You Think Your Digital Marketing Efforts Will Work? Make Sure You’re Not Making These 6 Mistakes

Let’s face it. The world today is driven by technology and digital marketing has, in many ways, exceeded traditional channels. With buyers turning to the internet for any queries they have, it is no secret that online marketing can make or break your business. Without proper digital marketing efforts, any business is as good as dead.

If done right, online marketing is the future of many businesses. This probably explains why about 95 percent of companies have increased their digital marketing budgets in recent years. With these projections, 9 out of ten marketers will experience an increase in their digital budgets in 2020.

But still, 30 percent of companies report that they are not satisfied with the results they get from their digital marketing efforts. Here’s how to avoid common digital marketing mistakes and boost your sales. Let’s get started.

1.       Not Setting Clear Goals

While this might seem obvious, many companies don’t define their goals clearly before investing in digital marketing efforts. They just set a bunch of social media accounts and throw some hashtags out there hoping they’ll bring in results. But this does not work.

The goal can be generating more leads or increased traffic to your brand’s website through mobile. Whatever the case, having realistic goals is significant in establishing a shared connection with your visitors and determining all marketing strategies in the future.

2.       Not Understanding Your Audience

If you haven’t taken the time to understand your buyers’ value drivers and personas, and don’t know what’s important and what isn’t, how will you be able to create marketing materials that resonate with them?

If you aren’t aware of how buyers act throughout their buying process, how can you know the right tactics to reach them?

This is very wrong and will lead to money wastage. To avoid this problem, we’d recommend that you invest your time and energy to understand your audience. Here are some questions to ask yourself:

·         What are the critical pain points that buyers experience when buying your products/services?

·         What problems will your products/services solve for your targeted audience?

·         What criteria do buyers use when evaluating your services?

·         How do buyers behave when researching products/services like yours?

Answers to these questions will help you come up with the right marketing tactics and craft messages that buyers can relate to.  

3.       Not Crafting Appropriate Content

Internet users are always consuming content, but the content that earns rankings from google and shares must have a real identity. Search engine algorithms are always changing, and it’s vital to have unique content if you’re going to benefit from your digital marketing efforts. Well-crafted content should touch on your goals and offer value to your targeted audience.

Being aware of current marketing trends is also crucial if you’re looking to stay on top of the competition. Ask yourself, “Is this the right tactic to use to connect to my intended audience at this time?” The answer to this question will help you craft marketing messages that will generate more leads and conversions.

4.       Not Conducting Tests

Testing is an integral part of any online marketing campaign. It helps companies to find out how various campaigns are working and how to manage them appropriately.  We’d recommend the use of A/B or split testing.

The idea is straightforward as it involves comparing two versions of a web page and testing them to see the one with the highest conversion rate. You’ll then maintain the winning strategy while replacing an approach that does not work.

It also allows you to tweak a campaign until it shows better results.

5.       Using the Wrong Metrics

When evaluating online marketing efforts, a lot of companies focus on the wrong indicators to determine their success. Even after they test their strategies, the improvements and corrections they make don’t give the much-needed results.

This is why it is important to hire a digital marketing agency to champion your marketing efforts. A digital agency has developed tools and processes to meet various marketing needs over the years. They are also experts in managing online marketing budget, having done so for 100s of clients before.

6.       Setting Unrealistic Goals

This is a mistake that many company planners make during the early stages of digital marketing strategy – setting unrealistic expectations for their efforts. But we’d recommend the use of the SMART goal setting principle.

According to this principle, all your goals must be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant as well as timely. Together with Customer Acquisition costs and Customer Retention costs, these measures make your goals remain cost-effective and realistic regardless of your marketing campaign.