The 5 Worst Marketing Mistakes You Can Make

Sometimes it's easier to tell a company what not to do in marketing. With more and more platforms and outlets than ever  before, it's confusing for brands to understand what the best use of their time and money is. Here are five marketing no-no's to live by whether you are a new brand or one that's been around for decades.

Car wraps

Unless you are a car wrapping company or an exterminator, car wraps are the worst.  Most companies that attempt to do a wrap have no understanding of how to make it look high-end or clever, which means this expensive marketing tool can actually do more damage to a brand than good. 

Bad wraps peel and bubble, and can make a brand look incredibly cheap. This is especially damaging if you have a high price point service or product offering. They do, however, work for consumer-packaged goods that are already established in the market place.

For example, a Red Bull truck is hard to miss and makes sense since it's "on brand" from a marketing perspective. But for the most part stay away from this marketing tool.

Aggressive Telemarketing

Ask yourself: Have you ever reacted positively to a cold call? Whenever I get one, I always think, "Who the heck responds to these?" But someone must, or else they wouldn't keep doing it.

Telemarketing can be a counterproductive marketing element and frankly, a real turn-off. If you are trying to make a name for yourself, you definitely don't want that name to be "Annoying."

This post was originally published for INC. Magazine, to see the remaining marketing mistakes read the rest of the article here.

Stay tuned for more from Laurel through her Inc. column 'On Brand'.