Even the top brass of an organization can make mistakes. After all – ‘to err is human’. But sometimes, erring may cost you the job and the company its business. Listed below are top 5 mistakes that a marketing manager makes, unknowingly or in over-confidence. The idea is to create awareness amongst the marketing manager wannabies and those who are already successful in this job. kotler and keller marketing management 15th edition

Top Managerial Mistake #1: Not consulting your team

You may have to pay a heavy price for this mistake. You have been assigned the leadership of a team for some purpose. It is not just for making your work easier and faster but also to rely upon when you’re in a dilemma. Agreed that you’re the all-in-all of the team, but even mangers face situational problems. There is nothing wrong in going out and asking your team for a better solution. It is better to be rational than being egoistic!

Top Managerial Mistake #2: Over-relying on random market surveys

Did you know that the seemingly country-wide surveys undertaken by newspapers are mostly ‘not worth it’? They may be quoting data and figures but most of that is a guesstimate – in the critics’ language. New age managers or even the experienced ones may fall in trap of such bogus surveys that may have not been true at all. Therefore doing business with such data might cost your company its reputation and soon after, your job.

Top Managerial Mistake #3: Trusting the Internet!

The internet is the most trusted partner of anyone today. Be it the student or a manager, everyone just wants to Google their problems and find a solution. Technical people rely more on online encyclopedias; but there has to be a question raised on their authenticity. Since most of the information is open source, how much can you trust the reliability of such information? A marketing manager’s job is to deal with raw and real data. You can always run an online survey – but only when you’re sure of its results. Sometimes, it is just better to trust your team and instincts!

Top Managerial Mistake #4: No online social networking

One of the top mistakes made by marketing managers is that they term online social networking as a waste of time and frivolous. This is not unfounded but it is so only when you catch up with your buddies in the middle of important business discussions. Otherwise, petescycle they are great networking tools and can be used to share great information; information that is more or less authentic. Sometimes the information available is simply unique!

Top Managerial Mistake #5: Not Focusing on Public Relations

Marketing managers seem to make this mistake quite often. They go out with all their guns blazing with aggressive marketing and advertising campaigns but forget that they have to please their customers and not portray a company’s big ego. Too much aggressive marketing may backfire – if your consumers are not interested. Therefore it is worthwhile to take decisions with the consent of the PR department as well!