The biggest marketing mistake I still make as a professional inbound marketer

😶 I make mistakes.

We ALL make mistakes.

But this one just keeps holding on - grabbing me at the backs of my feet and pulling me under from time to time.

It's the biggest marketing mistake I make and have made for a long time.

It's the biggest marketing mistake I see my clients make, my entrepreneur friends make...

So what is this HUGE marketing mistake we all fall prey to?

OVERCOMPLICATING THINGS

We make it harder than it needs to be.

We learn for hours and hours and try to stay up on all the latest trends and we research and we flex our marketing plans and we try to build huge elaborate funnels but it does NOT need to be that hard!

Why we overcomplicate our marketing efforts

Marketing has to be hard, right?

People learn for YEARS to be expert marketers so how could it just be EASY?

These kinds of questions limit your beliefs about marketing and your ability to effectively market your own business. And they often lead to overcomplicating your marketing efforts.

Yes, marketers learn for YEARS about marketing and the ins and outs of the industry are complicated BUT you don't need to know everything.

You only need to know what works for YOUR business - which is why a lot of entrepreneurs will work with a marketing coach (like me) to set up their marketing strategy and learn how to maintain it.

As coaches and educators, we've already done the heavy lifting. We've spent the thousands of hours learning about online marketing so that you don't have to. We can provide you with simple, easy-to-implement strategies that you can maintain ease.

But, yes, even I will overcomplicate things in my own marketing from time to time.

I want to see better results. Faster results. I want to experiment. And these are all great things! And sometimes a little complication is necessary to learn something new through experimentation.

BUT I also have a tendency to want to try too many things at once. To re-invent the wheel. Hands up if you're like me 🤚🤚🤚

Keep reading for me top tips on RE-simplifying your marketing strategy when it gets out of control and starts to overwhelm you.

Why simple marketing strategies are important

A lot of these things should go without saying, but let's run a refresher for those of us who've gotten ourselves so deep into the marketing rabbit hole that we just aren't thinking clearly.

How overcomplicating your marketing HURTS your business:

• You're more likely to get overwhelmed

• You might give up on your marketing altogether

• You lose time you could be spending on other things

• If something breaks in your funnel it's harder to find where the problem is

• It might even confuse your leads as they move through the funnel

Simple marketing strategies are good for your small business because:

• They are easy to set up

• They take little time and effort to get into play

• They take little time and effort to maintain

• They don't require extensive, complicated tracking systems

• They don't require expensive monthly CRM (customer relationship management) services

And YES this also applies to your seasonal sales and promotions!

How to simplify your marketing approach

Alright, so you know that overcomplicating things is a problem but how do you actually keep yourself on track and STOP 🛑 yourself from overcomplicating things in the future?

• Have an accountability partner to keep you on track (a mentor or coach is great for this, but so is a business partner or community member)

• If you are about to start a new marketing effort, create reminders for yourself to make sure you're on track and not spiraling into the rabbit hole.

• Ask yourself, is there an EASIER way to set this up? Are there steps I can remove? Does my funnel work like a FUNNEL instead of spider web?

• Keep a visual reminder of how an inbound marketing funnel SHOULD look and always work from that.

• Create the PERFECT freebie opt-in for your funnel.

Stop stressing about where to start

🎉 Online Marketing Kickstart Checklist 🎉

The exact 10 steps I take with every single client.

Your first, most crucial 10 steps to setting up long-term online marketing strategies that convert leads on auto-pilot.

All while creating an excellent customer experience.