StartupTalky

Tag: mistakes

  • Common Mistakes to Avoid while Creating Advertising Campaigns (With Examples)

    Ad Campaigns are a great way to communicate with your consumers and spread a positive message about your brand. But not all ad campaigns are successful you need to make sure you convey the right message. If you are planning to create an ad campaign here are few mistakes you should avoid.

    An ad campaign can do wonders if the idea is well executed.

    What is an Ad Campaign?
    Why are Ad Campaigns created?
    Mistakes to avoid while creating an Ad Campaign
    Example of Failed Ad Campaigns
    FAQ

    What is an Ad Campaign?

    An Ad Campaign is generally made to send across a message revolving around a constant theme. These campaigns have a specified duration following questions like:

    • When will it air? And for how long?
    • Is it supposed to be a television commercial?

    The campaigns are tweaked a little accordingly to fit the mediums that are being used. These campaigns are not limited to only a single medium. Mediums like social media, hoardings, newspapers, emails, etc. Can be used, a campaign could also be a series.

    Why are Ad Campaigns created?

    • To inform the audience about a new/existing product or a brand in the market.
    • To stay connected to the audience.
    • To communicate a message or bring awareness among the consumers about a certain thing.

    The mediums are chosen based on the objective and the message that a brand is trying to communicate. For example, your brand might have completed 75 years since it was established. So, to celebrate/inform the consumers about it, you create a campaign that delivers the message.

    Mistakes Done By Entrepreneurs Which New Entrepreneurs Need To Avoid
    There are some common and avoidable start-up mistakes which entrepreneurs do. So, let us see the tips on business mistakes to avoid or startup mistakes to avoid.
    StartupTalkyYash Gupta

    Mistakes to avoid while creating an Ad Campaign

    Stick to the Time

    Media scheduling is important, but along with considering your current theme and the current situation. As the tweets came from Zomato on Twitter, that clarified that the ad campaign that was made back six months ago is bizarre.


    Make the Plan Flexible

    Zomato did not consider for once that once its TVC (television commercial) series would be out, how would people react? All the damage could have been avoided if simply they had a backup plan or would have bent their idea around something else.

    Considering the audience was already engaged in a conversation around the treatment of the delivery workers of Zomato and other food delivery apps on various social media platforms.

    Encoding and Decoding of the message

    We often forget this, especially when we are making ad campaigns these days. Your brand needs to be super careful. Back in the days when ad campaigns were created, people would maybe talk about it. But now with social media platforms, the audience has the power to give feedback. Communication is a two-way process.

    While there are anonymous handles emerging on social media. Not wanting to reveal their identity but to bring attention to the issue of long work hours and low wages. Bringing it to the notice of how the food delivery staff is being treated.

    Be your own critic, revaluate, learn, and do better

    You should consider a small test marketing exercise before releasing your ad campaigns. Evaluate the campaign with your team, gather data, and analyze it.

    Another part of it came when people also pointed out the money that might have gone into the creation of the Ad campaign. Rather than addressing the real problem here and looking for a solution.

    Study the behavior of your audience:

    • How did they take it?
    • Was the message clear?
    • Does the campaign work?
    • Do you need some changes?
    • Is research needed?
    • Can you improve?
    • Is there more that you can do?
    • Is there space to grow?

    See if it could be misinterpreted? Or could send out a wrong message to the audience.

    Remember, marketing plans should always be flexible as the only constant in society is change. One is dealing with human emotions, competing with other markets, trying to stay on top, and when so much is happening mistakes are often made.

    Example of Failed Ad Campaigns

    Zomato’s ‘Har Customer Hai Star’ recent Ad Campaign

    Recently, Zomato’s Ad campaign series with stars like Hrithik Roshan and Katrina Kaif were aired and have received backlash from the masses on social media. The campaign ‘Har Customer Hai Star’ glorifies the delivery boys. With the situation being the delivery personnel delivering his order despite the bad weather in case of Hrithik Roshan. Hrithik addresses him as jadoo and requests for a selfie saying “Ek selfie to banti hai”

    But the personnel leaves anyway, happily without taking the selfie, in the rain, where we later discover the notification that he receives is for another order. With the voice-over following the lines:

    “Hrithik Roshan ho ya aap, apne liye har customer hai star”

    In the case of Katrina Kaif, when the delivery staff gets her the parcel, she asks him to wait while she brings him a piece of her birthday cake. There is the sound of a bell with the notification of another food order that he has to deliver. And the delivery guy goes on outing his duty first, without the cake.

    The one mistake that Zomato made was the mistake of not keeping up with the opinion of the public. And was blamed for diverting the conversation that was going on around social media.

    Remember when Facebook’s rating dropped from 4.0 to 2.6?

    Facebook rating dropped to 2.4
    Facebook rating dropped to 2.4

    This happened on Play Store and it happened quickly as Facebook, the famous social media app, kept flagging and deleting posts, censoring Palestinian accounts who were protesting Israeli military. Its rating also went down on the Apple Store with thousands of one-stars.

    Common mistakes that Startup Founders make in their business
    Numerous startup founders fail to manage it after the seeding step, as they had utilized their all energy in getting the funding. Let us see the complete story on the topic- Common mistakes that Startup Founders make in their business.
    StartupTalkyYash Gupta

    Here is a quick revision of what you can do:

    • Keep your audience in mind while creating an ad campaign.
    • Remember, you can always do better.
    • Make a clear-cut message when thinking. Ask: what is it that you want to deliver?  
    • Test marketing helps.
    • Do your research. Plan and schedule the campaign based on what is going around right now?
    • The key message should not be miscommunicated.
    • Remote communication is a two-way process.
    • Be sensitive.

