In the vein of Jeff Foxworthy’s “You might be a redneck,” – you might be a Business owner who hates marketing (Bowhm). Ok, maybe I’m being a bit extreme and you’re really a business leader who is uncomfortable with marketing (bowiuwm), but that acronym doesn’t roll off the tongue like Bowhm does (pronounced boyeem).

If you are cold, calculated and don’t have an empathetic bone in your body, you might be a Bowhm…

You're Fired! credit
You’re Fired! credit

If you haven’t already, get a person with empathic abilities on board like Counselor Troi from Star Trek: The Next Generation. When you understand how your ideal prospect feels while using your website, it will help you craft your message so that it aligns with them and what they are trying to do; otherwise, they won’t feel warm, welcome and understood.

A fresh set of eyes, trained in web copywriting and design, can help you to interpret your web analytics information, and be a valuable source of recommendations.

Often these conversion optimization recommendations involve testing to identify which solution gets the highest conversion rate. Testing, in effect, lets your web visitors tell you what content will increase your conversions.

I had a person on my staff with empathic ability. He would put himself in the mindset of feeling the pain of the prospect and go through our client’s website in search for the remedy. In the process he would document all of the problems and confusion he felt along the way. We saw conversion rates increase by 80% on average when clients implemented our recommendations.

So, if you are cold, calculated and don’t have an empathetic bone in your body, you might be a Bowhm – and your prospects won’t care how smart you are. If this is you, consider bringing someone in who feels what prospects feel and knows how to engage them with content.

If you are too “safe” or resistant to try something that may entertain your prospect, you might be a Bowhm…

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Most businesses understand the value of creative in their marketing – appealing look and feel of the website, images that tell a story, video to conveniently get the details – but some businesses seem to ignore this side of online marketing. Maybe it’s because the creative side is not as easily accounted for, but who knows why…

Looking back at some of my clients who got the creative right for their business and audience:

  • They get a favorable first impression from most.
  • People find it easy to trust them.
  • They tend to have lower than average bounce rates.
  • They receive comments periodically about how great their website looks.
  • They are not soon forgotten.

So, if you are resistant to try something that may entertain your prospect, you might be a Bowhm – and people will have to be patient to like you. If this is you, consider engaging a web designer and give them some freedom to show off a little, or consider adding some humorous content to your blog.

If you think a great offer is all your prospect needs to buy, you might be a Bowhm…

People (prospects) go through a process before making a purchase decision and to the degree that your content guides them through each stage of their buying process, the probability is much greater that they will make that purchase with your business rather than a competitor.

Let’s assume you know a lot about your ideal prospect and have created a great offer for them that actually converts on occasion. To a prospect the offer alone does not help them make an informed decision and it probably doesn’t create enough interest to get their attention either. Depending on your product or service, you may need to pre-qualify the prospect before allowing them to see your real offer.

One of the best illustrations of this I’ve seen was done by TheGrok years ago: The Relevance of Satisfaction. It illustrates the basics of AIDA – Attention, Interest, Desire, Action and satisfaction – a brilliant quick read.

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Engaging content is where things start, not contact us. So, if you think a great offer is all your prospect needs to buy, you might be a Bowhm – and a large percentage of your traffic is not being cultivated to produce future buyers. If this is you, consider adding content that covers every area of the content funnel.

If you started your business just to make a buck, you might be a Bowhm…

An engineer who learned that I was an engineer and then became an online marketer asked, “What took you to the dark side?” Many people see marketing as manipulative or just hocking products to unsuspecting buyers, but after discussing things more, my friend revised his statement and said, “but with an engineering background, you can sort out the BS.”

Yes, it’s easy to forget that people on the Web today have a good “BS detector” and businesses are caught by it because their focus is in the wrong place.

Consider this quote from one famous entrepreneur, Richard Branson:

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Here’s how some successful businesses get started:

  • “I experienced first hand a common problem and decided to solve that problem in a much better way than has ever been provided before.”
  • “People chase investors, but your best investor is your first real customer. And your customers are also your best salesmen.”
  • Mark Cuban: “It’s not so much about having a killer idea as it is about being completely prepared to take a product or service to market.”

So, if you started your business just to make a buck, you might be a Bowhm – and a large percentage of those who see your marketing are turned off by it. If this is you, consider shifting your focus to legitimately communicate your credibility online.

Flaws are a bit deeper than mistakes and you may not realize you have one of these. My pastor says some flaws are like bad breathe, you may not know when you have it but people around you do.

I could go on with more flaws, but if you find it challenging to get comfortable with online marketing, you aren’t alone. Many business people have recognized their limitations with marketing, got help and kinda like it now because they dealt with their flaws and are making better decisions.

Me? I’m an online marketer who likes getting into the details of a business to ensure that the transition from flawed to authentic online marketing goes smoothly.


Tom Shivers
Tom Shivers

I'm a ecommerce SEO consultant and President of Capture Commerce. I've managed digital marketing campaigns for scores of clients since 2000 and found that every business is unique with its own challenges and opportunities. When I see that I have contributed to the success of a business by helping them grow, it makes me feel awesome! That’s the coolest thing and I’m so thankful for the opportunity to do this.

    4 replies to "4 Flaws Of Business People Who Hate Marketing"

    • Ryan Biddulph

      Good note on #1 Tom! To be a happy and successful marketer love people on some level 😉 Thanks!

    • Stephen Lahey

      If you have an intimate understanding of prospect psychology, then marketing is just addressing their fears and desires within a structure that makes it easy for them to say yes to taking each step forward toward becoming a customer. Nothing negative about marketing.

    • Tom Shivers

      Well said Stephen.

    • Lawrence Mak

      It is not quite easy for you to earn money when you just step into the internet marketing. You will have to keep on learning while you spending your time and effort to promote your online business.

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