It’s hard work running a small business. The chances are good that you will make hundreds of mistakes on your first year alone. Some of them you’ll recover from; others you might not. Unfortunately, marketing mistakes are not always easy to recover from, but if it happens to you – and it probably will! – don’t worry too much because you are not alone.

Here are five marketing mistakes other entrepreneurs have made, so learn from their mistakes and use their experiences to improve your small business.

Quitting is for Wimps

Failure is commonplace in both business and marketing, but it is how you deal with failure that sets you apart from the competition. As Lance Armstrong once said, “Pain is temporary. Quitting is forever.” OK, so we probably shouldn’t use Lance as a role model, but what he said is 100% true. If you let disappointment drag you down, you are never going to succeed. Instead, stiffen your resolve and keep on going. Sooner or later your marketing strategies will bear fruit.

Social Media is Vital

Too many businesses fail to recognise the value in social media marketing. They dismiss the idea as a “gimmick” or stick to their existing tried and tested methods. This is a huge mistake. Yes, it is time consuming setting up social media accounts and keeping up with the online conversations, but if you snooze, you lose.

Small businesses have to try even harder to make their voice heard, so instead of going at social media marketing half-heartedly or giving up within a month, persevere and focus your effort on one social media website. Eventually you will discover that social media marketing is a cost effective and efficient way of promoting your brand, products and services.

Stick with What You Know and Outsource the Rest

Marketing is a specialised skill and if your skills lie elsewhere, it is often more cost effective to outsource your marketing strategy to a third party. This is especially true for established small businesses that have yet to give online marketing a go. You might have cornered the market in cupcakes or custom paint jobs, but if you don’t know the difference between Twitter and Instagram, online marketing is going to be a steep learning curve. So if you don’t have a clue, outsource it to someone who does.

Past Success Does Not Guarantee Future Results

Just because a previous marketing event or strategy was a huge success, don’t assume that second time around you will see the same results. Marketing is a continually evolving field of play and the goal posts are always moving. Never let your guard down and make sure you do your research before you give a tested strategy a second outing.

Marketing at its best needs to be creative, but metrics still count. Always analyse the data to see what works (and what doesn’t) because the figures never lie. Rather they give you a clear indication of whether your marketing campaign is a success – or whether you need to start again from scratch.