Digital marketing is a powerful tool to reach out to potential customers and promote your business. However, if it’s not done correctly, you could be sabotaging your business without realizing it.
Here are eleven digital marketing mistakes to avoid to get the most out of your campaigns.
Mistake #1 – Having a bad website
Having a bad website is a mistake if you want to get the most out of your digital marketing. Potential customers are likely to check out your website before they contact you.
If your website is not engaging or easy to navigate, customers will go elsewhere if they can’t find what they’re looking for right away.
Your website needs to be:
Up to Date
Do you have the latest news, information, or products on your site? If not, that’s a quick way to turn off potential customers.
Easy to Navigate
Make sure the website is easy for visitors to navigate through. If it isn’t, visitors won’t stick around for long and will go elsewhere in search of what they’re looking for.
Promoting Engagement
Your website needs to promote engagement, not only with your products and services but also with other people who are interested in your business. Social media sharing options for blog posts or links to relevant content to engage visitors is a great way to achieve this.
Fast Loading
People are busy, and just like you, they may not want to wait around for a website to load. Make sure your site is as fast as possible by using tools such as Pingdom, Google’s PageSpeed Insights, or GTMetrix. They provide critical information on how you can improve the speed of websites.
Mobile Friendly
Almost half of all website traffic is coming from mobile devices these days. A recent study found that nearly one in four people abandon a website if it’s not optimized for mobile devices. If your site isn’t mobile-friendly, you could be losing out on prospective customers and sales.
User Friendly
It’s also essential to ensure your website is easy for people to use. That includes putting yourself in the shoes of a potential customer and asking yourself how easy it will be for them to find what they’re looking for when visiting your site.
As you can see, a bad website is not only frustrating for potential customers. It can also be disastrous to your business and reputation if you want to get the most out of your digital marketing strategy.
Now, on to the second mistake…
Mistake #2: Not Having a Strategy for Your Digital Marketing Campaigns
If you don’t have an overarching digital strategy, or if your campaigns are not working towards reaching your company’s overall vision, then it’s time to reevaluate things.
When you create digital marketing campaigns, it’s important to remember that they should all work towards helping you to achieve your overall digital marketing strategy.
Let’s say that your goal is to have more brand awareness for your business; then, all of the campaigns you run must be aligned with this overarching vision.
For example, if you’re having a giveaway on your social media platforms for free products or discounts, the focus needs to be on reaching people who are not already aware of what your company does. Learn more about the power of social media, and how it influences customers in our recent article.. Learn more about the power of social media, and how it influences customers in our recent article.. Learn more about the power of social media, and how it influences customers in our recent article..
If your campaigns aren’t closely aligned with the overarching vision of your company, then it’s likely that you’re spending time and money on things that will never see any results, which can be frustrating. That’s why it’s crucial to have a digital marketing strategy in the first place, so your campaigns are working in synergy to achieve your overall business goals.
Now that you’ve avoided making these two mistakes, here are three more that entrepreneurs should watch out for.
Mistake #3: Sending spammy emails
When customers subscribe to your email list, they should expect to get quality content related to the types of products or services you offer.
Sending them messages that have nothing to do with what you’re selling will just frustrate them, and they’ll unsubscribe.
So will barraging them with emails that they don’t find helpful or interesting.
For example, suppose a customer has just purchased a travel voucher from your company, and you immediately send them an email offering credit cards. In that case, it could be perceived as irrelevant and annoying.
While there may be some debate on the value of email marketing for businesses, one thing’s for sure: if you want to build a successful business, don’t send spam.
Mistake #4: Not Having Consistent Content
If you publish new content every once in a while and then stop posting anything for weeks or months, it looks like the only reason you were producing content in the first place was that that’s what people expect from businesses online.
Consider the following graphs from blogtyrant.com.
Companies that publish 16+ blog posts per month get nearly 4X more traffic than those publishing 0-4 monthly:
Maintaining a consistent pace of content creation will help you stand out from competitors and generate new leads for your business.
Companies that published 16+ blog posts per month got about 4.5X more leads than companies with less frequent posting – this is a huge advantage for those looking to grow their customer base!
And if you do have a good reason for taking a break from posting, let your audience know about it!
For instance, if you’re going on a trip that has nothing to do with your industry or you’re busy working on a new product launch, then be sure to post it every time you share something on social media.
Believe it or not, your audience actually wants to hear from you and is more likely to pay attention if they know that there’s a good reason for the break.
If it feels like you’re constantly trying to come up with new content ideas, then have a list of blog post topics ready, so you never have an excuse for why you can’t publish something. It’s also essential to stay up to date with current news in your industry so you can mix things up if needed.
Benefits of Regularly Posting Content
Regularly posting content on your website will help you to:
- Improve your search rankings. Google loves relevant and helpful content, so if you’re regularly publishing, you’ll likely see a rise in your search engine results. Plus, you’ll rank for more long-tail keywords that are closely related to your business.
- Improve your website’s SEO. Regularly publishing content is also a great way to improve your site’s search results so readers can find you when they’re looking for businesses like yours. This can help you expand your reach and attract more clients from niche markets.
