated checkout process that requires customers to create an account and enter their shipping and billing information twice. This can discourage customers from completing their purchase.

How to Correct This Sin

The company could simplify its checkout process by allowing customers to checkout as guests and offering multiple payment options, such as credit card, PayPal, and Amazon Pay.

Horrified Marketing Sin #20: Not Upselling and Cross-Selling Your Products and Services

Upselling and cross-selling are two great ways to increase your sales and profits. Upselling is when you offer a customer a more expensive or upgraded version of the product they’re already interested in. Cross-selling is when you offer a customer a related product or service that they might also be interested in.

Example: 

A customer is browsing the website of a computer store. They’re looking at a laptop that costs $500. The store could upsell the customer to a more expensive laptop with a better processor and more memory. They could also cross-sell the customer a mouse, keyboard, and carrying case.

How to Correct This Sin

The store could train its sales staff on how to upsell and cross-sell products to customers. They could also use their website to recommend upsells and cross-sells to customers.

BONUS 

Horrified Marketing Sin #21: Not Automating Your Business

Automating your business can help you save time and money. There are many tasks that can be automated, such as email marketing, social media marketing, and customer service.

Example:

 A small business owner spends several hours each day responding to customer emails. This takes away from time that they could be spending on other tasks, such as growing their business.

How to Correct This Sin: 

The business owner could use an email marketing service to automate their email marketing. They could also use social media scheduling tools to automate their social media marketing.

FINAL THOUGHT ON AVOIDING MARKETING SINS THAT RUINS YOUR BUSINESS SUCCESS 

These are just a few of the most horrified marketing sins that you need to avoid. By avoiding these sins, you can improve your marketing results and boost your sales and profits.

How to Avoid These Marketing Sins

The best way to avoid these marketing sins is to have a well-thought-out marketing strategy. Your marketing strategy should be based on a clear understanding of your target audience

• Sometimes, for you to have freedom for other task aligned in your running business-you might need to give out task to professional who has years of experience in this
• And at times; You might just be confused on which one to do, like this business or that business, to explore my talent or learn a new skill and the confusion continue gravitating
• Other time, you might need to learn the cutting-edges Strategy that’s up-to-date from an experience body 

AVOID THESE HORRIFIED MARKETING SINS TODAY! 

 Imagine a world where your marketing campaigns are so effective that you’re generating leads and sales left and right. A world where your profits are soaring and your business is booming.

That world could be yours, but only if you avoid the seven deadliest marketing sins.

So, that’s why I have taken my time to reveal the 20 deadliest marketing sins, and show you how to avoid them. I have also provided examples of businesses that have committed these sins, and how they could have done better.

As a business owner or practicing entrepreneur, you know that marketing is essential for success. But what if you’re making some horrific marketing sins that are killing your sales and profit making?

Here in this blogpost are just a few of it I’ve dealt with for you . From 

• Not making it easy for customers to buy from you

• Not upselling and cross-selling your products and services

• Not automating your business

• Not understanding your target audience

• Not tracking your results

• Not creating compelling content

• Not having a clear and concise sales process

• Not using effective marketing channels

• Not investing in marketing

• Not measuring your ROI

• Not being consistent with your marketing

• Not staying up-to-date on the latest marketing trends

These are just a few of the many marketing sins that can kill your sales and profit making. If you’re making any of these sins, it’s time to stop.

I’m also a practicing entrepreneur and passionate blogger, and I’ve seen firsthand the devastating effects that bad marketing can have on a business. I’ve seen businesses fail because they didn’t utilize the digital channels well or at all, some didn’t make it easy for customers to buy from them. I’ve seen businesses fail because they didn’t upsell and cross-sell their products and services. I’ve seen businesses fail because they didn’t track their results. Above I’ve seen so many failures because they didn’t commission their business marketing task to the right agent/ company.

I don’t want you to make the same mistakes. That’s why I’ve written this blog post. I want to help you avoid these deadliest marketing sins.

Fortunately for you, there is still room for amendment of these errors. Hit here to clean 🪥 away all your marketing sins that is killing your business success and progress. 

 And in the meantime, take a moment to think about your own marketing. Are you making any of these deadly marketing sins? If so, it’s time to make some changes.

If you have any other marketing sins you’ve noticed and have been avoided for your marketing success. please, head to the comment section to share with the public and help someone business have a long life again.