Market presence makes or breaks your brand—but is it getting the attention it deserves? I’ll give you a minute to think about it…
…how’s it coming?
Oh, you need more time?
…if I may…
I think I know the answer based on what I’ve seen more times than I can count in the marketing wild.
Your market presence is likely not getting the attention it deserves. Which is a shame, because it’s…
- How customers perceive you.
- How you stand out from the competition.
- How you ultimately drive business growth.
Organizations with the best intentions will think they’re taking all the right steps with their marketing efforts and moving steadily toward establishing the market presence they need. But what they’re doing without realizing it is taking missteps that are weakening their brand’s visibility and credibility.
Obviously, none of us want to work tirelessly every day to grow the brand and the business and then find out we’re doing more harm than good. I mean: Cue the existential crisis, right?
To help you figure out whether or not you’re accidentally sabotaging your market presence, here are common marketing blunders we’ve helped many organizations fix.
1. Overplanning and Delaying Action
You’re on a brave quest to perfect your marketing strategy. You’ve lost track of how many hours you’ve spent brainstorming, revising, and refining it. Now, you’re stuck in a terrible loop of inaction. It’s killing your marketing momentum and your enthusiasm.
A well-thought-out plan is important, but marketing is meant to be iterative.
You need to get out there—test your ideas, see what resonates, and adjust as you go. The longer you wait for everything to be perfect, the more opportunities you miss to engage your audience and build market traction.
Try small experiments first to see what sticks with your strategy. If resource constraints are stalling your strategy’s execution, it might be time to bring in extra team members or outside experts to turn your ambitious marketing plan into action.
2. Focusing on Tactics Without Strategy
Then there’s the flipside to #1…too much action, not enough thoughtfulness. Tactics without strategy will lead to directionless marketing efforts, but this can take a while to come to light.
You and your team will be super busy in a whirlwind of marketing activities. You’ll feel good about what you’re doing day-to-day and believe you’re making progress. But, your marketing won’t gain traction if the strategy is not in sync with the overall business goals.
A strong market presence goes hand in hand with a cohesive marketing strategy. Every piece of content, every campaign, and every marketing initiative should work in harmony toward that common business goal—whether that’s increasing leads or improving customer retention.
3. Pumping Out Low-Quality Content
Creating content for the sake of creating content will get you nowhere fast. Unfortunately, a lot of organizations fall into this bad “checking the box” habit, pumping out AI-generated content, DIY videos, and Canva graphics.
Low-quality content weakens your brand’s credibility because it looks like you’re just going through the motions. It sends the last message you want to send—that you’re not invested in your audience. They will respond by ignoring your organization, and your market presence will suffer.
Don’t bite off more than you can chew. Scale back and focus on producing fewer but higher-quality content. Continually deliver value to your audience by creating great content that reflects your brand’s unique perspective on their unique challenges.
4. Overextending Across Too Many Channels
When thinking about market presence, increased brand visibility automatically comes to mind. It’s tempting to be everywhere all the time—more channels equals more visibility, right? Not necessarily.
Trying to be everywhere spreads your resources thin and waters down your message. You’ll fall into the #3 trap we just discussed, spreading mediocre content on every platform and failing to make an impact anywhere.
Your target audience doesn’t hang out everywhere, so your organization doesn’t need to overextend itself. Do some audience research to learn where they spend the majority of their time, then double down on marketing investments for those key channels.
5. Clinging to Outdated Strategies
Sticking to your guns with outdated content strategies will seriously undermine your market presence. There are a couple of big reasons you need to update your approach to stay relevant and competitive.
- Platforms like Google and LinkedIn have changed. These platforms used to be more generous with sending referral traffic to your website but now they prefer to keep it all to themselves.
- People’s behaviors have changed too. The majority are not clicking as much as they used to and instead prefer to consume information within their preferred platforms and channels.
These changes have spawned new methodologies like zero-click content. Rather than making your audience jump through hoops (always click, click, click!), provide instantly valuable content at their platform or channel of choice. Video is one of the best ways to start implementing a zero-click strategy.
6. Steering Clear of Video Marketing
Still relying exclusively on written blogs and case studies? You’re missing out on one of the most powerful engagement tools available…video.
You might be steering clear of video because it’s costlier and more complex to produce than written content. Know that it’s also the content format with the highest engagement and ROI, so it’s an investment worth making.
Video engages audiences in ways that text alone simply can’t. From short-form videos that stand out on social media to long-form tutorials and podcasts that perform well on YouTube, video is a must-have for deepening audience connections and strengthening your market presence.
7. Lacking Understanding of Your UVP and POV
Your brand’s unique value proposition (UVP) and point of view (POV) are everything when you’re duking it out in a crowded marketplace. If you aren’t clear on this messaging, then your audience won’t clearly understand what makes your organization so amazing.
- Why should a buyer choose your solution over another? Your UVP should answer that.
- Why should a buyer choose your team over another? Your POV should answer that.
Clarity and consistency are the name of the game in market presence. Every piece of content you create—whether it’s your website, social media, or email campaigns—should reinforce your brand’s UVP and POV.
By keeping this message consistent across every touchpoint, you’ll continually build your perceived value with your audience. This alone is huge for building trust because your audience always knows what you stand for and what you bring to the table.
8. Keeping Your Team’s Expertise Behind the Scenes
Speaking of building trust, this last one is major for establishing a market presence: Shine a big ol’ spotlight on your team’s expertise.
You’ve got brilliant people in-house—why keep their expertise hidden behind the curtain? Let them take center stage in your marketing efforts and dramatically improve your brand’s credibility.
One of our clients totally gets this concept.
We work with their sales director and customer success lead, giving us direct access to two people who are very in tune with the organization because they are in key customer-facing roles. Together, we’re establishing them as thought leaders in their space and creating content their audience truly cares about.
The alternative, and what a lot of organizations do, is create content in silos. Don’t do this. Collaborate with your internal experts. And, if you’re working with outside experts, make sure these two expert parties team up.
Market Presence Is a Reflection of Who You Are as a Brand
I hope you’re more aware of some missteps you might have taken while building your market presence. But, this isn’t just a matter of trying to avoid mistakes. It’s about seeing the right strategies through consistently.
Your market presence serves as a mirror, reflecting who you are as a brand. Focus on clear messaging, high-quality content, and consistent action, and you’ll start to see the momentum build with both your market presence and business growth.
