REPLAY: The Top 5 Marketing Mistakes You're Making (And How to Fix Them)

Stop making your marketing harder than it has to be! In this episode of Marketing Sucks, Phil and I reveal the top 5 marketing mistakes you’re probably making right now — and how to stop driving yourself crazy struggling to do it ALL. 

Listen in as we break down the most crucial do’s and don’ts of showing up online, reveal the #1 easiest way to boost your conversions, and give you our official permission to stop posting on every single platform. This is a must-listen episode for new and seasoned biz owners, so don’t miss it!

Marketing sucks. Let’s learn together. Hit play to discover:‌ ‌

• Why the hottest new app may be useless for your biz (and how to figure it out)
• Why repurposing content is more complicated than you think 
• What you absolutely need to have in place BEFORE posting

Please rate, review, and subscribe!

Timestamps:‌ ‌

00:11  Intro

02:08  Trying to be everywhere 

05:29  Repurpose or not?

06:25  Dominating your platform

08:16  Having a strategy

10:53  Ignoring your list

13:28  Selling without solving 

16:44  Time crunch

18:40  Chasing perfection

23:20  Recap

24:14  Action items & outro

—

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Production: theultimatecreative.com

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:11

So welcome back to Marketing Sucks. What sucks this week, guys, is that Mercury is retrograding. It is 100% in the microwave or wherever the fuck it resides. Because before trying to record this month's batch of episodes, what has happened, Phil?

SPEAKER_00 0:28

Let's start with broken mic cable. Couldn't find a replacement cable. And the one that you are using is like what like so short. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 0:35

This is why I'm so close to the screen today, everybody.

SPEAKER_00 0:39

I couldn't get into Riverside. So that was fun. So I think we're we're about nine problems in, but here we are, apparently live streaming as well.

SPEAKER_01 0:47

Love it. I love it. I love I love everything about this today. All right. So I'm your host, Amanda Casinha. Let's start from the top. And this is Marketing Sucks. No, you're my co-host, Phil Ginther.

SPEAKER_00 1:03

No, you totally cut me off there.

SPEAKER_01 1:06

Sorry. Okay, go ahead.

SPEAKER_00 1:07

And I'm your co-host, Phil Ginther. Welcome to Marketing Sucks. In Amanda, why don't you tell us what sucks this week?

SPEAKER_01 1:13

Well, what sucks this week, first and foremost, before we get into this episode, because you're trying to cut me off because you know what I'm about to say, is that we really need to figure out how to intro this podcast. I am not used to having a co-host and sharing this space. So thanks everybody. So what sucks this week is the marketing mistakes that you're making in your business. So we're going to talk about the top five, the top five marketing mistakes you are making. Yeah, only five. I we don't have that much time because I can't hold this mic this close anymore. I'm already annoyed and we have four more to record. So we're gonna talk about the five marketing mistakes you're probably making in your business, specifically if you are a newer business, but also I find this in seasoned businesses as well because we overthink fucking everything. So that is true. Yeah. So we're going to talk about these five. You may be guilty of one of them. You may be guilty of all of them. It's fine. So am I, so are we. We're just human, but I want to get into it with the first one. And the first one is the one I see the most often when we're doing like intake calls, like discovery calls, or when we're just talking to people about what exists already for their brands. And that is trying to be everywhere online. All the time.

SPEAKER_00 2:25

All the channels.

SPEAKER_01 2:27

Yeah. And so a lot of people will be like, okay, well, I have TikTok and LinkedIn and and Instagram and Facebook just automatically posts there. And I'm trying Pinterest now, and I want to do a YouTube channel. And I am just like reverse, stop. Let's take a look at all of it. Like which ones are actually performing? Yeah. And so you can have all of them. Like you can be everywhere online in theory. Like, of course, you can open an account.

SPEAKER_00 2:55

But yeah.

