Digital marketing is the use of digital channels or technologies to sell or promote a product or service. Content marketing, email marketing, pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, and SEO all fall under the umbrella of digital marketing. Digital marketing is an excellent avenue for businesses to increase their visibility and attract new audiences and customers. A third of customers discover new brands via social media – the younger, the higher the share. More than 50% of consumers use the search engine to look for new products.
Consequently, it’s unsurprising that social networks and business websites are the two most important marketing channels in the world – with over 80% of marketers harnessing these avenues to reach potential customers. That’s closely followed by email marketing – unsurprisingly, given that, on average, email packs $36 of return on every $1 spent on it. Businesses must have a solid digital marketing strategy to stay competitive. However, many contenders make basic mistakes when drawing up their strategies.
Here are the mistakes to avoid in digital marketing.
1. Not identifying target audiences and their pain points
One of the most common mistakes businesses make in their digital marketing strategies is to dive in without a clear idea of their target audience or what the pain points of this audience are. However, digital marketing strategies are more successful when they have a clearer focus and a narrow audience. One of the best ways to outline this audience is by creating customer personas and a custom-tailored strategy to address each.
2. Neglecting the basics: websites, blogs, and SEO
Digital marketing offers many avenues for businesses to engage their audience – with an increasingly heavy focus on social media. As a result, many businesses focus exclusively on social channels at the expense of less flashy but equally important components of digital marketing: their business website, blog content and SEO. Many businesses’ websites are light on information and heavy on the design.
They’re anything but the SEO-optimized, content-rich powerhouses they need to be to rank in Google and boost visibility. Blogs, especially, tend to be sidelined. Faced with flashy trends such as influencer marketing, article writing might seem outdated. However, blogs are still a cornerstone of content marketing and have large potential in terms of search engine optimization.
3. Leaving automation and personalization potential untapped
Another common mistake many businesses make in drawing up their digital marketing strategy is neglecting automation and personalization. Modern marketing platforms offer a huge potential here. Nowadays, technology enables marketers to adjust content and messaging strategy to every customer’s preferences. More than 70% of customers expect to receive personalized messages from companies.
Automation tools can help marketers streamline their workflows and reach results more efficiently. However, to derive the maximum benefit from these options, they must be planned initially; otherwise, data is siloed. By integrating personalization and automation into their digital marketing strategy from day one, businesses can build a comprehensive data basis.
4. Ignoring social proof
When purchasing an unfamiliar brand online, 95% of people read customer reviews before. This is why showing testimonials, ratings and links to review sites on business websites can significantly boost conversions. Another way to go is to harness the growing creator economy by working with influencers who can access an audience that trusts them.
5. Failing to review and improve their digital marketing strategy
Another mistake all too many businesses make in their digital marketing strategies is to draw them up once and leave it at that. Instead, every digital marketing strategy should include provisions for making revisions and improvements. Regularly. No matter how thorough a business’s initial research on its target customers is, even the best strategies must be tweaked when new insights become available.
Periodic reviews should be part of every business’ digital marketing strategy – alongside S.M.A.R.T. goals. By defining marketing targets that are specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time-based, businesses can outline concrete issues to revisit in every iteration of their digital marketing strategy.
Final thoughts
Developing a digital marketing strategy is a must for every business. Doing it right, though, is a challenge. By avoiding the common pitfalls outlined above, businesses can craft a custom-tailored and efficient strategy for their digital marketing efforts.
