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Small businesses in New Zealand tend to make one fundamental marketing mistake. They don’t systemise and treat their marketing like a well tested and well oiled machine

They don’t have a strategy.
To them marketing is the activities that surround random placed advertising. Usually this is poorly planned, often carried out on a spur of the moment decision, or a ‘once only’ offer through their local paper or radio ad salespeople.

These businesses may or may not know who their target market is but they don’t show it in their advertising message. They don’t follow the true tested Problem+Solution+Target Market formula and therefore throw away a lot of their resources and advertising budget.

They are generally all over the place with their medium, method and message instead of being focused on one target market and one problem and one solution at a time.

They don’t know that advertising is not marketing
Yes I know, Mr. Marketing Student 101, the 4ps are Pricing, Promotion, Product and Place. However promotion is only one element of the so called 4ps marketing mix. The reason that a lot of New Zealand small businesses concentrate on the advertising and gimmickry is because it’s the ‘sexy’ side of marketing.

They don’t have a big picture view of marketing and don’t start with the basics first, i.e. they don’t look at their positioning and targeting strategies based on their product or service and ideal customers. This way they don’t let that direct their pricing, promotion, and distribution strategies.

They are not different on purpose
Many small businesses copy the same old rubbish that everyone else uses. This way they are guaranteed to get the same bad results. Even if the marketing is good for one business, it’s probably not going to be that great for their businesses. These businesses forget that they are not the same business so their goals, objectives, target audience, capabilities, etc. are not the same. Secondly – ‘me too marketing’ - does nothing to distinguish their businesses from their competitors. Why would someone buy from them if they are no different than their competitors?

Most NZ Businesses forget to give their customers compelling reasons to buy, by not demonstrating that they have something that their competitor does not. Be different on purpose. (Otherwise start the price battle!)

They are amateurs and DIYers
Small Kiwi business people are good at their craft. They are great plumbers, doctors, lawyers, store owners, beauticians, chefs, dry cleaners, accountants. Most of them don't know anything about marketing - and don't have the time or patience to learn. And that's ok. It would cost them more to learn and do it themselves than it would to pay someone competent to do it for them. I don't want to fix my own broken pipes, or operate on my own heart. I'm no good at it. But other businesses are. That's why I pay them to do it for me. However, most Kiwi Businesses insist ion doing it themselves. They don’t learn the basics of marketing and don’t start with understanding their marketplace, or find a profitable niche, or define their product or service to serve that niche.

If they did this right, they would either find themselves with no true competition or they would stand out head and shoulders above their competitors.