EP9: 5 Marketing Myths That Are Costing You Money
Underestimated: The Small Business Advantage Podcast
Hosted by Shawna Suckow

Do you ever wonder if you're spending too much on marketing? Well, I know marketing can be a huge part of any business's budget, but it doesn't have to be. So today we're going to cover the five marketing myths that may be costing you money where it doesn't have to. So let's get started with that.

Marketing myth number one, you need a big budget. Not true these days, sometimes a thousand dollar marketing budget can be way more effective than a ten thousand dollar or even a hundred thousand dollar marketing budget. The example I always give is corporations spend millions of dollars on marketing, but their marketing is not as effective anymore than yours is. Yours can be far more effective because of the trust crisis that we find ourselves in in North America, and your customers and prospects trust real and authentic way more than they trust polished and professional and perfect. So if you're spending more money to have perfect ads and perfect videos and perfect everything, you are perhaps wasting a lot of money when you just need your iPhone and something interesting to say that means something to your customers, and we'll get to what that could be a little bit later, but that's myth number one.

Myth number two, you have to be on all the platforms because more is better. Also not true, because being consistent on one platform, maybe two, is far more important than being everywhere and having it be patchy. I know that this can cause a little anxiety because we've all been told we have to be everywhere all the time, and it feels like our competitors might be everywhere, but that is also changed today because your customers today are going to notice consistency. It is better to post once a week on one platform than to post daily on every single platform if the content is meaningless and you're just doing it just to post something. So better to have a plan and really think through what your customers are wanting and needing and what's keeping them up at night, then to just post for post-sake and be consistent for consistency sake when the meaning is just not there. So yes, consistency is important, but it is just as important as meaning to your customers. They don't want to see you scrolling by because of the old adage that you have to be in front of them nine times, or 13 times, or 37 times before they register you. If done right, they can stop the scroll and notice you on the very first try.

Let me give you an example of this. So I remember a Super Bowl ad that I talked about during 2021. So five-ish years ago during COVID, we're still in the throes of COVID, and the Super Bowl is in February of 2021, and there is a tire commercial. This is going to sound so antiquated now because we've come so far, but there's a tire commercial that is boasting about how you can order your tires from your phone and get them installed like they would come to your house and pick up your car and whenever you can do everything from your couch, and the guy on the couch is just a regular guy. He's not a model. He's in his socks, which I made a huge deal about back in 2021. He's on his couch, laying on his couch with a bowl of popcorn on his stomach, and he's got a dad bod, and he's wearing socks like his feet are showing. It's just that was corporate's attempt to be authentic and real and seem like, hey, we understand that every man, and for 2021, that was pretty good. But today, that falls flat, and corporate is still doing that. They're still trying to relate to your prospects and your customers in a way that you already can. So doing that kind of video your way, but real, and not a hired guy on a rented couch in a perfect studio, acting like that's the scene, but really talking about it, like, hey, we're on our way to pick up this guy's car. He doesn't even have to leave his couch, and we're going to tell you all about it after we pick up the car. Okay, now we're in this car, and he needs four new tires. We're going to take it back to the shop. I mean, that's the kind of thing that your customers are going to be like, oh my gosh, because you're just talking to the camera, and you're talking like you're talking to a friend. So that kind of content specifically and consistently is going to do more, and it's free, it just costs you time and your phone, and maybe a little editing, not too much, on the back end, that is worth more than a ,000 or ,000 ad. It's more effective today. So that's myth number two.

Myth number three, this goes along with myth number two. Myth number three is you have to look professional. I remember talking to an audience, well, I talked a lot in the teens, the 20 teens about how professionalism was dead. That was a little too early for the world to hear that professionalism was dead because I did get a lot of pushback, but professionalism in its truest sense is dead today when it comes to marketing because the polished, the perfect does not work as well. And that's big brands, that's their sandbox, and it's all they can do, so they keep throwing money at it, and it's the best they can do. But they can't just be real. They hire influencers to do that, that's as close as they can come. But even the influencers, they have to say, this is a paid ad, and it comes across as, I don't know if I can trust this. But you have this in space, this trust factor can be built easily, and without a lot of money, if you decide to give up the veneer of professionalism in everything you do. It doesn't mean that you have to use profanity, and it doesn't mean that you have to have a cocktail in your hand, unless your brand is profanity and cocktails, then of course you do you. But what I'm saying is let down your guard, and I know this is harder, the older you are, because as a proud Gen Xer, we were taught that professionalism was our job, and it was the only way to be. And so the older you are, the harder this is to let go, but I am telling you, watch a Gen Z person, watch a millennial person. Millennials are kind of caught between two worlds because they were the first ones to really say, no, I'm not working past five o'clock, and no, I'm not wearing pantyhose to work, screw that. I'm not going to work here if you make me do those things. And so they were the first ones to act a little less professionally, and Gen Z, unless we beat it out of them mentally by saying you have to be professional, they have it, they already have it. They know how to talk on social media like real people, they know how to just be like regular people, so we can take a lot of cues from them. But myth number three is you have to be professional. That is costing you money right now.

