If you’re running a business, you’re probably doing at least some level of digital marketing or working with any digital marketing agency. Whether it’s social media marketing, search engine optimization, or email marketing. However, if you’re not careful, these strategies can all backfire on you if you don’t do them right! This list of seven common mistakes will help you learn to avoid these pitfalls when designing your digital marketing campaigns. To get the best possible results and truly meet your goals.
1) Not using social media
Social media is a key component of digital marketing, which means it’s a key component to your marketing strategy. The quality of your content is important, but how you share that content can be just as crucial. Don’t be afraid to join popular social media platforms and explore ways to use them more effectively for your business. For example, if you run a restaurant. Try different tactics such as sharing new menu items on Instagram or Twitter. And engaging with customers about their experience at your establishment.
Engaging with your community in a meaningful way will help you learn what resonates best online. These types of interactions are imperative to grow an online community around your brand. Both organically through likes and shares, and via paid advertising like Facebook ads or Google AdWords. If you’re still not sure where to start when it comes to digital marketing strategies—don’t worry! An experienced digital marketing agency like Mad digital agency may be able to help guide you toward using digital tools most effectively for your goals.
2) Having no clear goal
If you’re not clear on what you want your digital marketing to achieve, it will be difficult to achieve it. It’s common for digital marketing agencies to create strategies that don’t lead anywhere. Meaning clients have no idea where they stand. If there is a lack of clarity around your goals, get them set and then stick to them. Agencies that are more goal-oriented tend to do better than those that aren’t.
Be honest with yourself and ask whether your current digital agency meets your needs or if you need to seek out new providers. Also, remember that tactics change, so if one tactic isn’t getting results or working as expected, drop it and try something else—and be open about admitting defeat when necessary! Be flexible but don’t lose sight of what you need digital marketing to achieve overall: driving leads, increasing traffic, generating sales, etc.
3) Not understanding your target audience
Knowing your audience is one of, if not THE most important factor in digital marketing. If you don’t know your audience, how can you market to them? It’s as simple as that. If you run a digital marketing agency, it’s imperative to know who your clients are and what their needs are.
Even more important is knowing what value you can bring to them, so be sure to look outside of just their marketing needs; do they have other business problems that need solving? Are there resources or connections that might help your client down the road? Answering these questions will make both you and your potential clients happier in the long run.
4) Not being consistent
Digital marketing is a fast-paced industry, which means it can be easy to be distracted by shiny new tools and platforms. Before you get carried away with your next brainstorm session, set yourself a schedule and keep at it. Consistency is key when it comes to keeping up with digital marketing trends and producing high-quality content; a digital marketing agency will make sure you’re always on top of your game.
And since they specialize in all things digital, they’ll also have an eye out for any important changes that might affect your strategy. If an update does come through, they’ll give you their expert opinion before deciding whether or not to adopt it. In short: By partnering with a digital marketing agency, you get none of the guesswork involved in adapting to emerging technology and a team dedicated to helping you stay relevant now—and years down the line.
5) Focusing on quantity instead of quality
There’s an old joke that says 90 percent of everything is crap, and there’s probably a similar figure for digital marketing. While it may be natural to fill your site with as many links and mentions as possible, try to focus on quality over quantity. It may seem counterintuitive—why wouldn’t you want to get your name out there? —but trust us: Being everywhere does not mean being well-liked or respected.
Even if people don’t say anything bad about you, they might have already heard of you . . . which means they don’t need to go any further into your content! Social proof matters. With that said, publishing new material often should also rank highly on your list of priorities; so long as what you publish offers value to readers and doesn’t break any existing laws (e.g., plagiarism), go nuts!
6) No focus on ROI
One of the most common mistakes that marketers make is not focusing on return on investment (ROI). With no ROI to speak of, you’re bound to lose your budget. When it comes time for your boss or client to make decisions about how to spend their ad dollars. Without a solid plan for how you’ll measure and prove ROI, it’s very likely that your efforts will fail. Plan for success by looking at what can be measured and working backward.
How much revenue does your company need to see from each marketing campaign? What leads do you need per month? Can these goals be met with online ads alone, or do you need more traditional marketing approaches like trade shows and event marketing? These are just some questions you should ask yourself before launching any digital advertising campaign. By taking a measured approach, and providing justification for spending such a large chunk of change on ad campaigns, you’ll find you get much further than going in blind—and hopefully get creative enough to meet other business goals as well.
And if all else fails, break down your metrics into weekly numbers; even getting positive feedback from readers once per week means one less headache in your inbox. And who doesn’t want that?
7) Putting all your eggs in one basket
You should look to have a diverse portfolio of clients, rather than try to grow one business that does everything for you. You might be great at making websites and social media pages but if your client requires video production, you’re going to want to partner with someone who specializes in that area. In digital marketing, there are so many different avenues to explore that it’s important to avoid having all your eggs in one basket.
Doing so will allow you to succeed on multiple levels and grow your business quickly. As long as you have an idea that people need and can work out an agreement with your prospective client about what they require from you, then you shouldn’t rule out any opportunity to expand! Take advantage of every opportunity thrown your way because digital marketing has evolved tremendously since its early days and moving forward is looking better every day.