Marketing mistakes to avoid

WHAT I generally notice from the work we do is that 99.9 percent of companies in Zimbabwe operate without a framework to manage their customer experience.

There are also other several marketing mistakes that companies should avoid if they want to be successful.

One common mistake is not understanding the target audience. It’s important to know who the target customers are and what they want in order to create effective marketing campaigns.

Another common mistake is not using analytics to track the success of marketing campaigns. This can make it difficult to know what’s working and what’s not and can lead to wasted resources.

Additionally, companies should avoid being overly sales-focused in their marketing at the expense of other key marketing functions like brand management because you will end up losing future sales if you don’t take brand management seriously.

This can turn off potential customers and make them less likely to trust the company.

It’s important to avoid being too pushy when dealing with customers.

Everything comes down to numbers and figures in business.

I did Financial Accounting as part of my marketing studies at university. I truly enjoy the subject of accounting.

You already know that revenue expenses and capital expenses are two different types of expenses that a company records on its financial statements.

Everyone knows that revenue expenses also known as operating expenses are costs that are directly related to the company’s revenue-generating activities such as the cost of goods sold or marketing expenses.

Capital expenses on the other hand are expenses related to long-term assets such as buildings, machinery or equipment. These are treated as investments and the cost is spread out over the useful life of the asset. The key difference is that revenue expenses are incurred in the normal course of business while capital expenses are made to create future value.

Capital investments can improve customer experience in a number of ways. For example, a company may invest in new technology to make its website more user-friendly or to streamline its customer service process.

Additionally, capital investments can be used to improve physical spaces such as stores or offices making them more attractive and convenient for customers.

By investing in these areas, companies can make the customer experience smoother and more enjoyable, which can lead to increased customer loyalty and satisfaction.

Brand equity is essentially the value of a brand. It’s a measure of how much a brand is worth in terms of both financial and non-financial factors.

Financially, brand equity can be measured by the price premium that a brand can command over its competitors. Non-financially, brand equity is measured by factors such as customer loyalty, brand awareness and perceived quality.

Brand equity is important because it can be used to create competitive advantages, increase revenue and protect against market fluctuations.

In short, brand equity is what makes a brand valuable. Customer experience is directly related to brand equity. As customer experience improves so does brand equity. This is because a positive customer experience increases customer satisfaction, which in turn leads to increased brand loyalty and a higher willingness to pay a price premium for the brand.

In other words, when customers have a good experience with a brand, they are more likely to become repeat customers and recommend the brand to others.

This builds the brand’s equity and makes it more valuable. So, customer experience and brand equity are closely linked and have a symbiotic relationship.

Never forget that brand loyalty refers to the tendency for consumers to repeatedly purchase a particular brand or product even when there are other options available.

Customers may be loyal to a brand because they believe it offers better quality, value or other benefits. Brand loyalty is valuable to businesses because it allows them to build long-term relationships with their customers and reduce the costs associated with acquiring new customers.

Additionally, loyal customers are more likely to refer the brand to others which can increase sales and brand recognition.

Ultimately, brand loyalty is an important factor in a business’ long-term success.

Customer experience can be explained in very complicated words. However, it can also be explained in very simple terms.

In simple terms, customer experience is the sum of all the interactions that a customer has with a company. It includes all the touch-points from the first moment a customer becomes aware of the company to the final moment when they receive the product or service and beyond.

Customer experience encompasses not only the product or service itself but also the interactions with employees, the customer service processes and the overall atmosphere or environment. It is about how the customer feels throughout the entire process. Never forget that customer touch points are any point of interaction between a customer and a company whether it’s physical or digital.

It can be anything from visiting a store to making a phone call to the company. A touch point can be a positive or negative experience and it can have a big impact on the overall customer experience.

For example, a positive touch point might be getting help from a friendly and knowledgeable employee while a negative touch point might be a frustrating phone call with a customer service representative.

Every touch point is an opportunity for a company to influence a customer’s impression of the brand. Teamwork is critical for improving customer experience for a few key reasons. First, it takes a team effort to create a truly excellent customer experience.

No single person or department can do it alone. Second, teamwork allows for different perspectives and ideas to be brought to the table which can lead to innovative solutions.

Third, teamwork fosters a culture of collaboration and co-operation which is essential for delivering on customer expectations.

Finally, teamwork creates a sense of shared ownership and responsibility for the customer experience which leads to better results. Overall, teamwork is a key ingredient for success when it comes to customer experience.

It’s also true that the responsibility for improving the customer experience falls on multiple people within a business.

First and foremost, it is the responsibility of senior leadership to set the tone and vision for customer experience. They should establish goals and metrics for measuring success and then hold the organisation accountable for delivering on those goals.

However, it is also the responsibility of individual employees to deliver excellent customer experience.

Employees at all levels of the organisation should be empowered to take ownership of the customer experience and make improvements where necessary.

Finally, customers themselves can also play a role in improving the customer experience by providing feedback and suggestions.

Failing to have a customer experience vision can have a number of negative consequences for a real business.

Without a clear vision, the company may have difficulty aligning its strategies and goals which can lead to confusion and inefficiency.

Additionally, employees may not be motivated to provide the best possible experience for customers as they may not understand what the company is trying to achieve. This can lead to poor customer experience and a lack of loyalty. You may set achieving 100 percent customer satisfaction as your ideal picture. Yes, achieving 100 percent customer satisfaction on every transaction is an excellent vision for a business.

It shows that the company is focused on providing a high-quality experience for its customers and is committed to ensuring that they are happy with their purchase.

This vision also highlights the importance of customer experience and demonstrates that the company is willing to go above and beyond to meet the needs of its customers.

Having such a clear and ambitious vision can help motivate employees and set the company on a path to success.

Customer experience is one of the most powerful ways that a business can differentiate itself.

When a business offers a superior customer experience, it creates a strong emotional connection with its customers. This makes them more likely to choose the business over its competitors and to become loyal customers.

In addition, a great customer experience can create positive word-of-mouth marketing which can lead to even more new customers.

In short, customer experience is a key differentiator for any business that wants to succeed in today’s marketplace.

Differentiation is important for a business because it allows them to stand out from their competitors and create a unique value proposition for their customers.

In today’s competitive marketplace, it is no longer enough to simply offer a product or service that is similar to what others are offering.