4 Common Mistakes That Are Made in Digital Marketing
Digital marketing encompasses many techniques, requiring dedicated employees to take on the task of executing an important and large part of the business.
Many businesses know that digital marketing is important for the success of their company, but it takes trial and error to get a good strategy down.
With trial and error come mistakes. What is great about this is A) you learn from your mistakes and can reflect to make your strategy better and stronger, and B) when other businesses make mistakes, they document it, so when you research, you know exactly what to avoid from someone else’s trial and error.
Here are the four common mistakes that are made in digital marketing:
- Neglecting your website
- Being the hero instead of the guide
- Ignoring search engine optimization (SEO)
- Failing to track metrics and creating goals (KPIs)
1. Neglecting Your Website
Your website is a very crucial component of your digital marketing strategy. A user-friendly website is a window into your business that can make or break the opinion of a potential client.
Your website must be easy to use and be informative. Many businesses miss the mark on this because they overload their website with piles of information that most people, unfortunately, do not care about. In fact, when a visitor lands on your website, they skim; they try to find the most important parts of your business to make a quick and easy decision on whether they want to purchase or not. Make this easy for them, have your most important information front and centre, and make it easy to read and a quick read.
Another part of your website that is often neglected is design. When an individual lands on your website, the first thing that catches their eyes are the way the page looks, what colours are used, and what pictures are on it. Make your website visually appealing, draw your visitor into your site, and make them want to click through the pages and learn more.
CTA Neglect
One of the most important aspects of your website is calls-to-action (CTA’s). These are often neglected or are used and placed poorly throughout the site. There are two types of CTAs: transitional and direct. Transitional CTAs are used to engage potential customers before they are ready to buy. Direct CTAs are actions you want potential customers to use to buy. A common mistake with CTAs is overloading direct buttons on your website, pushing people to buy when instead you want to work your way up to those direct buttons. Utilize transitional CTAs, warm up your audience, offer them important information and when they are ready to buy, have your direct CTA ready to go in an optimal spot for the sale.
2. Being the Hero Instead of the Guide
Digital marketing is essentially storytelling. You want to evoke emotion and create an attachment to your product and/or service.
Many businesses make the mistake of positioning themselves as the hero instead of the guide.
When we say to be the hero instead of the guide, we mean, focus on your potential customers and the issues they face instead of focusing on your product and/or service. The hero should be your client, they are on a journey to achieve greatness in their lives, the guide should be you, a business that is there to help them achieve that greatness.
Another way to put this is to tell stories and not sales pitches.
A common mistake almost every marketer makes is pushing their product or service, sharing details upon details of how their product is better than their competitors rather than sharing how their product or service can make the lives of potential customers much better. Solve your customer’s problem, paint a picture of how their lives will change for the better and how they can achieve greatness through storytelling.
Don’t make the mistake of positioning yourself as the hero who will save the day with your amazing product, instead position yourself as the guide who will help create greatness for your customer through your product or service.
3. Ignoring Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
SEO is how your customers find you on search engines, essentially one of the main ways to find any business, product or service online. Missing the mark on SEO hinders your ability to reach new and valuable leads for your business.
One of the most common mistakes with SEO is not giving it enough time to flourish. SEO requires patience. Over time, your campaign will grow and drive sales.
You must take the time to do keyword research for your business. Keyword word research lets you target the queries your audience conducts. These keywords can be integrated into pages on your website, into your blog posts and into social media helping you to appear in searches that use those keywords. Planning your content around your keywords allows you to reach valuable leads around search engines.
Although keyword research takes time and incorporating it in all areas of your digital marketing may sound tedious, it is crucial you take the time to do this.
4. Failing to Track Metrics and Creating KPIs
Creating an unfocused marketing campaign is one of the biggest mistakes businesses make. Without setting goals, it becomes unclear what is going on with your campaign efforts. And, without a way to track your efforts, it becomes unclear if you are achieving your goals in the desired time frame.
You must know if your efforts and campaigns are creating success for your business.
The best way to track success within your business and for specific campaigns is to set SMART goals. Make sure your goals are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-sensitive.
Set key performance indicators (KPIs). Setting KPIs helps you to make decisions more effectively. Setting these indicators should be well communicated across your company to ensure the company's goals are at top of mind. KPIs will also ensure you are getting a proper return on investment (ROI).
Utilize Google Analytics to track your goals and KPIs. This is a great visual to see your growth and reporting on your goals ensures you are moving forward.
Conclusion
It is important to be aware of the common digital marketing mistakes that are made. Learning how to correct these mistakes is a great first step to success.
Ensure that your business is taking the time to create an amazing website, one that is short, to the point, and visually appealing. Keep your eyes on those calls-to-action buttons and ask yourself: am I using more direct calls-to-actions than transitional? How can I fix this?
Position yourself as the guide, not the hero. This is imperative. You want your customers to feel that they are being heard that their issues are being addressed. Guide them to success and remember to tell stories and not sales pitches.
Utilize search engine optimization (SEO). Take the time to do your keyword research, fit those keywords into your website, blogs and social media. Make your business searchable and watch valuable leads come in.
Lastly, track metrics and create KPIs (key performance indicators). You will want to know where your business stands if you are growing or at a standstill. Share your KPIs with your whole company, ensure it is at the forefront of each employee’s mind.
If you find yourself making these common mistakes, it is okay, there is time to make a change. There is no problem with needing help either. Establishing your digital marketing strategy is tough work. If you find yourself needing help, contact us at [email protected], we have your back.