- Gain more qualified leads. Visitors who frequently engage with your posts are way more likely to convert since they’re interested in your type of work. This is why it’s important never to underestimate the power of content marketing for growing sales.
- Establish yourself as an authority figure in your industry. When people see how knowledgeable you are about the kinds of topics you write about, they’re going to be much more likely to purchase from you. Content marketing is a great way to transform random website visitors into valued customers.
- Increase your brand awareness. When people visit your website or blog, they’ll have the opportunity to learn more about what you do and fall in love with your business. Plus, if you share links to your social media profiles on every post, it’ll help attract more followers and clients over time. If you’re interested in learning more about how to increase your brand awareness, read our recent blog post.
That’s #3 and #4. Now on to Mistake #5.
Mistake #5: Not doing SEO
If you want to get more traffic and attract qualified leads who are ready to do business with you, then you’re going to need to invest some time and money into search engine optimization.
With all of the competition out there for people’s attention, relying on luck or hard work isn’t enough anymore. You’ll always be fighting an uphill battle if you stick with traditional advertising methods since everyone is trying to do the same thing.
But with search engine optimization, you can get ahead of your competition by doing things that have a lasting impact on the number of people who visit your site and how often they come back for more. . SEO should be considered an investment rather than an expense because it’s sure to have an excellent ROI.
It can be easy to make simple mistakes like not using keywords or writing boring content. Still, the real way to get ahead of your competition is by doing extensive keyword research and creating quality posts that include backlinks.
Benefits of SEO
By investing in search engine optimization for your business, you can expect to see several benefits, including:
- An increase in the number of visitors that come from search engines. If you’re not doing SEO, chances are most of your traffic is coming from social media and other sources across the web. This is why it’s so important to give your website the best chance at ranking.
- An increase in the number of visitors to your site who are ready to buy. If you’re already seeing a good amount of organic traffic, then it’s likely that they’re in the research phase and interested in speaking with you. This is when you can convert them into a lead by providing your contact information in a prominent place on your site.
- The ability to rank for long-tail keywords that relate to both you and your business. This is one of the most effective ways to get relevant people to click through to your website, where they’ll be more inclined to do business with you.
Mistake #6: Not Making the Most of Social Media
Social media is one of the most effective tools for promoting your business, so it’s a good idea to take advantage of it.
However, if you’re going to do social media right, you must be making a significant effort on every platform, including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, TikTok, and Pinterest. This way, all of your bases are covered, and you’re getting on all of the channels that your potential clients like to frequent.
Take the time to research your target audience and find what platforms they’re on. If you know that they don’t use Facebook but do have a strong presence on Instagram, then it’s a good idea to focus more of your energy there. To get the most out of social media, you must create engaging content (like Instagram carousel posts), and interact with potential clients.
Being active on social media is one of the best ways to attract more visitors to your website, but it’s also a good idea to make the most of your hashtags. You can do this by finding relevant content for your business and then using hashtags specific to you.
Don’t forget to add a call to action on your posts to lead your audience into taking an action. This is one of the most common digital marketing mistakes we see.
This will not only help you attract awareness, but it’ll expose you to people who are interested in what you have to offer and who are in your target demographic.
Mistake #7: Focusing on Likes Instead of Leads
Quality is much better than quantity when it comes to social media marketing, so don’t be afraid to focus on a few followers at a time. By putting in the work, you can attract the right people to your page and gain a lot of value from your interactions with them.
It’s a good idea to give your business a personal touch on social media by interacting with potential leads as much as possible. This will not only help you grow your audience, but it will also allow you to understand what they’re looking for and build trust between you and your audience.
When you present yourself as a real person, potential clients are more inclined to trust you and listen to what you have to say. This is why it’s essential that you like and comment on their social media posts and ask them questions to get the ball rolling.
Not asking questions can seem like you’re too busy to care about them, which is why you must take the time to get to know them. While good leads are hard to come by, when you invest in your potential clients on social media, then they’ll be more likely to pay attention when you send out promotional posts.
By following this rule, your leads will become clients, and you’ll be able to turn them into people who trust and respect your business.
Mistake #8: Not Following Industry Trends
When it comes to marketing, staying up to date on the latest trends is one of the best ways to attract potential clients. By following influencers and industry leaders, you can get your hands on a lot of quality information that can help you grow your business.
For example, if you know that a particular blog frequently writes about a specific topic, you can consider commenting on their posts to introduce yourself and your business.
Reach out to and partner with influencers in your niche. As you can see in the image below from voxfeed.com’s recent study,
Influencer marketing is quickly becoming one of the most popular methods for marketers to find success. According to a recent study, 89% have seen an improvement or equivalent return on investment (ROI) when compared with other channels like TV ads and print media, giving you more bang per buck!
If possible, you should communicate with industry leaders in person so that they’re more likely to remember who you are when they do a post about your industry.
This is one of the most effective ways of getting noticed by your target demographic, and it can help you gain valuable insight into your industry without having to do much research yourself.
You must follow what’s trending in your industry on social media because that way, you’ll always be one step ahead of the game.
When the competition is constantly growing stronger by the day, it’s a good idea to stay up to date on what’s relevant and new in your industry.
