How to get a digital marketing strategy badly wrong

Digital Marketing is the new medium in which users communicate and consume content, therefore making it incredibly valuable for businesses wanting to get a message or products across to their consumers.

However, to some, it’s still a mystery and other’s think it’s just normal marketing done digitally. It’s not and it requires time, planning and a strategy which is why so many businesses get it wrong.

I’m going to detail where businesses go wrong and what to avoid when running digital campaigns, leaving you with some tips of what you should have in place to get it right.

Have a clear digital marketing strategy in place:

Some of the main areas where businesses fail with Digital Marketing is Strategy … either lack of, or genuine. Any marketing undertaken without a clear strategy is a waste – not just of time but marketing budget. Having a clear digital marketing strategy in place helps provide direction and is the basis on which success is measured against.

Have the fundamentals in place:

Before executing any strategy it’s key to ensure that your website or online presence (e.g. Social Pages and content) is fit for purpose. With so many Google changes website need to be ‘Mobile First’ as most consumers view content on their mobile devices.

Ensuring that your website is user-friendly and supports a sales or lead generation funnel is key before spending your budget on different digital channels.

Make sure you can capture consumer data and that it’s easy for customers to enquire about, or purchase, your services. Makes sure your social pages have the right contact details and are set up to drive consumers to your website. First impressions do count.

Know your customers:

Another big mistake business make is broad targeting across various channels … they target who they think their customer is, but you already have this data from previous converting customers. Look at ‘who’ buys your product and use that as the basis of audience targeting. This will then make it easier for you to pick the right digital channel.

Picking the right Digital channel:

Too often have I heard from potential clients saying, “We tried that, but it didn’t work, that channel does not work for us”. What they really mean is, “We tried it, but didn’t get any results”. Why? Because they did not utilise the channel correctly or have the experience to.

In most cases, it’s because they did not have a digital marketing strategy to begin with. If you have a strategy in place, your website is clear and user-friendly and you know who your audience is to target. There is no real reason you should not see results from key digital channels. I advise spreading your budget across the most common digital channels e.g. PPC, SEO, Social and Video and then by measuring your results optimising your budget to the channels that give the best ROI.

Copying what has already been done:

Too much of the same ads without any creativity or innovation can lead to a short digital lifespan. What we see is businesses push the same message again and again. There are many ways to get a consumer’s interest so be bold and think out of the box. Sometimes, a personal touch helps, other times, simply answering the question they have on their minds. Don’t be robotic … trial and test new messages and creative elements, this will help your advert stand out against the noise.

Lack of measurement and analytics:

All marketing should be measured and analysed and one of the joys of digital marketing is the data available to you. From clicks, impressions, click-through-rates and conversions across all digital platforms that are available.

However, the key is to look for fundamental elements to measure, often called ‘feed metrics’ that allow you to establish easy measurements of the overall campaign effectiveness without having to micro analyse every element. For instance, if you know that you convert an average of 2 in 5 web enquiries into sales then you don’t need to monitor sales, you need to monitor enquiries, etc.

By understanding the results you can make the right changes to improve on your initial success and start to make smart decisions.

Digital Marketing is an art form but by avoiding the above mistakes and having a clear strategy in place will help you get it right. If you’re not sure, speak to a specialist or do some research, there is a lot of information online.

Blunt thinking on Digital Marketing from Yorkshire Powerhouse

Have you any questions?

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