Many of these stories have been repeated and passed on by well-meaning but poorly informed individuals who unwittingly clog the marketplace with misguided information and myth. Consequently, many people adopt these erroneous marketing beliefs without checking the facts and then they wonder why they aren't reaching their business goals.
We're going to expose five of these marketing myths and then clarify them so that they no longer hamper you, but save you time, money, effort, and get you moving closer to your objectives.
Myth #1 – Launch your website and you've got it made.
This belief echoes the build-it-and-they-will-come rationale that seems to work in baseball movies. It implies that people will magically beat a digital path to your site as soon as it is launched, and eagerly fill up their shopping carts with your products, making you rich overnight.
Sorry to burst your bubble on this one, but the real work starts when you launch your site. You should have a marketing strategy in place that's designed to achieve specific benchmarks within a certain time frame. And all this should be part of a larger, longterm plan to grow and sustain your business.
Myth #2 – More traffic automatically means more sales.
There is no dependable correlation between generic traffic and the number of sales you can expect. Sure, you could play the numbers game and rely on the law of averages for sporadic sales, but you might starve between purchases because not any traffic will do.
First, you must qualify the traffic according to the specific profile of your target prospect. Next, your website copy must be capable of converting visitors to customers at the highest possible ratio. Only when these two elements are working together seamlessly can you truly shift this statement from myth to fact.
Myth #3 – It's expensive to promote a Web business.
If this is your experience it means you are missing or misusing the tools, marketing models and systems that can yield cost effective results. In fact, it is much cheaper to promote an online business than a traditional brick and mortar enterprise.
The sensible approach is to test several advertising and promotional tactics and then select those that deliver the biggest bang for your buck. You should automate and outsource redundant tasks whenever possible. This will give you more time to focus on income-producing activities.
Myth #4 – A first page listing in the search results guarantees success.
Nothing is ever written in stone. Search engines use different sets of criteria to rank web pages and decide their placement in the results. But every now and then they revise the criteria, causing widespread changes in the results. Your highly visible page one placement today could be history tomorrow.
Pinning your hopes on organic search results is like putting all your eggs into one basket. That's never a smart idea. The best way to guarantee online success is to spread your options among as many different forms of promotions as possible. Variety is the spice of life, and the surest way to internet wealth.
Myth #5 – I've got a really cool product, so people will love it.
It makes no sense to market something that you like but no one else cares about, so let go of the emotional attachment and give people what they want. Find a product that is in demand and that offers useful solutions. Your product only becomes "cool" after buyers are satisfied with it.
So, there you have it, an adjusted perspective on five marketing myths. Consider these insights when you launch your next marketing campaign, and steer your business to new levels of success.
About the Author - Hermas Haynes is founder of the popular online resource eBizInfoCenter.com where you can find many more useful marketing articles and tools to help you advance your Web business.