SPEAKER_01 2:57

But what happens is then you're spreading yourself way too thin. And so, unless you have major budgets where you can have teams dedicated to these accounts, it's going to be impossible to grow every single channel in a meaningful and effective way that's actually going to get you the revenue that you're looking for, right? Because you're doing all of this for a return. We're not just posting for the sake of posting. I mean, maybe you are, but in my lens, and what we do is we want to see like some kind of actual movement and growth. Yeah. So, Phil, this is something that you always talk about. And it's if you're talking to everyone or marketing to everyone, then you're actually talking to no one. So, do you want to elaborate on this and why it's important to just like not be everywhere online and find your people in one specific place first before you try and talk to everybody?

SPEAKER_00 3:46

Yeah. So, I mean, if you're you can either do one thing thing well or a bunch of things poorly. And I've seen this, especially in mass marketing. You know, a brief will come in and then we're like, okay, scrolling through, who's the target? And it's like men and women 18 to 55. I'm like that. I love that. That is not a target. That is literally That's all the people. Yeah, that's that's all of them. And you're just kind of like, it's like spray and pray, right? You're just you're sort of throwing money in the wind and hoping it's spray and pray. It's the episode.

SPEAKER_01 4:17

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 4:18

So you're hoping it's gonna do something, but it's not specific enough. And and because the other thing is like even if you have really, really good, solid content that is like speaking to a truth to your demographic, it's solving a problem for them, whatever that thing may be, and you put it everywhere, it's not gonna do the job it's intended to do. We had this. Did you ever hear of Triller? Do you remember this?

SPEAKER_01 4:36

No.

SPEAKER_00 4:37

So Triller was this app that came and went very quickly, but it started to grow faster than TikTok at a certain point. And so we had this campaign where they're like, we gotta get on triller, let's do a test, we've got to get on triller. We go and you know, still parents on triller.

SPEAKER_01 4:50

Oh, I think I do remember this. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 4:51

It was very weird. And we got we got next to nothing out of it. I mean, thank God we didn't pay a lot for it, but it was just like do the new hot thing because it's the new hot thing. We still hadn't figured out even the the core and like what we were doing on Instagram and how we were showing up for parents there and that at that time. So, anyways, a lot of effort, a lot of time, zero return. And it's okay to do a test and learn to figure out if that's a place for you, but when you're constantly iterating like that every season, you're like, gotta try this, gotta try that, gotta try this. And you're not investing in the one place you can be, you're gonna come up broke because it's just not doing what it needs to do for you.

SPEAKER_01 5:28

And I also want to note, too, on that is like expecting one person on your team or one agency to do the work of five accounts like with one person, it's impossible. I was just trying to explain this to somebody. They were like, oh, but like we're already here, so you could just like repurpose it. No, no, no. Like there is a time and a place for repurposing, but the repurposing on different platforms requires different strategy. And that's a whole other like workload, right? So expecting people to just like, oh, repurpose and repost, like, yeah, we could do that. That's fine, but it's not that simple. It's not as simple as taking a podcast episode and turning it into a blog and then turning it into a reel and then doing it on TikTok and then making a Pinterest post and then throwing it on YouTube and then making a post for LinkedIn. Yeah, like it's it is different. Like you can use one shoot, but the way it has to be edited, the strategy behind it, when it's posted, the like the actual content that goes into it, it's a lot of work. And so if you are a solopreneur or you have a small team, then what should you do instead of trying to be everywhere online? It's really simple. Pick the platform where your people are. Yep. And then dominate that. So you are going to be so consistent, you're gonna become so obsessed with every feature, every everything that you can know about it. Like I know what's happening. I usually know when features are coming out on Instagram before they even come out because the fucking app glitches. And most of my clients will be messaging me. They're like, What is happening? I'm like, there's probably something coming out because even my shit is fucked and like my account is like pristine.

SPEAKER_00 7:01

I like coming up to you being like, hey, this thing. You're like, Yeah, yeah, yeah, that was hours ago.

