So, you already know that digital marketing is the road to growth for small businesses.
You're advertising your business online, or maybe you're still considering it?
Either way, there are some common digital marketing mistakes you'd want to avoid.
I won't waste your time with insignificant things. You'll learn about mistakes that have caused many small businesses to fail with their digital marketing campaigns.
What do I mean by many, you may ask?
Statistics published by Luisa Zhou show that about half of the SMBs doing in-house marketing aren't sure if it's working...There won't be success stories there.
How do I know what mistakes they make?
I've been a digital marketer for two decades, and most clients of the Boutique Marketing Agency I founded are small businesses...So, don't worry, I'll keep things straight.
The 9 Digital Marketing Mistakes to Avoid
Search engine optimization, paid advertising, social media marketing, etc. It doesn't matter what channel you're utilizing. Many things can go wrong, even if you know the key ingredients for success.
That said, let's get straight to the point.
What are some common mistakes businesses make in their digital marketing efforts?
1. Starting Without Clear Goals in Mind
When you started your business, you had goals that provided direction and purpose, right?
Don't make the mistake of starting your digital marketing journey without clear goals in mind. These will help you focus your efforts on the right strategy.
You're selling goods online and want to increase orders by 25% over the next 6 months.
Great! Now, it's easier to find out what your options are...Promote your business on Google, run social media ads, or double down on your email newsletter.
Having a goal will also allow you to measure the success of your future campaigns.
2. Not Setting a Marketing Budget
Setting a marketing budget from day one prevents financial strain. An adequate budget allows you to do better planning and forecasting and helps you achieve a good ROI.
A major digital marketing mistake I see people make is spending more money on ineffective channels to improve performance...It's like poker players chasing their losses on a bad day.
Many of them quit because bad bankroll management leads to poor results.
That's why, when onboarding a client at Ernst Media, we first help them set a budget. Then, we can recommend a balanced allocation across organic and paid digital marketing channels for an efficient strategy.
3. Absence of a Defined Marketing Strategy
That's one of the biggest digital marketing mistakes. You need a roadmap detailing the steps to your business growth.
As the famous saying goes...Without strategy, execution is aimless!
A successful digital marketing strategy focuses on six key factors. Not considering those will lead to the following:
- Lack of direction
- Inefficient resource allocation
- Low customer engagement
- Poor performance tracking
- Missed opportunities
4. Targeting an Audience That is Too Broad
Most folks target a broader audience, thinking it will increase their customer base. While it may sound logical, it is another common digital marketing mistake to avoid.
Let me explain:
When you go too broad, you'll have a hard time communicating with any specific group. That's why traditional advertising methods generate 50% fewer customer interactions.
To be successful online, you must identify your target audience.
Otherwise, you'll be wasting money promoting your business to people who aren't interested. The PPC case study I published not long ago is a great example.
Long story short...A client of ours based in Seattle had their Google Ads location settings set to “People in, or who show interest in, your targeted locations.” This resulted in clicks from places like Hawaii and Alaska, which didn't do anything for their business.
The precise targeting options are one of the reasons digital marketing is so important nowadays...Take advantage of those.
5. Failing to Analyze Your Competitors
Competitor analysis is another big advantage of online marketing. It helps you understand what works, spot opportunities, and keep up with trends.
If you neglect it, you'll likely be blindsided by competitors' digital marketing strategies. Don't make that mistake.
Let's say you want to create content capturing search engine users from all digital marketing funnel stages.
Why guess what topics your competitors have covered?
Analyze their blog content, see what drives traffic, and if there are any relevant keywords they haven't targeted yet. That's a great move for startups just getting into SEO.
Like Eckhart Tolle has once said...although in a another context:
"You have so much to learn from your enemies"
6. Using Only One Digital Marketing Channel
We've had some clients who presumed that focusing on a single platform is a good idea. They thought such a strategy would be more cost-effective and easier to evaluate...Nope!
Let me tell you why this is one of the digital marketing mistakes to avoid.
