Many businesses have maximised their digital results and benefited greatly from online marketing.
However, it amazes me how many businesses continue to make major errors in the digital marketing as they attempt to improve their market position.
The need for digital marketing expertise is going to ramp up in the coming months with a possible economic slowdown ahead.There is tremendous value to your business in getting your digital marketing strategy correct.
Consider the following common and costly digital marketing mistakes and take steps to avoid them.
Business first, customers second
Your digital content, website design, and user interfaces must meet customer needs first and foremost.
Too often this work is done to please people at the business rather than prospective customers. Your prospective customer is the hero in your marketing story, not your business or store.
This strategy is best communicated by creating digital content that adds value to your potential and existing customers as opposed to content about your business. You must get outside your own head and into the head of your prospective customer. This is hard to do because many marketers are too close to their business.
The best digital marketers get inside the head of their prospective customers and it shows in their digital content and design.
This is most evident in the design and content seen on the homepage of their website.
This is the starting point because your homepage is usually the most popular and most visited page.
Create content for your website homepage that talks directly to customers about the value they get from your store and your jewellery, rather than espousing tales of the mere greatness of your business.
Hiring the wrong specialist
Digital marketing continues to be the wild west of jobs and careers.
Take search engine optimisation (SEO) for example. Anyone can get SEO work just by claiming to be a SEO consultant. There is no formal training or certifications required and results are difficult to measure. Additionally, many digital marketers claim to be good at many things. They can run your email marketing, manage your social media, write content, and manage your design.
They say that a ‘jack of all trades is a master of none’. The best results come when you work with digital marketing specialists in each area all pursuing one common overarching goal. These problems are greatly reduced when the leadership of a business has a general understanding of the various different roles played by specialists concerning digital marketing – so take the time to learn.
Failure to understand KPIs
Digital marketing data points are key performance indicators (KPIs) for your business.
For example, website traffic can be a leading indicator of revenue and development. Increased traffic and website page views generally mean revenue increases. Conversely, traffic decline is not a good sign of future improvement.
For many storeowners, simply seeing this type of data and asking your staff questions will move people towards actions that will improve your company. This can’t happen if you are not reviewing the data and don’t know how to separate the most important data points for your business.
A digital scorecard to measure website traffic, leads and sales is powerful and, sadly, is a missing part of many online marketing efforts. Compile digital statistics monthly and learn how to relate them to your goals.
Cultural failing
I’m sure you’ll agree when I say that the way your business thinks about marketing impacts your results. It bleeds into the culture of your store and those tasked with marketing.
If you still hold ‘old-school’ beliefs and feel that you can find customers when you want them then you are in for major sales and marketing headaches.
Your business must embrace the current reality that you don’t find customers, customers find you! Make this a cultural change throughout your business and remind your staff that the goal is to be found in people’s online research and to motivate them to reach out for more.
It is hard to believe these mistakes are still happening 25 years into digital marketing.
Two core issues drive these mistakes. The first is a lack of a clear understanding of what prospective customers want from your digital content before they buy. The second is a lack of time spent understanding digital marketing essentials, which is needed to build an effective team.
Set goals to deal with the two core issues and remove these five mistakes from your marketing efforts.
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