SPEAKER_01 7:05

Yeah. And so, and that's the thing though, is that because I'm literally obsessed with it, and it doesn't even mean like I'm not even doing half of the work that is going out. Like I'm project managing at this level of business and being the CEO of the company, but I still have to understand every single aspect of it. So, what I would recommend is try not to be everywhere, pick one place and become so fucking good at it that like nobody can break that. And then you're gonna test and build community, refine the message from that point when you know exactly what is working, what is resonating, what is bringing in the dollars, then you can expand into these other platforms. Now, if you have unlimited budgets and resources, go for it. Assign people to the different platforms, dominate the fucking worlds. Like, I'm not telling you like start slow. I love the idea of just running and going for it and like, you know, jump off the cliff, figure out the parachute on your way down. However, focus will bring results, chaos brings burnout. So we want to make sure that we are always looking at what's the end goal here and what are we actually working towards. And that will help with mistake number one of trying to be everywhere online. True. Number two is my favorite. Number two is posting without a strategy. So just because you saved something that said, use this audio to break 200 views on your next reel means fucking nothing. Using a trending audio doesn't mean it's going to bring you followers or money. You need to know why you're posting and what you're posting for and who you're posting for, or else you're wasting your time. Like it's really a waste of time. You you just should just not show up that day.

SPEAKER_00 8:44

Yeah, I'd say one of the easiest content strategies I came across when I first got into making content was like your content needs to do like one of three things. It either needs to entertain, educate, or give some sort of utility. And sometimes those can all be bundled together in one beautiful package. But yeah, going in blind and just kind of hoping for the best, you're not going to get anywhere. Oh, coffee break.

SPEAKER_01 9:09

Yeah, coffee break. So there's, you know, a few things that you could do. So there's a few ways that I explain it because people are like, well, what's the strategy, Amanda? Well, like that would require me to understand your business. But here's just from a posting perspective to like help you out, just to get give you some clarity. If you need like actual, like, this is how it has to be done. You can use the three, two, one rule. So three posts that build authority in your area, two posts that build connection. So you're building that community, and then one post that sells. I like to say it this way I do 80 to 90% of content for my audience, and then the other 10 to 20% is for me. So funny shit, things that I find humorous, maybe some trendy things, but that stuff's for me. I don't really care if it goes anywhere. I just felt happy and I wanted to post it. So, but the other 80 to 90% should be for your audience. How is that helping them? And and it's and it's purposeful and it's value-driven. It can't just be like your business needs you. Like, no, no. Like we need, we need like some like some depth, you know, like go there and and and we'll get into like what that means later in in in like I think mistake number five. But I think that, you know, every post should have a purpose. So whether it's your offer, whether it's making your audience laugh, maybe it's you know, just being vulnerable with them, whatever that looks like.

SPEAKER_00 10:33

What is this doing?

SPEAKER_01 10:34

What is it doing? And I always like to be like, what's the purpose of this post? Like, what's the intention behind this? What's the goal of this? You know? And if you can't answer that question, like maybe it's time to like come back and look at the post itself and say, like, how can I make this better? Like, what how do I want this to resonate with my audience? Number three is my favorite, and that is ignoring your email list.

SPEAKER_00 10:56

Ooh, back in time. Are we traveling backwards? That's what it feels like.

SPEAKER_01 11:00

So this is something that we have not done in a long time.

SPEAKER_00 11:06

Guilty.

SPEAKER_01 11:07

Mistake number three is my mistake. So I used to have a newsletter. I mean, it still exists, it just hasn't been sent in a year. That was it's really good. I love the newsletter. I would get such great emails back. It's gonna come back probably in the fall or early winter. And the reason why I stopped sending emails was we just got really busy, to be completely honest and fair. And I wasn't looking for, I don't know, I guess I just I just didn't have the time. I don't even have an excuse at this point. And so now that the team has been built up, Phil's on board here, like we're gonna be starting our emails a lot more consistently. But ignoring your email list is a huge mistake. It's a huge marketing mistake. It's the biggest mistake I've made this year, to be honest. And a lot of people will say, like, I don't know, like everybody gets annoyed with emails. It's the best way to convert, it's the easiest way to convert.

