Digital Marketing Mistakes

On this week’s episode of “Ope, Here’s a Little Marketing For Ya,” Ellen, Elli, and John talk about mistakes that small businesses commonly make when it comes to their digital marketing strategy. But first, Ellen tells us about an experience she had recently where a business’s online information was inaccurate, causing her plans for the day to be slightly derailed. Though this didn’t cause her to stop patronizing the business, it was definitely a frustration, and one that we see all too often.

The team discusses why it is important to always have updated information across all digital platforms, as well as some solutions for ensuring your customers are never getting inaccurate information. There are also a few other “mistakes” we often see small businesses making, so be sure to listen to hear how you can avoid making these mistakes.

Common Mistakes, and How to Avoid Them!

Running a small business or nonprofit organization can be challenging due to having limited resources or staff to help cover all of the aspects of making your business successful. Digital marketing is an important aspect of reaching current and new customers, but if you don’t stay on top of it or manage it in the right way, it could be hurting you. Below are some common mistakes we see small businesses making, and some tips for fixing them or even avoiding them altogether.

Having an outdated website.

Having a website is crucial to the success of your business, as it is oftentimes your first impression on your customers. However, if you aren’t updating information appropriately, such as product availability or hours of operation, your customers won’t know what to expect and may go elsewhere for the services or products you offer.

Avoid this mistake: The simple answer to avoid making this mistake is to update all appropriate channels when you have a change within your business. If you don’t have the staff or time to keep up with frequent updates, evaluate the information you have on your website. Can you broaden your product categories to encompass all of your current offerings without having to make updates as frequently? Make it as simple as possible for you to always be showing the most up to date information, and check in regularly to make sure everything is correct.

Not giving marketing strategies enough time to work before jumping ship.

We understand how frustrating it can be to spend money on something and not see results right away. But, if you have put together a solid, data driven marketing strategy, give the different tactics an appropriate amount of time to generate results before quitting. It takes some time to meet certain goals, especially if this is something brand new to your business. All of this said though, if you aren’t seeing the results you hoped for in a reasonable amount of time, it is ok to move onto something else. Marketing is often a trial and error process, and you have to find what works best for you.

Avoid this mistake: Set goals! Before you even put your strategy to work, map out a timeline and what goals you have within that timeline, and plan to stick to it. If you don’t have goals, you won’t really know what’s working and what isn’t. At the end of your set timeframe, evaluate the success of the campaign, and decided how you would like to move forward. Remember, it’s not a failure if it doesn’t end up working out, you may just need to tweak your strategy a little!

Not paying attention to customer relationships and reputation.

If you don’t have a good relationship with your customers, they are less likely to continue patronizing your business. On top of that, they might even leave negative reviews, or start to talk about their dissatisfaction with your business. Word of mouth plays a huge role in a business’s reputation, and ultimately affects your ability to bring in new customers and retain existing ones.

Avoid this mistake: Pay attention to what your customers are saying. If you see a negative review, work with the customer to resolve the issues they had. Further, if you notice any trends with the satisfaction level of your customers, look inward and figure out if there is way to change processes, train staff, etc. in order to keep customers happy, coming back, and talking positively about your business.

Not having a sales process in place to support the marketing efforts.

You can do all the marketing you want, and generate great results, but if you don’t have the process or staff in place to handle the success of your marketing campaign, you will ultimately fail. Not being able to keep up with leads coming in from your marketing efforts will quickly affect how these potential customers view your business, and if they aren’t taken care of in the way they expected, they will move onto something or someone else.

Avoid this mistake: Set up your internal processes prior to starting a new marketing strategy. Make sure you are ready to handle an influx of business prior to it happening, so your customers are left satisfied. Along with that, be aware of what is feasible for the staff you have. Know what you can handle right now, and run your marketing campaigns accordingly. If you are swimming in new business and can barely keep up, consider slowing down your marketing campaign.

Listen to the full episode to hear more discussion about these common mistakes, and hear what grinds John’s gears!