As a small business owner, you want to do everything you possibly can to help your business grow. So, you started to take charge of your own digital marketing efforts. No doubt, you’ve probably made a few mistakes.
Small mistakes won’t kill your business. But, repeatedly making large mistakes will make it that much more difficult to succeed with your digital marketing campaigns.
Below we look at the seven biggest digital marketing mistakes that we see small business owners make in regards to their own strategies. Avoid these mistakes and you’ll be well on your way towards turning your online presence into a valuable asset for your business.
1. Your Website is Outdated
Your website is the hub of all of your digital marketing efforts. If your website’s design is outdated or isn’t built to serve your target market, then you’re losing potential leads and making your marketing efforts that much more difficult.
If your website hasn’t been updated in years, then it could be time for a redesign.
2. You Haven’t Narrowed in on Your Audience
If you try to speak to everybody, then you’ll end up speaking to nobody. When you create campaigns to reach your customers online you need to get very specific about who you’re targeting. Without narrowing in on your target market you run the risk of wasting your precious time and money.
Spend time up front getting very clear on who your ideal customer actually is, then market specifically to them and them alone.
3. You Don’t Track Your Competitors
At the very least you need to be aware of what your competitors are doing in the online space. By digging into the things they’re doing that are successful you’ll be able to avoid costly mistakes and pick up guidance about where you should focus your efforts.
For example, maybe you’ve found that one of their blog posts has done incredibly well. Instead of reinventing the wheel you could create something similar, but with your own unique flair.
Chances are if your competitors are succeeding with digital marketing you can take a lot of cues from them about what areas to focus your attention on.
4. You Spend Too Much Time on Social Media
Social media can be a valuable asset to your business. But, it can also be a huge time sink. Going on social media without a specific plan can truly eat your whole day away.
Before you even login to social media or create a business page, you need to be clear on the reasons why you’ll be using this platform and the goals you have for each platform.
It’s also important to only spend time on the social media platforms that are getting you results.
5. You Haven’t Diversified Your Strategy
Honing in on the most effective digital marketing channels is very important, and it can truly help you grow your revenue. However, when you’re just getting started you’ll want to diversify your efforts as much as possible.
This way you’ll be able to see what’s actually working before you spend all your time on that activity. For example, maybe you
6. You Focus Too Much on Yourself
Only talking about yourself and your business is a quick way to turn off your customers. Every single one of your marketing campaigns should operate from the perspective of serving your customer. Before you run any kind of campaign ask yourself, what’s in it for them?
Your customers will be much more perceptive towards a marketing campaign that speaks to their needs and interests, rather than the benefits it can bring to your business.
7. You Didn’t Do Proper Research
Research for digital marketing takes a myriad of forms. For example, you need to do proper keyword research to focus your SEO strategy. You’ll need to do competitor research and marketing research to help craft your content strategy. And that’s just the beginning.
Spending time to research your market and space will help you create an actionable digital marketing strategy that gets you results, instead of you just spinning your wheels.
Hopefully, the tips above have been helpful in pointing out any mistakes you’re currently making. If you want some help with your existing digital marketing strategy, or want to create one from scratch, then reach out to our team today.