SPEAKER_00 11:54

It's consistent. Like, like I know, like I know like any of the lists I've I've signed up for or to get discounts, you know, it's like join this mailing list, get 15% off. Like Wayfair, for example. I haven't unsubscribed from that. I get hundreds of irrelevant emails from them. I'm not buying a new rug today, that's okay. But it keeps it top of mind. It's consistently there. And so when I do get to a point where I'm ready to make a purchase, guess what I'm gonna think of first? The most present brand that's been in my email box consistently showing up.

SPEAKER_01 12:23

Yep, exactly. It's also you own it. Like you don't own your Instagram account, you don't own your Facebook account. That could just be taken at any time. So by building that list, you own it, it's yours. And I would just say that, you know, getting that list built, that's something you should have done like yesterday. So the good thing is for me is that I have freebies on our Instagram link. I have funnels built. So I am constantly collecting emails and they're put into a welcome sequence. But then after that, they're getting nothing, which is awful. And so I'm gonna have to do a hi, hey, it's me. I haven't fucking sent you an email in 18 months. Hope you still want to be here. So I think just start looking at email as an option to help build your list. Don't just rely on Instagram or TikTok or wherever you're you're getting your DMs from. So I think just like making sure that you're not ignoring that email list. And think about it like when's the last time you emailed your list? Like, go email them today. Number four is Phil's favorite topic, which is selling without solving.

SPEAKER_00 13:33

Oh my God.

SPEAKER_01 13:33

So I'm gonna let him take the lead here.

SPEAKER_00 13:35

My feet is my feed is flooded with this because it's always like 10% off, 20% off, or just buy my thing, like here, here, here. Sell, sell, sell, buy, buy, buy. And it offers no value. I'm not acknowledged in any way, shape, or form. I'm just a number as part of an algorithm. I'm a consumer. So we want to avoid this because we are all human beings at the end of the day, and we all have problems, and there are products in the world that solve those problems. So, and actually, I have a great example about this. This just popped into my head. This is like Mother's Day, like three years ago, and working for a toy company at the time, and the sales team comes and says, Okay, we want to sell this toy on Mother's Day. And I was like, On the one day where moms get to have a break, some time for themselves, go to the spa, you know, wake up with a nice brunch, have a glass of champagne. I'm like, you want to push a sale to buy toys that are for their kids? They're like, Yes. Like, I do not advise that. I do not we are not solving anything here. We are literally taking the one day they have and turning it into something for us. So instead of just looking at pushing sales non-stop and getting in people's faces, let's talk about what they're going through. What pain points do they have? How do you solve those pain points? And then you're starting a conversation, you're making a connection with your audience, and then you're gonna show that the offer you're giving them is gonna bridge that gap between the pain point they're experiencing and where they want to be. And when you can close it in such a way and use storytelling to achieve that, it's just such an effective tool versus like blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Because everything just you're bombarded constantly with just trash online. And the only way to break through is to truly treat people like human beings and acknowledge what they're going through. So instead of telling people to like sign up for this, you know, say, hey, are you are you feeling tired today? Here's a way to boost your energy, like add some value, start a conversation, and that's where that's where value really comes from.

