In our digital marketing blog, we often talk about what businesses should do to get certain results – but it’s just as important to talk about what you shouldn’t do. From easy tactics that look like great hacks and affordable marketing strategies that don’t deliver to forgetting the basics, there’s a lot that can go wrong when you market your business – here are some tips to avoid these pitfalls and actually get the results you’re looking for.
Mistake #1 – Falling for Quick-Fix SEO Scams
This is a scam that’s as old as Google itself and just won’t go away – and it’s easy to fall for if digital marketing isn’t your area of expertise. Essentially, an SEO expert approaches businesses about improving their rankings on Google – often claiming that they can put you on the first page of search results in record time by fixing errors they’ve noticed on your website, performance problems, etc. It all sounds pretty good – after all, who doesn’t want to rank at number one? But it’s all just pie in the sky.
These scammers are there for one thing only: your money. And they talk a good game too. But their tactics are ones that will deliver zero SEO value and can even cause the Google search algorithm to penalise your website and content!
Remember, the only way to rank well on Google is by working with the Google search algorithm to deliver what it is looking for – high-quality, original, relevant content that users love. There is no quick fix, and even the strongest digital marketing SEO strategy only delivers in the medium to long term.
Mistake #2 – Falling for Shiny Object Syndrome
We’ve all been there – we’ve seen the latest, greatest new thing and we just have to have it! And digital marketing is no exception. There are innovations happening in this industry every day, each offering a new opportunity to get you in front of your audience at the right time. The problem is, not all of these innovations do what it says on the box – and even the ones that do, may not actually be suited to your type of business. Chasing the next new thing is likely to just cause constant disruption in your digital marketing strategy so it never finds its feet – and it’s frustrating and expensive to boot.
Instead of focusing on what’s new, focus on what works. Spend time finding out what your audience responds to, speak to a digital agency that can show you how different strategies deliver for similar businesses, and don’t get distracted.
Mistake #3 – Great Digital Marketing Strategy, Terrible Website
A website can be pretty expensive to develop and back in the day, a new website was a serious investment. As a result, it’s easy to see why many businesses want to leave their website as is and focus on having powerful social media, email and PPC campaigns.
The problem is that your website is the foundation for your digital marketing strategy around which everything else revolves. No matter how great your other digital campaigns are, they’re not going to deliver what they should if your website has errors, poor quality content, missing functionality or looks like a relic of the past. Today’s digital customers are demanding and impatient – your website needs to be fast, look current and offer a user-friendly experience. Here are some facts to back this up:
- 89% of consumers will head to a competitor if they have a bad experience with your website
- A poorly designed website lacks credibility, with 75% of credibility coming from web design.
- Your bounce rate increases by 123% if page loading time is more than 1 second.
- Slow websites cost US$2.6 billion in revenue each year.
- You’re losing business if your website isn’t responsive and mobile friendly, with 52% of all website traffic being generated by mobile devices and 61% of consumers interested in purchasing over their mobile phone.
Remember, a website is not a once-off, although a well-designed website can last you many years. Keeping up with modern consumer demands, functionality and design is about investing in your business – a bit like refitting your shop or offices.
Mistake #4 – Avoiding Social Media
Many smaller businesses like the idea of a good website, they like the idea of ecommerce functionality, PPC and creating good website copy that’s rich in keywords. But many of them don’t like social media. It’s easy to see why these platforms are a bit intimidating – to have an effective social media presence takes a lot of time and work. You have to be more responsive than ever before, more engaged, and more invested – and that’s a lot to take on.
However, social media marketing is especially powerful for small businesses. You don’t need a big budget to compete even with the biggest brands in the world. Your audience is right there waiting for your company – all 3.5 billion of them – and they are using these platforms to research products, share brands through referrals to their friends and family, and buy directly through the platform.
Facebook and Instagram have exceptionally user-friendly ecommerce portals, helping you leverage the credibility and security of these platforms to make sales easier for customers. Social media marketing is such a powerful ecommerce tool that the global social ecommerce market is set to grow by 23% by 2021 and be worth US$735 billion by 2023. And that certainly seems worth the effort!
Make Digital Marketing Easy – Proven Methods, Solid Results, Hassle-Free
One way to make digital marketing as easy and rewarding as possible while avoiding the pitfalls is to partner with a digital agency that has the experience to guide your business to success. Our teams cover every service you need, from web design and email marketing to PPC and social media marketing, and our aim is to give you a strategy that works – no fuss, no big price tags, and no so-called quick fixes – just good marketing done right.
Sure, I’m a sales specialist – but we do things a little differently around here! For one thing, I’m not here to sell anything - I’m here to solve problems. By getting to know your business, you’ll get proven digital marketing solutions that bring in sales, leads, and results. It’s all about putting you ahead of the competition. Are you ready to be in first place?