- It restricts your ability to connect with your target audience
- It makes your campaign dependable on changes in algorithms
- It reduces the overall impact of your digital marketing strategy
Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying you should advertise on 10 different platforms. You should diversify using a few channels that complement each other.
My Best Types of Digital Marketing for Small Businesses article discusses this further.
7. Delivering Inconsistent Brand Messaging
When using a multi-channel approach, your message to potential customers must be consistent.
My list of proven social media tips starts with focusing on brand recognition for a reason.
If you write funny social media posts and send folks to content on your website that uses a formal tone of voice...You'll confuse them.
That's a common digital marketing mistake of small businesses using freelance writers. They may produce high-quality content but not understand the brand identity.
When your messaging varies across different platforms, it fails to reinforce your added values.
Even if you reach the right audience, they won't trust your brand.
8. Making Decisions That Aren't Data-Driven
Don't play the guessing game. Online marketing offers plenty of tools and insights that can assist you in making data-driven decisions.
Monitoring digital marketing KPIs like conversion rates, click-through rates, and customer acquisition costs allows you to refine your strategy...At any time!
Let me give you a simple example.
If I notice that a particular ad converts well but has a low click-through rate, that tells me the ad copy isn't good enough.
I'll create two new ad versions and then split test to see how users interact with those. It's an easy way to improve performance.
I'll end this section with a favorite quote from the late economist and Nobel Prize laureate Ronald Coase.
"Torture the data, and it will confess to anything"
9. Trying to Manage Everything In House
The success of digital marketing strategies requires a different set of skills.
Doing keyword research for SEO, paid ads, and content creation. Understanding your target audience and how to connect with them. Finding the best social media platform for your business.
And these are just the basics...You also need tools and skills to analyze and optimize.
Some of our clients made the mistake of managing everything internally without a marketing team. I also run a small business and understand the challenges.
But you can't expect results when...
Your IT guy does the SEO strategy, and the customer service staff manages social media channels...One business owner even had the HR lady write blog content.
That leads to ineffective marketing, but not only...Diverting employees from their important operational roles puts businesses at risk.
Outsourcing some or all of your digital marketing tasks has many benefits...covered in this blog post.
Real-Life Examples of Digital Marketing Mistakes
I used some examples in the list of common digital marketing mistakes to avoid, but those were rather simple. Now, I'll give you two more detailed real-life stories.
Ranking and Driving Traffic for Irrelevant Keywords
Several years ago, a small company selling tuning parts for German cars reached out...
"We've been running a blog for a while. Our website traffic increased, but sales didn't. What are we doing wrong?"
Reviewing the content, we found the top-performing articles were covering topics like:
- "Are BMW Cars Expensive to Fix"
- "BMW M3 vs Audi S4 Comparison"
- "What is the Best Used Mercedes Benz to Buy"
These were high-quality articles answering users' questions, but the readers weren't interested in buying tuning parts.
Despite the well-positioned calls to action, the increased traffic didn't bring any business.
The problem was that they had an in-house content writer and paid an SEO consultant for a single session. He provided general guidelines but no content strategy.
Well...They only paid for one hour of his time.
This is one of those situations when hiring an SEO consultant isn't enough, and you should opt for certain SEO services instead.
Not Matching the Users' Intent with PPC Ads
Last month, I was planning a cruise to the Mediterranean and needed a VPN service. I signed up with one of the providers, but my laptop got slow. I used the 30-day money back guarantee option, so no drama.
A week later, a Facebook ad with the headline "Best VPN Services for Traveling in Europe" showed up in my feed (surprise, surprise).
I clicked on it expecting to see a list of VPN providers, their pros and cons, pricing, etc...That's what everyone opening a "Best of Something" article would expect.
However, the ad took me to a landing page reviewing the 3 different pricing plans of one VPN service provider...I skimmed through it and closed it.
When your ads don't match the user intent, you're throwing money out the window!
I hope knowing these common mistakes will help you do a better job online.
And if you want to achieve the best possible outcome...book a free call with me!
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Founder of Ernst Media. Fifteen years running paid search and paid social for small and mid-size businesses, and still the person who builds the audits by hand. Writes here about what actually moves accounts.