Digital marketing is a crucial part of any successful business, but it doesn’t come cheap. By the end of 2021, companies in the US are forecasted to spend about $650 billion USD on digital marketing alone. If your business is spending serious money on marketing, you need to make sure it’s as effective as possible without taking away from lead generation conversions, traffic, and ROI like these mistakes do. Which of these 7 digital marketing mistakes is your business still making?
1. Not optimizing your content.
The game of SEO changes fast, so your business needs to be on top of it. We get it — it’s overwhelming to keep up with the changes. However, there are a few basic tricks you should always be performing to help boost your visibility:
- Keyword research and use.
- Posting quality content.
- Being mobile-friendly.
- Tidying up your URLs.
- Renaming image files to include some of your keywords.
It’s worth the effort; according to Hubspot, “SEO drives 1000%+ more traffic than organic social media.”
2. Posting for quantity, not quality.
Besides affecting your SEO, posting for the sake of posting has other detrimental effects on your digital marketing. You won't be hitting the right audience, you'll likely go against the algorithm, and it'll lack the type of engagement you seek from those who see it. Your blogs, social media posts, and emails should always contain valuable information. Plus, Google punishes your visibility if it doesn't. There's a reason why 66% of B2C marketers prioritize their audience's informational needs over a promotional message. Quality content matters.
GhostTip: Don't underestimate the power of a good video.
3. Not defining an audience.
Posting willy-nilly is bad enough, but posting willy-nilly without knowing who you're posting for is even worse. Many new businesses try to cast a wide net to capture anyone and everyone's attention, but it's counterproductive and expensive.
Take the time to define who your audience is. Research them, know what makes them tick, find out where they are in the digital world and when they're likely to see your posts. If you know who they are, you'll also be able to show them how your product solves their pain points. Building a buyer persona is an excellent place to start.
4. Forgetting about website design and optimization.
Even if you have a sound marketing strategy, you might still find you're not converting those clicks to sales. Your site could be the problem. Today, a website doesn't just have to look good and be user-friendly; it also needs to be optimized for mobile use. If it isn't, it a) takes away from your SEO and b) looks terrible to your buyer. Ninety-two percent of consumers trust referrals from people they know, but 60% of those who had a bad mobile experience said they would not recommend the business to anyone.
5. Not building a strategy.
You wouldn't start a business without creating a strategy first, would you? Of course not — that's a fantastic way to spend money with little-to-no ROI. Digital marketing is the same, and many businesses forget that. Sure, you can sink cash into paid ads and see some results, but you're likely being wildly inefficient with your money. Build a digital marketing strategy to help target your defined audience, spend on relevant, researched ads, create markers to measure success, and make that marketing dollar go further.
6. Not revisiting the strategy.
Having a strategy is an excellent first step, but many businesses forget the most essential part: revisiting the strategy to see if it is working. As we said, a significant portion of your digital marketing plan should include defining KPIs and metrics to measure your progress. Plan an audit to check up on those measurements. Areas your business is falling short indicate a need to reassess and revamp:
- Does your website need help?
- Are you missing your audience?
- Is the quality of your content not quite there yet?
Quit guessing about what isn't working and stick to the stats.
7. Not telling your audience what you want them to do.
Also known as a call to action, many businesses put out quality content but don't actually tell their audience what they want them to do. If you can't figure out why you aren't getting clicks… it's probably because you didn't ask them to click. Here's an example of what you should do:
Do you need help with your digital marketing strategy? At Ghostit, our experienced team does everything from content creation, website design, and SEO to social media strategy and managing your paid ads. Click here to start a conversation and see how we can help your business grow.
See what we did there?
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