So you want to start your digital marketing plan. Where do you begin? Instagram? Emails? Facebook? Paid ads? LinkedIn? Yelp?
The answer to this question is a complicated one that young brands and marketers often get wrong. We put together a list of common digital marketing mistakes that brands make. Be sure to read through this post so you can avoid these common errors.
1. Not Having Clear, Measurable Goals
This one is huge, especially if your brand is stepping into the digital marketing world for the first time. The big error here is trying to “do it all.” Remember, the best goals are SMART goals: specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-bound.
So, if your brand is new and you’re just putting together a digital marketing plan, don’t try to master Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, emails, and paid advertising in one fell swoop. Instead, focus on one or two of those platforms for a specific amount of time and then watch and learn from your results.
2. Not Having a Clear Target Audience
This mistake often goes hand-in-hand with mistake #1. Without a deep understanding of your real target audience, their pain points, where they spend their time online, your marketing efforts will be like a shot in the dark.
For example, if your target audience is board-level CEOs in the tech industry, you probably don’t need to spend much time on a digital marketing plan for Pinterest. But if you’re a wedding photographer, Pinterest should absolutely be a part of your larger marketing plan.
So, spend some time creating buyer personas for your brand, and then dig deep into those personas to find out when and how they spend time online. Your marketing efforts will pay off tenfold with this approach versus a “cast a wide net” mindset.
3. Not Measuring Your Results
For a marketer or marketing team, data is the oil that keeps the engine running. You MUST develop a system for sifting through the data behind your digital marketing to find out which efforts are a wise ROI and which are wasting valuable time and money.
Where to begin? Definitely track your website data using Google Analytics. For any social media marketing you’re doing, a properly set up business page will come with robust analytics for you to gather and process. We also recommend starting a team spreadsheet that houses all of this information and separated by month. Then, you’ll have a consolidated place to watch trends.
4. Not Using Social Media To Your Advantage
Newsflash: you’ve GOT to be on social media. That doesn’t mean you need to be on EVERY platform, but there’s at least one social channel where your audience needs to see and hear from you. Figure out what that is and then stay consistent on that app.
Social media not only converts customers, but it keeps your customers around for the long haul. It’s on social media that brand loyalty and authentic audience engagement occur.
5. Failing to Remarket
It’s easy to work hard on plans to attract NEW leads to your business, but what about nurturing the “warm” leads that haven’t converted yet? Your team needs a plan for how to continue nudging your customers along the buyer’s journey once they’ve shown interest in your brand.
The “abandoned cart” scenario is a key example of this tactic. If you sell a product in an online store, it’s a no-brainer to have an email trigger (and maybe even paid banner ads) in place for customers who place items in their carts and then never follow through with the purchase. Think about how much closer they are to becoming paying clients than that new follower you got on Instagram! Don’t forget about these leads.
6. Missing Out on the World of Blogging
The moral of the story is that blogging drives traffic to your website. When you can offer value-packed content to your audience and then promote that content on your other marketing channels, your role as an authority in your field increases. As a result, more and more traffic heads to your site, which leads, over time, to a more engaged and loyal customer base.
Blogging is a considerable investment of time and trust in organic growth but can result in truly exponential growth if you’re able to wait it out and watch, the traffic come to you.
Digital marketing is an exhilarating world of endless possibilities and strategies that can take your business from small-fry to a really big deal. Don’t miss out on integral marketing opportunities – reach out to our team today for a consultation on how you should move forward in your digital marketing plan.