This will make it easier for you to come up with ideas on how you can improve yourself and allow you to get ahead of the competition before they find out about something that can help them grow their business.
By following this rule, you’ll be able to connect with the right people who can help you take your business to the next level.
Mistake #9: Not Optimizing and Updating Your GBP (formerly GMB) Profile
If you’re a local business in a small town, then it’s likely that your Google Business Page (GBP) is going to be one of the first places where potential clients will look for more information.
This means that you must optimize and update all of the necessary information on your profile so that when they search for your type of business, you’ll be the only one that they find.
Don’t forget to regularly post images of your products at their best and offer a brief description of what it is that you do.
Treat your GBP like you do your website. Write posts, update photos, and add new products.
By following this rule, you’ll ensure that when potential clients search for your type of business, then they’ll find the right one.
Mistake #10: Relying on a Marketing “Coach”
There’s been an influx of digital marketing “coaches,” promising to show you the ropes on how to get ahead of your competition without spending too much money.
While you must take the time to learn as much as you can about digital marketing, it’s also crucial that you don’t spend your hard-earned money on something that hasn’t been proven yet.
If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.
Instead of spending thousands of dollars on a coach who’ll tell you what they think, you should get your hands dirty by doing some research yourself.
Find out what the digital marketing community has to say about their experience with a given coach, and don’t forget to do your own research as well.
Consider the image below, taken from a Digital Marketing Mastermind review:
Sure, these “coaches and masterminds” tell you that they want to teach you how to do it yourself and not have to rely on an agency, but look at the upsells.
The upsells paint a different story – someone just trying to get your money.
If a digital marketing coach doesn’t have a website or social media presence of their own, then you should stay clear from them because they’re not going to be able to help you grow your business in the long term.
You’ll only be wasting your time and money, both of which you could have used to grow your business.
Mistake #11 – Reviewing Your Own Business
Have you ever been tempted to leave a review for your own business on Google? If so, don’t do it. Find out why in our recent article.
Problems with DIY Digital Marketing
You can grow your digital marketing on your own, but you need to know what you’re doing.
Make sure that you do the research and learn about SEO, keywords, and ranking to do it correctly.
Digital marketing is a complex and ever-changing process that requires time and effort, just like any other skill set.
Like any other task, you need to ensure that you have all of the tools necessary to make your job easier and your efforts more fruitful.
But, these tools cost money—a lot of it. Look at this image from Smart Insights. Will your company invest in them?
Not if you’re smart. Buying the tools that you need to market your business effectively would cost more than hiring an agency to do it for you.
So, what these marketing “coaches” don’t tell you is that without the tools needed to market accordingly, your digital marketing will be nothing but a waste of time.
By “upgrading” yourself with a digital marketing coach, then the only thing that will happen is that you’ll be throwing away money.
Don’t fall for these coaching scams because they’re designed to take advantage of small business owners like you.
Concerns for Using Digital Marketing “Coaches”
As the saying goes, if it’s too good to be true, then it usually is.
Digital marketing coaches are available everywhere nowadays, so there’s no reason that you should settle on the first one that comes your way.
If you want to make the most of your digital marketing efforts, you need to know what you’re looking for in a coach.
Don’t settle with just anyone because they all promise accolades far beyond their reach.
When it comes down to it, if they can’t prove themselves by having an online presence of their own, then what kind of digital marketing coach are they?
If you value your business, you shouldn’t go with digital marketing coaches who lack experience and real-life results.
Otherwise, what you’ll end up doing is throwing away thousands of dollars on a web designer or someone else who claims to know everything the second they step into the digital marketing sphere.
Instead, consider hiring an experienced digital marketing agency (not some friend of a friend who says that they know what they’re doing) who’s done the work and knows the ropes.
These digital marketing agencies will give you proven results, and they know what it takes to get your website (or reviews!) ranked on all of the major search engines like Google, Bing, and Yahoo.
You don’t want to settle because if you wait too long, you’ll be way behind your competitors.
Digital marketing is a fast-paced world, so you don’t have time to get on the bandwagon once it’s already left.
So, get ahead of the game by getting in with an experienced digital marketing agency with countless case studies and tangible results for various businesses.
Wrap Up: Digital marketing mistakes can be the reason that your business fails, but by using the steps above, you won’t have to worry about any of them impacting your business.
Be sure to avoid these ten common mistakes to get the most out of your digital marketing efforts and grow a successful business that brings in a steady income.
Are you looking for a new digital marketing agency?
BlakSheep Creative is the leading digital marketing agency in Denham Springs, LA.
We have over 20 years of experience and are dedicated to providing our clients with results-driven campaigns that grow their businesses.
Our team has extensive knowledge and experience in SEO, paid advertising, web design, social media management, and more! If you’re looking for an experienced digital marketing company that can help your business grow online, then contact us today for a free consultation.
In the consultation, we will:
- discuss your business goals
- determine the methods you currently use to market your business
- find out what’s worked and what hasn’t worked so far for your business
- come up with an effective digital marketing strategy that works best for you!
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Contact us today to get started. Call us at 225.505.3834, email info@blaksheepcreative.com, or complete the form below.
