Digital Marketing Mistakes to Avoid

Digital marketing is a tricky field to navigate. You’ve all heard of brilliant digital marketing strategies to apply – the internet is chock-full of them. Now it’s time to learn about what not to do – avoid the following digital marketing mistakes to make the most of your campaign.

Common Digital Marketing Mistakes

While there are many (and I mean, many) ways you can go wrong in this field, here are some of the most common ones. Read along and learn from the following mistakes.

Setting Vague or Unrealistic Goals

Setting goals is what allows you to measure your progress. It is only when you set your goals that you can create strategies to achieve them. Not only do you need to set specific and realistic goals, but you also need to be able to measure them – there’s no other way to determine success or failure. When setting goals, make sure that they are SMART, i.e., specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-based.

Specific

Goals need to be specific and should have a clear focus. Without this, your marketing strategies will also lack focus and direction.

Measurable

You cannot evaluate success or failure if you can’t measure the goals you have set. KPIs are imperative to goal setting and should be determined before moving on to strategizing. Whether it’s web traffic or conversion to sales, all goals should be measurable. Services such as Google Analytics can be extremely helpful for this.

Achievable

Set goals that you can actually achieve – don’t set yourself up for failure. If you’re a brand-new business, you can’t expect to have 50,000 customers in your first month. Set achievable milestones and work toward accomplishing them.

Realistic

Goals should be realistic. If not, your digital marketing campaign is sure to fail. Keep time and resources in mind when setting goals.

Time-Based

Goals can only be measured if they are time-specific, i.e., by the end of a month, a quarter, a year, etc. Setting short-term and long-term goals gives your business something to work toward. Deadlines also serve as motivation to work harder.

Resorting to Clickbait

Clickbait isn’t just deceptive – it’s annoying. Sure, you might see a rise in traffic, but does this really matter when it isn’t converting to sales? Since clickbait can be irritating, it may also alienate potential customers and reduce sales.

Instead of disappointing and annoying users, create content that is both, interesting and provides value.

Not Honing-in on Your Target Audience

It doesn’t matter how well thought out or engaging your campaign is. If you aren’t targeting the right customers, you won’t see an increase in sales. Instead of marketing to every Tom, Dick, and Harry, focus on a target audience.

You might think that targeting a broad range of people will result in more sales. I hate to burst your bubble, but all that’s going to do is waste your money. Do your research. Make buyer personas. Take advantage of data collection, determine your niche audience, and make sure you are marketing to the right people.

Neglecting Competitor Research

In a saturated market, you need to distinguish yourself from your competitors. However, in order to do this, you need to know what your competition is offering. That way, you can beat them at their own game. It would also be wise to focus on customers’ pain points. If you address these needs before a competitor does, you can be sure to poach customers and increase sales.

Lazy Website Design

In the age of smartphones, optimizing your website for mobiles is extremely important. Not only do 82% of customers use their smartphones when making purchasing decisions, but 50% of customers say they buy less from a business if their website isn’t mobile-friendly.

Websites should be easy to find and user-friendly. They should also be optimized for speed. Having slow and clumsy websites is one of the most common digital marketing mistakes seen. With so many other options available, customers aren’t going to wait for your website to load – they will move on to one that does. Stay ahead of your competitors by keeping website design in mind.

Ignoring Social Media

Social media marketing is one of the most important digital marketing tools today, with 74% of buying decisions influenced by social networks. With people spending increasingly more time on these websites (which is further heightened by the pandemic), social media is the perfect place to promote your business.

One of the biggest digital marketing mistakes in social media is to focus entirely on promotion at the expense of engagement. Engagement with consumers humanizes the brand while also increasing exposure.

Not Prioritizing SEO

Search engine optimization is the most important tool in your arsenal when it comes to digital marketing. One of the most common digital marketing mistakes is not prioritizing SEO. Since this is how users find your business, it is one of the most essential aspects of digital marketing. In fact, 51% of traffic is a result of organic search.

SEO consists of more than just keyword research – meta information, title tags, and targeted content are all part of SEO and should be considered. Too often, businesses misunderstand SEO and just overstuff keywords into their content, which is not only off-putting but also detrimental to their growth. Hiring a digital marketing specialist is the best way to target SEO and ensure great results.

Not Using CTA

An exciting call-to-action will encourage customers to visit your website or support your business. To make a CTA stand out, attach a sense of urgency to the message, such as “This offer expires in 24 hours” or “Limited stock available.” Enticing customers with a discount and then injecting a sense of urgency will convert them from passive viewers to customers.

Get It Right the First Time

It’s very easy to make these digital marketing mistakes, especially when you’re focusing on so much else. One way you can avoid them is by hiring a digital marketing specialist – outsourcing your digital marketing not only allows you to benefit from expertise and experience, but it also makes sure that you have enough time to focus on other aspects of running your business.

If you’re interested in discussing this more or any other topics on digital marketing, feel free to contact me to keep the conversation going!