SPEAKER_01 15:37

Yeah, a good example of this too is so, you know, we just took over creating some landing pages for a client as part of their package because they just don't have time for it anymore. And it's great because I've been wanting to get my hands on these, on this copy for forever. And their their customer base really loves long format, which is great. I love long form copy, and they perform really well. The thing that I found lacking in it, though, is that storytelling aspect or the customer perspective and like bringing in somebody's actual like point of view of using the product and how it's like really transformed their life. And so adding that in to all the product features and the sale and all the things really helps to eliminate this like sleazy car salesman, like you're going, you're being sold at. And obviously, there's a place for those that kind of language, right? And and their pages were never like that, but there was a lot of information. And it was nice to be able to finally get my hands in there and and look at it from like, how can we actually tell the story now of what this product does versus just you know the features and and all the other things. So it is a little bit different. I think a lot of people also do the selling without solving because they're in a time crunch. So this goes back, this goes back to posting without purpose or posting without a strategy. And so it it comes down to, oh fuck, I haven't actually sold anything. So now I got to discount it and like sell, sell, sell. And like you have 24 hours to buy and because you didn't do that foundational work ahead of your sale, like let's say three to four months before setting up that path to actually having a successful launch. So when we're looking at selling without solving as well as posting without a strategy, like they really go hand in hand. So if you have something launching in December, like your plan should already be done and you should be starting to post in a couple of days from now. We're recording at end of July. This is going to air beginning of August. Your holiday stuff, like you should be like, you know, kind of warming up your audience for that now. And I know a lot of people think that's really early and they're gonna. Let me tell you, when all the holidays in fall come around and you're busy with family shit, and then your kids go back to school. And if you're from the Toronto area, you know the fucking disease cesspool of school and they're all schnot nosed and everybody's staying home, like your stuff is gonna get thwarted. Like you gotta plan ahead. And that's pretty typical. I would say, even from like an influencer standpoint, like wanting an influencer to get your products out and stuff, like you need to be signing them in like January for like December stuff. And sometimes that's even too late. So always be thinking ahead. You should have like marketing plans and business plans. And in that plan has to be like, what problem are we solving? And how are we getting that message out? And when do we have to start getting that message out for, you know, I don't know, Thanksgiving, Christmas, fall, Black Friday. Like what does that look like? Right.

SPEAKER_00 18:39

That's the answer. And you know, I think that conversation around getting in front of it is like the perfect transition into the fifth mistake because I'm guilty of this. You've called me out on this many, many times.

SPEAKER_01 18:49

Every day.

SPEAKER_00 18:51

Just waiting for your stuff to be perfect. I think we all we all have this beautiful idea of what of what our marketing material should look like and how it should work. And then there's the reality of being in the thick of it and in the chaos. It's it's not always going to be perfect. And by hesitating, there's a cost that comes with that.

SPEAKER_01 19:08

Yeah. It's the silent killer of your growth. Listen, waiting for shit to be perfect is like it's actually just stopping you from like doing things. So the the fastest growing companies are the are the people at the top that can make fast decisions, right? Those people are not looking at like what's the most perfect thing. They're saying launch and like figure it out as you go, obviously within reason, right? Like clearly you need to have your offer laid out. Clearly, you need proof of concept, clearly you need a good, like, you know, marketing strategy behind it, but it doesn't have to be exactly perfect. If you have to show up online, you don't need to look perfect. If the post maybe you made an error on it, that's okay. It's not brain surgery. You're gonna survive. You know, I I would rather you launch messy and scared than not launch at all. Because you will improve and you will learn from that. And you know what will you fucking learn is that you need to be better prepared for your launches. That's you will learn that if you do it, when you do it messy and scared, you're gonna be like, I never want to fucking do that again. I want to be prepared. I want to feel confident doing it. Because if you wait until you're ready, it's never gonna happen. There is no ready. Like it's like, you know, even us when we were thinking about like having kids, we're like, we need to wait for the perfect time. When was the perfect time? Nothing was the perfect time. And then when we thought it was the perfect time, it was the worst time. So, like, you know, at the end of the day, just do it, do it anyway, and then and you'll learn, even if nobody signs up, even if nobody buys it, that's great. You know why that's great?

SPEAKER_00 20:39

It'll accelerate the rate at which you learn because exactly you you there's just so much, not necessarily all going wrong, but so many little things that you'll start to notice and opportunities that you can take. And so what do I what do I usually say to the kids? If something isn't working, try something new and that constant iteration, right? That's how you you build your knowledge base and that experience and that success.

