6 Digital Marketing Mistakes That Are Easy to Make

When it comes to digital ad spending, business marketers are not shy about dishing out the funds. It’s estimated that digital ad spend could tally a whopping $785 billion by the year 2025. We’re sitting on just over $500 billion in 2022. 

If the numbers are anything to go by, it goes to show that digital marketing is where you need to focus a decent amount of time and energy in order to grow your business. But what good is spending all of this money if you’re making repeat marketing mistakes that hinder your progress? 

Here’s what you need to avoid in order to get real return on investment for your marketing efforts. 

1. Uncertainty of Your Audience 

In today’s world of marketing, there’s no room for ”guestimating” who your ideal audience is. This is something you should have in-depth knowledge of in order to target the right people for the best return on your marketing strategies. 

One of the most common errors that small business owners and entrepreneurs make is targeting an audience that’s too broad. Targeting a wider audience base is not necessarily the better option. Think of it as shooting at fish underwater. Sure, there are plenty of opportunities, but you might miss most of them. 

Not all members of a wider audience base might relate to your product/services or have a need for them. That’s why you want specific knowledge of who your particular customers might be. Most customers today prefer the concept of personalization. This means that your content needs to speak to them directly in order to make them feel heard and seen. 

These are the people that are most likely to explore your website and, hopefully, choose your service/product. 

Avoid making assumptions about who your audience could be. Take the time to do the research, allocate some of your marketing spend towards this research and you will reap the rewards. 

2. Hosting a Website Without a Blog 

In the world of SEO, content is king and always will be. A website blog is one of the best ways to improve your overall website ranking thanks to good SEO practices. As such, this is one of the best ways to draw organic traffic to your website (the best kind of traffic). 

Google ranks your website according to how relevant and up-to-date its content is. With a blog, you have the chance to regularly add fresh, new content to your website. Google indexes these blogs and then ranks your website, which means that it’s more likely to appear in Google search results. 

It’s also super important to create blog content that’s relevant to your business and that ranks well on Google. This is where SEO copywriting and keyword research are key. As well as all-important SEO best practices — your website should include good on-page and off-page SEO elements. 

Want to learn more about SEO to improve your website ranking? Check out this crash course, linked here. 

3. Overlooking Your Mobile Users 

Did you know that up to 63 percent of the global population uses the internet today? That’s over 5 billion people. To add to this, over 92 percent of these people use their mobile phones to access the internet. Let’s face it, that’s the majority of internet users today. 

If your digital marketing is not optimized for mobile users, this is a grave faux pas. 

You must ensure that your website design includes scalability for mobile phone users as well as optimal functionality. The harder it is for your audience to access your website from their phone, the more likely they’ll abandon their search query. And that’s a whole lot of lost business for you. 

4. Failing To Implement a Clear Strategy 

In today’s competitive world of digital marketing, you need a clear, well-thought-out marketing strategy in order to reap the best results. Without a determined plan and vision, you could waste precious amounts of time, money, and business resources. 

Make sure to draw up and implement a plan that has a clear vision, supported by research-backed marketing tactics. Set yourself reasonable goals that are achievable. Keep a close eye on your progress. Learn from strategies that don’t work, and make a note of what does. 

Don’t forget to take a look at what your competition is doing, too. There’s no need to copy their marketing strategies, but it’s always a good idea to draw inspiration from them.

5. Neglecting Lead Tracking 

An online lead is a potential customer, a potential sale, and the potential to grow your business. They might land on your website from a number of different sources — whether it’s via email marketing, inbound links, or your social media. 

Not all of these sources are reliable for turning leads into customers, but some might very well be. This is what lead tracking can determine. You need to focus your time and energy on tracking leads, where they come from, and which channel is the most effective in turning leads into customers. 

6. Poor, Outdated Web Design 

There is no room today for websites that are overly complicated (or just too simple), lack a call-to-action, and have poorly designed landing pages. This is a fast-track way to lose customers as they might become frustrated or feel completely uninspired when trying to navigate your website. 

Take a long, hard look at your website if it’s not working for you. Make sure the landing page is well-optimized and easy to use. Remember, user experience is everything. If you’re offering promotions or discounts, you should always include them front-and-centre on your landing page, too. 

Broaden Your Knowledge of Marketing Mistakes and More

Now, these are just a few of the most common marketing faux pas that could stunt your marketing efforts. While there are numerous marketing mistakes to avoid, these are the most important to keep in mind. 

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