Many marketers, traditional or otherwise, would agree that the profession could be demanding. With so many things that need to be juggled all at the same time, even the most lenient and understanding marketer could lose it all and snap. Unfortunately, when a marketer does this, he engages in a strikingly counterproductive behavior.

Actually, the behavior is understandable. It’s something most marketers succumb to – the unmistakable urge to slip into behavioral patterns that are less than optimal. The important thing for marketers to do is make themselves aware of these slip-ups and pitfalls so they can move forward and start doing their jobs better and more effectively.

Breaking the Bad Habits

Indeed, these habits lead to a downward spiral, and if left unchecked, could spell the demise of a business. Ideally, marketers would want to break these from the get-go. However, there are times when identifying these habits is difficult, too. So here’s a list of some bad habits that every marketer should drop, in no particular order:

1. Complacency, or in more blatant speak, smugness

Many marketers, especially those who have always been successful in their endeavors, consider themselves resistant to change. Hence, they shun even the slightest possibility of new ideas. Some marketers have the notion that trying new methods, strategies, and approaches will have little to no effect on their marketing efforts. Why is that? Because they believe their tried and tested methods are the best. Nevertheless, being complacent may be to the detriment of the business, as it can stand in the way of development.

2. Flying blind

If you’re a marketer, you’re probably guilty of this bad habit, too, although you may refer to it as “slipping on whirlwind mode”. This habit involves jumping from task to another without regard for strategy. Many marketers make the mistake of focusing on individual tasks; thus, they lose the ability to determine which among those are the most important and which ones need more attention. They fly from task to task and even end up missing deadlines. This happens because they failed to realize that all individual tasks are linked together to create a bigger picture. If they came in looking at the bigger picture, they would have known how to allocate time to each individual task wisely.

The last thing marketers want is to suffer from burnout. Therefore, the smart thing to do is work out marketing strategy plans that fall within a definite period. Goals should also be realistic and concrete while being ambitious. It would also be a good idea to create a calendar that details various tasks and to reconcile how time is being used to accomplish the tasks based on that calendar.

3. Pretentious concern

“We’d love to hear from you,” “Please drop us a line,” “Your opinions matter,” and “We care”. How many times have consumers seen these exact words or varieties of these on marketing websites and the likes? People who own billion-dollar companies love to flaunt such words on their websites to insinuate that they care about their customers. It’s easy to say those words, but the problem is very few marketers respond to customer concerns, if they do respond at all. Some businesses put up Facebook fan pages and Twitter profiles, but reports show that 70% of consumer questions posted on Facebook are left unanswered.

Marketers, if you invite people to use your contact forms and whatnot, at least have the decency to interact with them, in real time. Don’t pretend to listen. Do it. Otherwise, you run the risk of losing your customer base.

4. Conforming to tradition

This is somehow related to the bad habit number 1. That’s because marketing professionals who are resistant to change have the tendency to conform to traditional practices that are already being used by other marketers. How else can customers set your business apart from others if you operate the same as others do? Be open to changes, be innovative, and stop being a pushover. Look at what other marketers are doing, but be brave enough to buck the trend and do something entirely different. See yourself as a leader than a follower. Only then will you break the bad habit of conforming to tradition.

5. Forgetting the real world

The digital revolution has allowed everything, well, almost everything, to take place online. Even social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and LinkedIn make it possible to meet new people without the need to go out. However, in the hustle and bustle of online activities, marketing professionals have forgotten to network with people in the real world. This doesn’t bode well for a business. You’ll never know when a connection forged in person can lead to new customers and even new business opportunities. So get out there and start meeting people!

6. Ignoring the power of business blogging

You have a website for a reason, one of which is to reach out to potential customers. Take advantage of your website by creating a blog section. You’d be surprised at the amount of traffic a blog section can generate for your business. Having a business blog on your website can land you on better search rankings mainly because of the organic links created. In fact, research reveals that at least 67% more leads are attained through business blogs. As a marketing professional, a business blog is something you should never do without.

7. Letting CTAs slip to oblivion

One of the worst habits you could acquire as you run your business is under using calls-to-actions. CTAs are among the most popular marketing element you could ever utilize. Develop well thought out CTAs and make sure these are put out there – on Facebook, Twitter, your business blog, your LinkedIn page, and even on Google+.

So there you have it – seven of the bad habits many marketers slip into and how these may be avoided. Don’t make the same mistakes other marketing professionals have committed. You are your own person, your own business. These bad habits should be avoided if you want to get ahead of your competition.