1. They try to do everything themselves.

We’ve all been there. We’ve launched a new product and we’re over-the-moon thrilled about it. We’ve worked hard on the launch and we’re confident that this is going to be a great success. We want to roll out the red carpet for our guests. We want to make sure that everyone knows about our amazing new product and, most importantly, we want to get the word out there about our company, our brand, and our products.

We rush into action, excited about the opportunity to spread the news about our fabulous new product. We contact bloggers and journalists to get the word out; we set up a media list, we compose press releases, and we even think about creating some flashy online banners to go along with our brand new website.

Then, almost as soon as we’ve launched our product and started getting some great reviews, we realize that we’ve made a huge mistake. A few of our customers have complained about one thing or another, so we decide to investigate the matter.

After discovering the issue, we rush to solve it. We contact the manufacturer and they deliver a new product that promises to fix the problem. We test this new product out and, once again, everything goes smoothly for a while. But, after a few more complaints from our customers, we realize that this new, improved product doesn’t address the issue completely. So, we go back to the drawing board and we come up with a new solution. This time, we’ve done our homework and we know exactly what we’re looking for. But, once again, while creating this new product, we make the same mistake. Our customer feedback seems to indicate that this new product has the same issue that the previous one did, just at an improved level. We run around in circles, trying to find a solution while not making the same mistake twice. Sometimes it’s not until we’ve gone through this cycle several times that we finally find something that works perfectly.

2. They don’t allocate proper resources.

Our second mistake is similar to the first one. Once we’ve launched our product and started getting some great feedback, we realize that we’ve underestimated how much work is going to go into promoting it. We’re thrilled about our innovative new product and we want to make sure that everyone knows about it. But, we’ve also rushed into action and we haven’t given our employees the proper training to handle the additional work involved in getting the word out about our product. So, even though we’ve gotten some great reviews, we haven’t seen the likes of our product on social media, and people aren’t talking about our company, our brand, and our products online, as much as we’d like them to.

3. They don’t look at metrics.

Our third mistake is similar to the first two. Once we’ve gotten all of that groundwork in place and we’ve started seeing some great results from our viral marketing campaign, we decide to put more money into it. So, we upgrade our advertising and we increase our spendings. We’ve seen this strategy work for other brands and we want to try it, too. But, even though we’ve seen some great results from our efforts, we don’t stop to think about whether or not this is the right course of action. We just keep pumping money into online marketing, assuming that this is the way things are supposed to go.

4. They don’t have a long-term vision.

While we’re busy focusing on the now, the here, and the near future, we’d be doing ourselves a favor if we stopped to look into the past. Our fourth mistake is similar to the second one. Once we’ve gotten our footing and we’ve proven that our digital marketing strategy is working, we decide to double down. We have a vision in mind for our product and we know that we can take this product and turn it into something great. But, while we’re busy executing on our short-term goals, we haven’t taken the time to look into the long-term implications of our strategy.

5. They think social media is enough.

Our fifth and final mistake is similar to the first four. While we’re seeing great results from our efforts in digital marketing, we decide that this is enough. We’re confident that our product is going to be great and we want to keep promoting it online. As a result, we set up social media accounts for our product and we start posting on them, regularly. But, even though we’re keeping up with the times, technologically speaking, we make the mistake of thinking that this is all we need. Even though we’ve seen great results from our social media campaign, we haven’t broadened our strategy, to include things, such as email marketing and mobile marketing.

Don’t Be These 6 Smart People

Doing business in today’s world means constantly evolving with the times. Just because traditional marketing methods aren’t as effective as they used to be, doesn’t mean that they aren’t effective. In today’s world, marketing can look like a whole lot of different things, to a lot of different people. But, if you follow these six mistakes, you’ll ensure that you’re doing everything right and you’re making the right choices for your company.