Donna Lynn Price has seen it all. The founder of Compass Rose Consulting, Donna has been helping businesses with their marketing for over __ years, and has seen so many businesses waste their time and money with their marketing efforts. In this month’s SkillBites Show, Donna talked about four of the most common mistakes businesses make and how you can avoid making them.

The first mistake is trying to implement marketing tactics without a complete strategy. When you undertake different tactics without a strategy, you are unlikely to get the results you are seeking. Developing a strategy consists of the following elements:

1. Identify your goals or what you are looking to accomplish;
2. Identify your target audience and their needs;
3. Determine how the services or products you offer meet those needs;
4. Review the different ways to inform and engage your audience of how you can solve their problems; and
5. Determine the marketing tactics that will be best for accomplishing your goals and engaging your audience.

The second mistake businesses make is not having a suitable call to action. This is the action you want your customer to take as a result of coming across your marketing message. For instance, if you have an ad in a newspaper that provides a description of your services and your contact information, you might get some calls, but most people won’t call after seeing a newspaper ad. You need to build a relationship first, to provide something of value so that your prospects get to know, like and trust you. So you might want to offer a free consult or a free eBook that helps them overcome a challenge. You’re much more likely to get people taking action when you offer something of value.

A third mistake is not having a follow up plan. Let’s say you offer a free consult, and you start getting calls. If you haven’t planned out what you’re going to say on those calls, you will probably not be as effective in getting those prospects to the next step. Or maybe you have offered a free eBook. You ought to think about what you want them to do next, and what you can do or say to get them there. You might want to develop an email campaign to go to those who have downloaded your eBook. If they don’t purchase the product or service you are offering, perhaps you could offer to sell them a service or product that is lower in cost, or some different product you offer.

A fourth mistake businesses make is not measuring the effectiveness of their marketing. You should identify how many calls, downloads, click thru’s or sign-ups you are expecting. If you aren’t meeting your targets, try tweaking your marketing and see if you can make it more effective. Maybe people are clicking through, but no one is downloading your freebie. So then you know your email message or Facebook ad campaign or whatever you’re using to drive people to your landing page is working, but your landing page isn’t. Without measuring the effectiveness of your marketing, you won’t know when or what to tweak, or when to change to a different tactic.

Donna provided a lot more marketing tips during the show, which is available to listen to by clicking here. She also has some great resources on her website, www.compassroseconsulting.com. Donna has offered a free copy of her eBook, Yes! Marketing Works, which can be accessed at www.bizleadsfast.com, and has offered a 20% discount on her services to the SkillBites community. Just enter the code SkillBites at checkout. Finally, Donna is offering a free marketing review when you contact her at dprice@compassroseconsulting.com or 973-500-8054.