Myth number four, discounts attract loyal customers. I feel bad for anybody that advertises on Groupon because what they're going to get is Groupon customers and company hoppers that are just looking for the latest deal on whatever that thing is. I'm not saying it always fails, but I am saying that if you are looking to attract customers the first time through discounts, you are going to attract customers that always expect a discount from you, and know that you can offer it that cheaply, so they're going to wait until you do again. So attracting your customers based on trust and doing the right thing, integrity and being real and believable and honest, all of those things, that is going to attract your exact right customers who are like, I really like and trust this business, I'm going to give them a shot. And then, only after they are your customer, then think about discounts but not all the time, and make sure your customer knows, hey, this is our once a year sale or something like that, or it's your birthday so we're giving you this special deal. We can't do this all the time, but we're doing this right now.

Let me give you an example of this. So I shop at CVS, it's right near my house, and CVS has trained its shoppers to expect deals on everything at least once a month. So if I am going to need something, like I know if I'm going to need toothpaste, I'm not going to buy it on impulse at CVS because I'm going to pay like  a tube. So I know to wait because at least every other week or twice a month, if not weekly, they have a deal on toothpaste, and I'm going to get it for practically free. Another example, when I was younger and broker, I discovered Kohl's, which is now nationwide, but I was from Colorado and when we moved to Minnesota, I was like, what is this company? It was founded in, I believe Wisconsin. And I went in and everything was on sale. I was like, oh my gosh, I have to buy all the things now because these are, this is a huge sale. Of course, they only do this once a year and I was buying everything. And then I realized what a fool I was because the next week or two weeks later, they were having this amazing sale again. So I grew to distrust Kohl's, and not buy anything at full price, same as CVS. So don't be the discount brand unless that is your brand and you are competing on the lowest price. But unless you can compete head to head with Amazon or Walmart or the lowest price companies out there, unless you truly can compete with them because you have something really original and people can only get it from you -- if that is your strategy and it works for you, no need to change it. No need to change any of these things I'm talking about if they work for you. But I'm saying, give it some serious thought because you may be leaking money in places that you don't have to. So that is myth number four: discount prices are going to build loyal customers. Not at the beginning.

And myth number five is that you need a big agency or even a small agency. You need an agency to do your marketing. Now if you've got a company, when I talk about small business, in this instance I'm talking to businesses that are truly small, solopreneurs, mom and pops, micro companies with 10 or fewer employees, even 20 or fewer -- you don't need an agency and you may be feeling, ooh, around that time, you know, I probably should start to outsource this. Well, instead of outsourcing it to an agency where you are going to pay thousands of dollars a month for them to automate and throw in a little creativity, outsource it to AI. If you are not comfortable personally using AI, find someone who is and pay them far less than you would pay an agency to figure out the AI thing for you. Because then it is easily automated. They can set it up. This is really only a temporary hire that you need to have because once it's set up, it is practically set it and forget it. And this is something that will save you so much money in the long run. Myth number five, you need an agency. You do not, you just need processes that can be automated -- and creativity can be automated today. Of course, it takes an investment up front where you need to train it in your business, your voice, your brand, your goals, your exact right customer. But again, set it one time and then you only need to update it if you change your model, your exact right customer, or have something specific that you want to change about your marketing. But your marketing can be automated in such a way where once a month, you get asked by AI, okay, what's changed, is there anything specific you want me to focus on this month. And AI can even create the posts, schedule the things -- it's so good now it can even edit video. So I'm not saying edit into a polished, super professional looking video, I'm saying cut out the white space, or the place where you're coughing, or whatever. Or you're in traffic recording a video and you scream and holler at somebody and yell something, maybe you don't want in the video. I say keep it in for full authenticity if that's your brand. But hey, again, you know your brand better than anybody.

So those are the five marketing myths that it's time to really reconsider because they may be costing you thousands of dollars that you can repurpose into something far more important. And we know that we are in recession territory, we are in stagflation territory. It is something that is absolutely on the horizon and depending on when you're listening to this, may already be happening. So whether you're trying to save money to be able to help your customers afford your products or services right now, or whether you're wanting to cut spend in this area so you can invest more in another area -- look at how you're overpaying and really consider your comfort level and what you can maybe reach beyond to be able to really cut some things and do some things a little differently. Thanks for listening.