Like all areas of business and life there are loads of myths around that can lead you into places you do not want to be.

Marketing, especially today seems to have its share of what you should do in order to be successful and unfortunately many are just myths.

Here are 6 myths that I think you should ignore:

Set your marketing objectives without setting your sales objectives

For some reason people think that the two are not aligned and often go off and plan what they want to do with their marketing activities and not think about the sales affect.

They have to match up as your marketing objectives actually define what is required of your target market to achieve your sales objectives. So set your sales objectives first then look at your marketing objectives.

It is best to target a niche that no one else is

Okay I will call this a half myth, because you can if you absolutely know that there is demand, which in most cases unless you do solid research you can’t be sure. When marketing your products and services this is the tough way to go, because you have to do all the heavy work alone.

It is far easier to enter a market that already has competitors, not too many mind you as it means that customers are already buying similar products or services so you know there is demand.

You need to do at least 8 marketing tactics to succeed

Not sure where this came from but it is a myth as the number of tactics depends on what you want to achieve, your marketing strategy and your time and/or marketing budget. Unfortunately there is no magic number.

Always take action on customer feedback

You can listen to them and then you need to consider the implications for your brand. Sometimes customers say one thing and actually mean something else. You should not just take what feedback they give literally as it can lead to wrong marketing decisions.

You need to be an expert

I think you need expertise which comes from your skills and experience but you do not need to be an expert. It is a myth that unless you call yourself an expert you can’t succeed. Also just think how confusing it is for potential customers when confronted with 20 people all saying they are the expert in the market.

You should just focus on your own race

I have often heard that you should ignore competitors which is not true. You should not concentrate on them but the reality is they are in competition with you for customers so you do need to keep tabs on what they are doing.

Over to you and please share any other marketing myths you have heard or read about.