Top 10 Marketing Mistakes Dealers Make—and How to Avoid Them in 2025

It’s a new year. You’ve set some lofty revenue goals, and you probably need some marketing help to achieve them. But before you start tackling those goals, allow me to pose three questions.

Q: How would you rate your 2024 marketing effectiveness on a 1–10 scale?

If 10 is perfect, most dealers I speak to score themselves in the 3–6 range. They tell me they don’t have the time, talent or resources to properly market their business. Maybe you can relate?

Q: How does your digital DNA compare to your top three competitors?

Part of our onboarding process with new dealers is to access the digital DNA of top competitors in their marketplace. In 2025, your customers will size you up online and preclude you from quoting business if you don’t “look the part.” This starts with your website and extends to your digital presence on social media and beyond.

Q: Is your website generating sales leads?

This is the million-dollar question. At IN2communications, we define a lead as someone who’s expressed interest in your products or services by providing their contact information to request a meeting, attend a webinar or download a content offer from your website.

With those questions in mind, allow me to share my 10 Marketing Mistakes to Avoid in 2025. Simply being aware of these will help you improve the ROI on your marketing spend, be more of a threat to your top competitors and generate more leads for your sales team.

So what should you avoid in 2025?

1. A weak LinkedIn strategy. LinkedIn is the watering hole where your customers hang out, and you need to meet them there on a regular basis. Too often we see inconsistent posting, promotional messages (rather than educational) and salespeople who don’t share your corporate messages to their network.
2. Not having educational webinars. When I spoke at a recent CDA meeting, the attending dealers said, without exception, that webinars are the number-one lead generation driver for MSPs. If you’re not hosting educational webinars, you’re missing an opportunity to attract prospects you may not have engaged otherwise. As a point of reference, our managed webinar services business grew 230% in 2024.
3. Being a product pusher instead of a problem pusher. Remember, people don’t buy the shovel, they buy the hole. Too often we see dealers showcasing their latest offerings, but they fall flat because customers can’t relate to why they need them. In 2025, we’ll be helping our clients and their sales teams become problem pushers, not product pushers.
4. Not looking the part. Be honest—you may be calling yourself a technology services provider, but is your website and marketing collateral polluted with copiers? If you want to sell your full tech stack in 2025, you need to look like an MSP, not just a copier dealer.
5. Not having a video strategy. If a picture says a thousand words, what does a video say? Popular videos for our MSP clients include facility tours, recruiting messages, answers to customer questions and explainer videos showing how something works or can be accomplished with technology. People are visual, and video will remain the king of communication mediums again in 2025.
6. Using a 30-day vs. 365-day mentality. Studies suggest that only 4% of people in your marketplace are currently in the buying window for what you offer. This means you need to be patient and realize that most decision makers need to be touched 7-9 times before they engage in their consideration phase. The right marketing activities will help you identify future buyers sooner so you can engage earlier and sell quicker.
7. Lacking a sales mindset. There’s often a big difference between the ways marketing people and salespeople think. To me, marketing is all about letting people know what you’ve got, and sales is all about getting rid of what you’ve got. Make sure your marketing people understand it’s not a point until it crosses the line.
8. A disconnect between marketing and sales. If I asked your salespeople to describe what marketing campaigns you’re running right now, could they tell me? Do your marketing people attend sales meetings? These are classic gaps when marketing and sales groups operate independently. This too often leads to finger pointing behind the scenes about why the other side isn’t doing what they should. It’s a team game we play, and that’s what wins championships.
9. Lack of AI and automation. If you sell technology, it’s probably a good idea to use technology to market and sell. Setting up automated triggers and marketing sequences, and replacing human effort with AI and automation, will free up your people to focus on higher-value tasks and supercharge your marketing reach and success.
10. Trying To Do It All In-House. Marketing is becoming increasingly complex, just like the technologies you sell. To prevent yourself from making common mistakes, wasting money and missing opportunities, it’s going to be increasingly important to consider external marketing expertise. The same way you offer managed print, managed IT and other services, maybe it’s time to consider a managed marketing provider so you can focus on what you do best.

If you’ve read this far, chances are you realize there may be a better way for your marketing strategy to create awareness, boost your consideration rates and generate sales leads.

Now the next step is up to you.