    Conclusion

    We are living in the age of the 21st century. People on social media are well informed. The youth today talk about politics, gender equality, feminism, revolution, and care about issues that matter to them. Movements are made in a blink to make sure that change is made for good.

    FAQ

    What should be avoided when creating a marketing campaign?

    Make sure your message is clearly conveyed, Be your own critic and do a test run before releasing your ad.

    What are some marketing mistakes?

    Making assumptions, Ignoring customer complaints, Faking popularity, and Ignoring the emotional drivers of choice are some of the common marketing mistakes.

    What is the impact of advertising?

    An ad campaign can create a positive impact on consumers mind that in turn can influence future behavior.

  • Got Funded? Here Are Some Common Mistakes Seed Funded Startup Do

    5 Common and Avoidable Startup Mistakes

    First thought that comes in an entrepreneur’s mind is to get funds for his startup. The startup founders live in the biggest myth of life that, once they have funds for the business, their startup will automatically run. However, due to common mistakes seed funded startup do has led them to scum to halt. The seed-funded startup is great to kickstart a successful startup, but never assume it as a final destination, because the journey is very long after this. Launching a new startup is like a giving birth to a baby which ideally take a short span of time but the real responsibility comes after that. You need to plan the whole life of your baby and take care of all the needs. In the same way, after getting the initial investment through seed funding, planning and using it properly to boost the startup is important.

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    Numerous startup founders fail to manage it after getting seed funded, as they had utilized their all energy in getting the funding. As per a recent release of a report, it revealed the fact about the failure of new startups, which we would share with the esteemed readers right away. A common reason for the failure of the startups is they fail to deliver their promises and fails to manage their team. These are the two major reasons for the downfall of many startups. But these are not the only mistakes which startup owners do, other than this few other mistakes are present in the bucket to avoid failure which is enumerated –

    A Strict “Not To Do” List

    Hiring vs Firing.

    It’s very important to give the investors what you have promised them earlier. The selection of the team is very crucial and should be made after full clarity. As the whole performance of the business depends upon the employees that are going to work in it. So hire very carefully, so you won’t need to fire easily. Keep the following points in mind before hiring your staff:

    • Don’t hire your family members or friends in your startup. They might work at fewer rates, but they are not trained to perform the job. So never mix up business and personal relationship with each other, as this reaction might get explosive.
    • Don’t hire because a job seeker is ready to work at less rate. You need an experienced person to run the startup, as your business is already new, so don’t add a new equation to it. Hire someone with knowledge of market strategy and a person who is, as passionate as you about the idea of the startup.
    • Avoid outsourcing the employees. There are several companies present in the market, which outsource their staff and they are running very successfully. However, for new startups, it might cross the budget and pile up the employment cost.
    • Don’t hire only because a person has worked for Google, Apple or some other big tech company. You should not judge them on the basis of their previous company but you should assess them as per your startup requirement. An employee should be suitable to work in a startup culture.

    Keep your book’s Straight

    To utilize the money properly and keeping it from wastage, make the required documents and accounting records perfectly. The two major books that every business should be made are:

    • The bookkeeping is the major part of a successful business. You need to record all the expenses and incomes accounts to tally the growth of the business. You need to record all the petty and big cash expenses daily. From spending a dollar on coffee to the purchase of any new equipment all should be written in the accounts properly. To get the fair picture of your business, it’s highly important to make your journal daily. It’s good to get it checked by a Chartered Accountant from time to time.
    • The legal documents are required to make daily contracts or bindings. Startup owners normally spend thousands on hiring lawyers to do legal work, which they can easily do themselves. All the legal wording is available online and you know the procedure also, so why waste money on hiring an expensive lawyer, when you can do that on your own.

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    Get market Feedback & Communicate regularly

    To understand the nature of your customers and to understand the demand for your product regularly, it is very important to get feedback. Although hiding from the facts or not sharing your ideas with anyone, because of the fear that they might steal it is underestimating yourself. Your idea could be unique but one day or the other your competitor would come with the same plan. There is no worry if you share your idea because it will always get better with the feedback.

    Put curb on unwanted expenses

    You do many unwanted expenses in the daily course, which can be easily avoided or can minimized. So identify those expenses and reduce them to the bare minimum level. Few of the avoidable expenses are:

    • Don’t spend money on the locality of your office or the decor to attract customers, as they are here for the product and not to see your fancy chandelier.
    • Gifting the investors is again a bad idea because if they can fund your startup then they can even buy gifts for themselves.
    • Don’t waste time and money on conducting useless meetings, because no meeting has deliver any benefit to the startup owners and start having hurdle session with your team to motivate and get to the root of the problem.
    • Don’t hire unwanted employees like receptionist, as you are very capable to handle your own business calls and make your own coffee.
    • Go electronic and take the help of technology. For example, if you want to hire an assistant to handle your emails simply download a free Email sorting app and save an employee’s salary.

    Miscellaneous Factors

    • 90% of the startup owners don’t emphasize on the reason behind their failure. They keep chasing their aim while neglecting the reasons for failure.
    • The startup founders built their own LA LA land. All those compliments from people can be intoxicating. Feel good about them, but don’t let them get into your head. You have not made it big yet.
    • Not thinking of realistic unit economics.
    • Giving too many employee benefits like HRA, Education allowance etc. shrink your working capital funded by investors. Until and unless you own 100% stake in your startup, avoid giving unnecessary allowance.
    • If you are not planning a yearly budget for hiring & other things then you might end up landing in trouble.
    • Growing a lot of vanity metrics / Developing features that get users/engagement but may not help the business in a long run in any way to make revenues.

    Well yes, the startup owners make so many mistakes after getting seed funded. They really get crazy and spend the investor’s money rudely, but they forget the deal they need to return it at some point of time. Well, we hope that the above article has provided you with immense information to seriously manage the sum of investment and grow out of it.

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