You hear all the time how important digital marketing is for your business, and that you should implement various strategies to meet your goals. But before jumping too far into these strategies you have read about, let’s slow down and talk about some of the common mistakes marketers make.
Digital Marketing Mistake 1: Not Having an Optimized Website
Having a website is one of the most important things a company can do to connect with its audience. It is an easy way to communicate with customers and provide information on your brand, products, and services. However, simply having your information on the internet is not enough. Many factors come into play when building a website, such as who is your audience, how they might be consuming/searching for information, the reason they are visiting your website, etc. It is important to take all of this into consideration to provide an effective website.
Tips for creating an effective website:
- Have a mobile responsive website. This means, make sure that the website is easily viewable on any device the customer may be using. In 2020, 50.81% of web traffic worldwide came from mobile users. If your website isn’t optimized for these users, they will leave your site and potentially visit a competitor’s site.
- Ensure that your website has a quick load time. We have all been on the receiving end of slow internet. And if you’re anything like me, it causes some less than stellar reactions. You can’t fix the whole internet, but you can ensure that your website is able to load smoothly by keeping it updated and using a website host that can handle the contents of your site.
- Keep the information on your site concise, accurate and easy to navigate. While having an aesthetically pleasing site is desirable, it is more important to make sure your information can be consumed efficiently, without a lot of clutter getting in the way.
Mistake 2: Not Having a Strong Social Media Presence (or Social Media at All)
Social media is an easy way to interact with your customers and your community. You can utilize different social media platforms to build your brand, advertise new products or services, offer discounts, promote sales and broaden your brand’s reach.
If you want to take it a step further, you can also utilize the paid advertising function of social platforms. This form of advertising is cost effective and you can easily gauge your ROI. Social media advertising would help you broaden your reach even further, with the goal of pulling in more customers.
So, how do you start building your social media presence? : First step: create social media profiles if you haven’t already. (It’s best to stick with outlets that you know you can regularly keep updated, rather than creating profiles that you neglect!) Next, create posts and interact consistently with your followers.
Best practices for social media use:
- Be consistent and authentic with your messaging. This allows you to build strong brand awareness and gain a solid social media following.
- Know who your audience is. Create content that your specific audience is going to have interest in or be more willing to interact with.
- Have a plan for your content. Think about your goals and how you want your audience to view your page.
- Track your results. You want to make sure you’re meeting your goals and make changes when necessary.
- Stay in touch with industry topics and conversations. This might also include any mentions of your business of which you need to be aware.
Interact with those who are commenting on or sharing your posts. This makes it a more personal and enjoyable experience for your customers. - Post regularly. Doing so will allow you to stay relevant to your customers.
Mistake 3: Not Utilizing SEO
SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, is imperative if you want to be found on the internet. 53% of all trackable website traffic comes from organic search. If you aren’t optimizing for searches, customers will never find you and instead visit a competitor website.
The simple answer to avoiding this digital marketing mistake is optimize your website for SEO. Ensure that you have fresh, relevant content on your site and that it contains keywords for searches your business wants to show up for. A good way to add relevant content and links to your website is through a blog, which brings us to the next digital marketing mistake.
Mistake 4: Not Having Dynamic Content on Your Website
Dynamic Content (think: blogs, articles, or other helpful regular posts) drives traffic to your website. Simple as that. By having new content posted to your website consistently, you are able to pull in new traffic that might be searching for that specific content. Another benefit is you will be able to stay relevant to your existing customers, or individuals who have previously visited your site. By posting new content, they now have something different to come back and read.
Not only will the content help with the SEO that we previously discussed by adding keywords to your websites, but you can also generate traffic to your website by posting links to your blog on your social media pages. See how this is all starting to tie together?
Your content should be centered around your industry and help you capture your target audience. Always remember the goals you set and use the content on your blog to help meet those goals.
Mistake 5: Thinking Email Marketing Is No Longer Relevant
If done properly, email marketing can be highly effective and has a relatively high ROI. Sending out regular email communication will keep your customers informed and help with customer retention. This is a great way to let customers know of any upcoming sales, promotions, and new product launches.
A few things to keep in mind when utilizing email marketing:
- Make sure your emails are optimized for mobile devices. Over 60% of emails are opened on a mobile device, so if they are not optimized properly, they might get deleted without ever being opened.
- Make sure you’re sending emails that will generate a response. Have a strong call to action or offer that these customers won’t want to pass up.
- Have a strong subject line. This one might seem simple, but you want your email to be opened, right? Make your customers want to read more by using a cliffhanger or a statement that drives curiosity. Just be careful not to falsely advertise what your email is about.
- Maintain your email list. The reasoning here is to continue to grow your email list with new customers or individuals interested in subscribing to your brand. Something you might not have considered though is to make sure you remove email addresses that no longer serve you.
Mistake 6: Not Asking for Help
This was a brief introduction to some of the most common digital marketing mistakes you can make with your strategy, but it certainly does not stop here. As you can see, there is a lot to consider if you want to have an effective strategy.
If you are missing the time or expertise it takes to construct and manage successful digital marketing campaigns, get help! Shout It Out Design can assist with designing and implementing a cohesive strategy to help meet your goals – contact us today to get started.
