7 Marketing Mistakes That Female Founders Make

When you’re a female founder, marketing might not be one of your biggest strengths and yet you are thrust into the role of marketing director when you run your own business. Over the years, I’ve worked with many female founders from a huge variety of industries but guess what… when it comes to marketing, they are all making the same mistakes. In this blog, you’ll find out the biggest mistakes I see from female founders, and how to make sure that you don’t make the same ones!

The Biggest Marketing Mistakes That Female Founders Make

Marketing Mistake #1

female founders Let Imposter Syndrome Stop them From Succeeding

Sometimes I see female founders fail before they’ve even started because of a lack of confidence and imposter syndrome. It’s all too common, and something that even I faced when I was first starting out. But, for you to succeed in growing a small business as a female founder, you have got to believe that by showing up authentically as yourself, people will see the expert that you are and your business will grow.

One of the best ways to foster your self-confidence is by finding a community of like-minded women who are going to support you through your journey as a female entrepreneur. You can do this online or at in-person networking events. For more ideas on how to gain the confidence you need as a female founder, read our blog here.

Marketing Mistake #2

female business owners treat Parts of their Business as an Afterthought

Of course there are parts of running a small business that none of us like. Whether it’s social media, your tax return or website management, some of the trickiest parts of running a business are just about getting the important things done. I see businesses fail often when there is no plan in place for how to deal with aspects of running a business. Remember: you don’t have to do everything yourself, but you do have to plan for it. So if you really can’t face doing things like your accounts or SEO, consider outsourcing these areas to an expert. Or work with someone like Litsa (who we featured in our Moments to Motivate series), who can help you conquer your never-ending to-do list in the most strategic way.

Marketing Mistake #3

female founders Rely on Social Media To Maintain their Audience

Whilst having a social media following is a positive for any small business, don’t rely on social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook or LinkedIn as a safe way to store your audience. Instead, we’d recommend starting an email mailing list from day 1 of running your business. This is something we learned the hard way after growing a big social media audience, but no way of contacting them all directly via email! When you start a mailing list, this information then becomes yours to keep and use to market to. This means that should Instagram or Facebook etc go down, or if your social media accounts get hacked, you still have access to your audience!

Email marketing also continues to be one of the strongest ways to get conversions of clients. Lots of mailing list providers exist and many offer free subscriptions if you have less than 500 people signed up - MailChimp, MailerLite, ConvertKit and Kajabi are just a few examples.

Marketing Mistake #4

female business owners Think that posting once is enough

I know that as female founders, we are our worst critics and can pour over the details and captions of our social media posts and worry when our content gets a bit “samey”. But in reality, we are the only ones doing this and followers don’t remember what you’re posting day-to-day. For this reason, it’s so important to keep reminding your audience who you are, what you offer and how people can work with you. In general, it takes someone 7 times of seeing something before they will take action! This means you can repurpose your content time and time again - a time-saving win as well as hopefully driving more sales. Whilst you can repurpose the ideas, don’t just duplicate content like for like, as this will be flagged by algorithms (on Google or social media) and could actually do more harm than good.

When it comes to how often you should be posting on social media, the most important rule to remember is consistency. Whether its 3x, 5x or 7x a week, just pick something that you can stick to as this is what the algorithm values most.

Marketing Mistake #5

female entrepreneurs copy others instead of standing out in the crowd

One of the mistakes I’ve seen from female founders more recently is when they either don’t have time, or don’t feel confident enough showing up online, that they adopt a “drag-and-drop” approach to content creation. I totally understand why people do this, but trust me when I say that in the long-run, you won’t see the results you want if you’re just copying someone else’s content and there is none of your personality in it.

If someone is promising you “3 ways to go viral overnight if you follow these steps,” the chances are they won’t work in helping you to grow your business sustainably. Of course, it’s possible to have a viral reel if you use the right trending audio and a great hook, but unless you can show up with a sense of personality and authenticity, the number of views you have won’t affect your business positively. As a female founder, you have a superpower and part of what makes your business so unique is the fact that you run it. So don’t feel you have to just copy other reels if you really want to find an audience that’s best for you!

**Instagram announced recently that they will be prioritising original content so if you repost someone else’s video or photo, you need to do something with it in order to make it original and stand out in a very crowded market.**

Marketing Mistake #6

female founders forget to invest in good headshots and brand photography from the outset

One of the best things to invest in from the outset is some good headshots and brand photography. Having professional images you can be proud of will help you feel confident in showing up online, as well as helping to showcase you as an expert in your field. A lot of brand photographers attend networking events and may even offer discounted rates to members so be sure to ask around your network. Equally, I’ve found that some photographers are also starting to offer incredible subscription plans so that you can continue to have updated imagery as you and your business evolves. If you’re looking for recommendations for a business photographer you can trust in Manchester, Altrincham, the Cotswolds or Chicago, get in touch because I have an incredible group of female photographers that I can connect you with.

Marketing Mistake #7

Female Founders think that SEO is a ‘Nice to-have’ or expect instant results

SEO (Search-Engine Optimisation) has become one of those terms that so many female founders groan at, and I can’t say I blame them. But what I have learned is that planning for good SEO practices from the outset can make a real difference and get you seen by your clients early on. SEO is important if you have a website so that you’ll rank on Google, but has also become increasingly important on social media as consumers are now using things like Instagram and TikTok to search for things more and more.

To find out how you can implement easy SEO hacks for female founders, read our two blogs from Danni Meets World and Diary of an SEO.

SEO Tips for Female Founders Blog 1

SEO Tools for Female Founders Blog 2

If you’ve made any of these mistakes, don’t see this as a failure. I have made many of them as I’ve gone on my journey as a female business owner. But by working with experts and investing in myself and my business, I’ve been able to correct these easy mistakes to make, and over time I have been able to grow my own business, as well as helping other female founders to grow theirs.

If you want someone who can help you work out what’s working well and how you can make strategy improvements to grow your female-owned business, get in touch and let’s have a chat about how I can help you.