Little Advertising Mistakes Most Brands Make

Getting advertising right is a challenging process. All the elements have to fall into a line and really make sense for the target audience. 

But, of course, a lot of companies get this process wrong. They either lack experience or they have a senior management team that doesn’t understand what they need to do in the marketing space. 

That’s where this guide can help. It explores some of the most common mistakes teams make, along with fixes or avoidance strategies. 

Overpromising During Campaigns

Overpromising during campaigns is among the biggest issues facing many teams. If you tell your customers that you can do something but you can’t deliver, they’ll feel upset and say negative things about your brand. It’s all about managing expectations. 

The fix to this is simple: only promise what you actually offer. If you can’t deliver on your promises, don’t bother. 

Misjudging Platform Formats

Unless you’re using proper media planning tools, you may also misjudge platform formats. For example, YouTube videos don’t usually translate well to posts on X. 

The way to fix this is to develop a process for adapting content to each platform’s requirements. This should be something you adopt as a standard approach, and not something that you apply on the fly. Pick your platforms and stick with them, creating master content on one and then repurposing it for the rest. 

Lack Of Ad Testing

It might seem like a small thing, but lack of ad testing can also seriously harm your marketing efforts. If you don’t trial ads before you put them out there, it can get you into a lot of trouble. Just look at what happened when Pepsi tried to use Kendall Jenner in 2017 to promote some of its lines. 

To fix this issue, run ads in front of a wide test audience first, especially if you’re appealing to the mass market. Then, wait to see if you get any comments. Ideally, the ad shouldn’t cause offense or make specific members of your niche angry. 

Influencer Partnerships That Don’t Work

Working with the wrong influencers is another common brand mistake, especially these days. Influencer partnerships that don’t work are obvious and can backfire quite spectacularly under the wrong conditions. 

Therefore, spend as much time as possible vetting influencers and partners to check that they align with you. Also, make sure that working with them makes sense for your audience and what your brand wants to achieve. 

Poor Timing And Context

You might also run into the problem of misjudged timing when it comes to marketing. Sometimes concepts work well, but other times, you can miss the boat. 

For example, don’t do what Airbnb did in 2017 with its “Floating World” campaign and launch it during the middle of an extreme hurricane season. Many platform users saw it as tone deaf and as though the platform had simply rolled it out because they had to. 

Fix this problem by monitoring current events and comparing them to your marketing strategy. If you notice an issue, pull the ad and try something new.