SPEAKER_01 21:02

Yeah, I was watching a podcast, it's like podcast on the go with Lo Bosworth. She's from the hills. No, it's surprising, right? That it's a reality TV start. Yeah, she was interviewing Barbara, I can never say her last name from Shark Tank. Yeah, that's the that's the US version, right? Of Dragon Send. Yeah, Shark Tank. Barbara Cochrane, something like I can't remember her last name. Anyways, she built like a real estate empire and she was like knocked down a million times, like doing this. Everybody told her she was never gonna be able to do it. Now she's like a billionaire. And she was saying that the only type she doesn't actually care about the business she's investing in. And I thought this was interesting. She cares more about the entrepreneur. And the reason she'll invest in the business is because she's looking for the people that can get up every single time they have a failure and how quickly they can move after something goes wrong. But it's like it's it's so true though, because when I look at specific business. And why maybe they're not doing it? It's because there's just a lot of slow action and a lot of overthinking. And as you know, being married to me, I am not like I don't like operating that way. I just like what are you talking about? Okay, well, that didn't work. Why didn't I call them an autopsy? Let's have an autopsy because of course true crime. So let's have an autopsy. Like, why didn't that work? Like, what, like, let's do a postmortem? Again, more. It's I'm sorry, people, but bring it back to true crime.

SPEAKER_00 22:28

It's all good.

SPEAKER_01 22:29

It's how my brain operates. So it's like, what did like what went wrong? Like, what was the cause? What was like why? You know, what could we have better set up next time? Who do we need? Maybe like, do we need extra assistance? Or maybe it's just like the wrong people were put in the wrong place at the at the wrong time. And then also who's taking accountability for that? It's usually me because I'm at the top of it leading it. So it's like, okay, acknowledge and let's move on and move forward and make it better. And so I found listening to that conversation that she was having, I was like, it's so, it's so true because the people that are gonna get up the fastest and act the and act the fastest are the ones that are, you know, seeing success. Like people online that you see that, you know, the ones that it's real success and not just blowing smoke up your ass. It's like those people are like getting, you know, a lot of shit on and they're just ignoring it and staying in the lane. Yeah, they're very resilient. All right, guys, that's it for today. Let's do a quick recap. So, top five marketing mistakes and then how to fix them. Number one, trying to be everywhere. Don't do that. Let's focus on one platform at a time. Number two, posting with no strategy. Let's not do that. Let's actually think with intention, use the three two one method or the 9010 method. Number three, ignoring your email. Start just emailing people. I'm gonna do this one. This is my mistake that I need to correct. I'm I'm I'm owning up to it. Okay, number Phil, uh, number Phil. Phil, can you take on number four?

SPEAKER_00 23:52

Number four, yeah. Selling without solving, speak to their pain points and their desires. Don't just throw offers in their face and make them feel like vapid human beings. And then number five, waiting for it to be perfect. Take that messy action now. Do it, fail, do it again, keep going, build that habit. And you won't even think about it after a certain amount of time.

SPEAKER_01 24:13

All right, and then I'm gonna give you some action steps because I know you guys like that and we haven't done them in a while. So there's I'm gonna give you five, but also just choose one and act on it because five may seem like a lot. Or if you're just like a keener like I was in school, then do all five. Number one, I want you to choose one platform and commit to it for 90 days. So like mark it in your calendar. You know, right now we're recording, it's August or July 29th. So this is gonna go out, I think, on August 12th or something. I have no idea what my schedule looks like, but from August until December, let's say, or August, November, oh wow, I know how to count months. August, September, October. So between August and October or August and November, you are committed to it. That doesn't mean posting every day. That's unrealistic, but you're gonna get a schedule together and you're going to put together your strategy and you're going to commit to that one platform. A second action step that you can do is just very simply map out your next six pieces of content. So that will be for two weeks. Let's say three posts a week for the for the next six pieces and use the three, two, one method. Number three is you can create a fee a freebie and then launch it in your socials and get people signing up to your email today. That is the easiest one. You probably have so much shit that you're sitting on that could be a freebie and you just are doing nothing with it.

SPEAKER_00 25:31

Big time.

SPEAKER_01 25:32

And then number four could be rewriting your sales pitch with transformation-based language. So using that storytelling, okay? So using like what problem are you actually solving and see how that works. Put that in a post, put that in an email. Number five, you can pick one thing that you've been stalling on, the thing that's in your drafts. Just post it, tag us. Let me see what it is. I'll I'll give you my finger. Everybody has one.

SPEAKER_00 25:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 25:56

Yeah. Anyways, that's it for today, guys. Thank you so much for tuning in and we will chat with you next week. Bye.

SPEAKER_00 26:04

Bye.