I like to think I'm a glass half full person. So doing a list of things small businesses "do wrong" isn't my natural state, and certainly not in the Santosha ethos. That having been said... I know how overwhelming it can be to run a small business and sometimes we all need a reminder of what to prioritise. 

This is a list of marketing pitfalls I often see businesses fall into... But as always I'll do my best to explain how to make easy but powerful improvements.

#1 Not sharing enough content about your expertise and what you actually do on your website .

Woooo eeee this is a big one! 

When Ronan shared his insightful observations “you say it best, when you say nothing at all….” clearly he wasn’t talking about websites. Lots of businesses I see have designed their website like a teaser trailer... Tiny snippets of brilliance... But I'm left with so many questions! I can see the allure with this approach, you want to retain an air of mystery, or maybe it's because aesthetically you think simplicity looks better. 

I get it. 

But the problem is twofold... Firstly, you're not telling Google enough about what you do for it to confidently raise you up the rankings, and if you're not being shown, you're limiting yourself beyond belief. And secondly, you're not creating trust with your customers as they simply don't discover enough about you to form an impression.

I would urge you to think about:

•  How you display key information about who you are and what you do.

• Make sure all of your services have their own page.

• Add plenty of FAQS.

• Work on clear navigation and an easy customer journey. 

• Don’t prioritise style over substance. Clear, informative content is absolutely essential.

#2 Not talking enough about where you are located 

If you've read any of my other blogs you'll know I'm often on this soap box. If you want to reach a local audience, you HAVE to talk about where you are located on your website. It's not enough just to pop it on a contact us page or on your footer. 

Think about your keyword phrases, let’s imagine it’s "Yoga classes in The Shire." Have you got this phrase in your H1 title? Your Meta Description? Page Title? Is it clear what you offer and where it is?

And you HAVE to optimise your Google Business Profile. It doesn't take long to set this up and you only need to do an update once a week to keep it current. 

A nifty tool to help you in this area is Bright Local which will improve your local marketing reach, you can do a free trial and they have upgrade options too.

#3 Not submitting new pages to Google Search Console 

When you have new website pages, you want the Googlebot to index them as quickly as possible so it can begin to show them to customers. It takes 2 mins to add a new page to your Google search console account or even better your whole sitemap. Not only will this tell Google you have a page to index…. It will also flag any sitemap errors. 

GSC gives insights into your site's health, including why certain pages may not be indexed. 

Remember if a page isn’t indexed Google won’t serve it (you can still navigate to it directly).

It’s a simple but VERY important task.

#4 Not updating booking confirmation emails, or not optimising them

Whatever your booking system, take every opportunity you can to be personable, helpful and informative with your customers. It’s such a waste to have totally blergh boring emails, or even worse is totally outdated information such as your height of the pandemic covid protocols. This gives a rubbish impression to customers and it misses an opportunity to create a fab experience for them.

Regularly go through a test of your booking system, where can you optimise it? Is it as easy as possible? Do you have clear FAQs?

#5 Over-reliance on Instagram for all of your social media marketing

I feel like this could be a controversial one… but it’s not uncommon for businesses to tell me their entire marketing strategy is centred on Instagram. You’re missing out on so much! Instagram can be an amazing channel, I absolutely don’t deny that but there will always be a percentage of your customers who aren’t active. 

And I do sometimes think… popularity on Instagram doesn’t always translate to viable customers. As I’ve said before, hundreds of likes from yoga enthusiasts in Australia and the US isn’t going to improve the profit of my in-person yoga studio.

Embrace new platforms like Threads, it’s quieter, maybe a great opportunity to connect with customers. Don’t be afraid of social platforms like LinkedIn, if you sell retreats or corporate packages, this could be absolutely ideal for you! The message is… Instagram isn’t the only platform you should focus on.

#6 Overspending on tools and tech

You can’t build a business without any financial input. Of course this is true. And I know it’s so difficult to know what’s worth spending on and what isn’t. Some observations I’d make… if you are paying a web agency a monthly fee and you rarely ask them to make any changes, or the changes are super basic like your opening hours on a footer - this isn’t ideal. It’s better for small businesses who are tight on money to make sure they can make basic website changes themselves, so a web platform like Wix or Squarespace is a better option.

If you’re paying for email software, make sure you do your research, you could save money choosing a platform like Mailerlite over Mailchimp, it’s better and cheaper.

#7 Expecting instant results

You’ll hear me say time and time again that great marketing is about healthy habit stacking. It takes patience and consistency.

You update your Google Business Profile, it can take months to see an uplift.

To rank #1 for a key search won’t happen overnight if you aren’t running ads.

Building a fantastic email database takes time and energy.

Growing a social media of viable customers is a marathon.

These all take time. I’m sorry to say. Unless you have thousands to spend on ads… it’s all about showing up consistently.

I wish I could sell you a package that would say rocket you to millions, but that would be unethical because that’s simply not how it works.

But I do know that building strong marketing foundations is an excellent place to start!

I don’t want to end on a doom and gloom note, all of these so-called “pitfalls” (yes I realise that’s what I’ve coined them) can be remedied. We live in an age where being a fabulous yoga instructor or therapist isn’t enough if you can’t be found by customers. You have to become savvy marketers.

The good news is that there are so many tools out there now to help… or you could talk to people like me who will be happy to tell you every single little thing you’re doing wrong. I’m just joking! I always have very positive discovery calls!

Get in touch if you’d like to chat more.