
In the realm of sales and marketing, a lot of things can go wrong. There are so many touchpoints from cold lead, to buyer which leaves room for a lot of missed and lost sales. From shopping basket slowdowns to Facebook marketing pixels, there are a lot of ways your digital marketing could not be working for you. Here are 3 digital marketing mistakes to avoid and fix that you can work on today to start seeing massive results!
If you’ve been struggling with your marketing (which leads to sales), don’t get too discouraged; it’s not easy. The good news: you don’t have to hire expensive marketing agencies to get started online, to build a more authentic brand presence, and to start selling.
If your advertising efforts aren’t converting as much as you would like, you need to start looking at your branding and business strategy with a more holistic approach, instead of focusing on individual tactics. Taking a step back and looking at your customer journey online is a great way to start. Ask yourself these questions:
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Where do people find me online?
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Can someone easily learn more about my company?
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Is it tough to make a purchase?
Starting with these basic questions, you can begin to see ‘holes’ in your efforts, but there’s so much more you can do. If your marketing isn’t as great as it should be, here are three common digital marketing mistakes to avoid with fixes:
Mistake #1: Your brand isn’t consistent.
Gone are the days where you can silo your efforts online. Today’s consumers are savvy, will look you up, and expect your brand to be consistent in every touchpoint they can find you. If you’ve pieced together your digital strategy, without considering each channels’ interconnectivity, your marketing efforts won’t be as effective.
An Omnichannel Approach vs Multichannel Approach
Consumers are now more sophisticated in not only finding you online but investigating your entire digital presence before a purchase. When someone discovers you on Twitter, they will inevitably go to your website, your Facebook page, and investigate your brand many times before they make a purchase.
For many years in the digital marketing space, we assumed that customers had a preferred way to interact with our brands, for example, someone would find you on Facebook, only interact with your Facebook page, maybe join a group. What digital marketers have discovered, is that this is no longer the case — that customers are finding you on Facebook, for example, but quickly Googling you, visiting your website, checking out your Twitter — which is why an omnichannel approach is key.
This omnichannel approach takes on greater significance when it comes to our impact story and brand messages online. Consumers today do not ‘blindly’ purchase, they compare, they research, they read about us pages and online mission statements. They not only want to support you but your impact mission. Make sure your impact and founder story are weaved throughout your marketing to give conscious consumers something to ‘hold onto’ and support.
If your messages, branding, and digital story change from channel to channel, you risk losing trust with your customers. Your brand story must be consistent and clear throughout to build that level of trust and authenticity that modern-day consumers demand.
We might assume that today’s online buyers make quick decisions to buy or not buy, to swipe left, or swipe right but that is only part of the story. If your brand does manage to get someone’s attention, buyers will do a lot more research before making a purchase. Knowing your customer journey’s with your company online is the first step in making sure all of your marketing efforts will pay off.
Are you weaving the same brand messages throughout the many touchpoints they can find you? Is your impact story front and center in all that you do? Do you give people a reason to purchase from your company other than the product (think impact)? If you can do these things effectively, you will be able to break through the digital noise that competes for attention and find more ways to build authentic connections to your customers.
With an omnichannel approach, you are looking at all of your messaging as one entity, vs creating specific content for each channel that may or may not conflict with each other. This includes making sure your visual brand is consistent as well. Use the same brand colors, logo, tagline, description of your company in every digital channel. While your approach to each channel might differ, your brand voice and values should remain the same. This signals to a new customer that you have a trustworthy brand, and consumers want to buy from those brands they trust (and feel like they know).
Mistake #2: You’re spending too much money in the wrong channels.
While Adwords and Facebook marketing has their place, too many companies rely solely on these channels to get buyers when there are more effective ways to get sales.
If you have been sinking money into digital ads and not seeing the results that you would like, it might be time to shift some of those funds to more effective efforts such as SEO and content marketing.
In this Return on Marketing Spend chart, you can see that the most effective way to spend your money is not in Google Adwords, or Facebook marketing but on SEO and content strategy.
Why SEO and content strategy is so effective?
When we are looking to buy something, where is the first place we go? Google, right? We look up a product, get reviews, see real people testimonials. We find alternatives, then maybe we make a buying decision. Today’s SEO efforts are more than just cramming your content with relevant keywords. A smart content strategy thinks about conversion rate optimizations, as well as building content that attracts the right people to your website, and building the right traffic.
If you are spending a lot of money on less effective channels, it might be time to shift some efforts and funding to SEO and content strategy. We’re not just talking about blogging here, but making sure your website is designed and functioning to take advantage of every lead that comes to your site.
Here are some questions you should ask:
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Once someone lands on my site, can they easily find my about us page and learn more about my company?
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Without using ‘search’ on my site, can users find relevant content easily?
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Do I have a clear call to action on every piece of content?
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Is my site confusing and tough to navigate through?
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Is my visual brand consistent throughout my website and social media channels?
If any of these questions are ‘no’, you are not taking advantage of one of the most powerful parts of your marketing — your website. Before you invest more money into other digital channels, make sure your website is effective for not only finding leads but converting those interested ‘views’ into real buys!
Mistake #3: Your ads are not personalized enough.
Many of us assume that putting out the widest net possible, then seeing what ‘sticks’ is the best way to execute our digital marketing strategies. This may have worked in the digital marketing boom a few years ago, but these tactics are ineffective and costly today.
Knowing who your customer is, their fears, their desires, where they look for information, how they make buying decisions… these are all crucial to your overall marketing strategy. Getting key demographics is a start, but getting to the real motivations of your buyers is even more valuable.
If you haven’t been talking to your customers, now is the time to start. Getting honest feedback will help you personalize and shape those messages that speak directly to their values.
Last month I had the honor of meeting the General Manager of TOMS, Mark Brasier in Toronto, even got to tour the showroom. There, we not only discussed the evolution of the brand but the evolution of their marketing and messaging.
One of the many things we discussed was how to get honest feedback from your customers. It is so important to not only talk to your customers but to get honest feedback from them as well. That’s the only way you are going to improve your business social and economic profit. Knowing how your customers feel about your brand and others in the market is key.
62.26% of customers feel happy and excited to respond to a specially tailored message from the retailer (Source: Smart Insights).
That’s why Mark will sometimes go ‘incognito’ into a store that sells TOMS and ask people about his company. From these conversations, you quickly get a view of the health of your company through the lens of your customers and the public. Most people (when faced with an online survey, for example) are going to tell you how much they love your product, your impact — instead, be like Mark and make sure you find a way to get the entire truth. From there, you can make the changes that work for your marketing messaging and personalize the messages to speak directly to your consumers’ values.
Personalization can take many forms. If your brand is too broad, try niching down to a market to a specific sector of your audience, or brand yourself as a subject matter expert. Today’s online audiences don’t necessarily resonate with larger brands, but with the ones that fit them like a glove.
For example, you are starting up a cat photography business and are looking for some marketing tips. Would you rather sign up for a marketing course from Cat Photographers Marketing Academy, or Acme Noname Marketing Group? The answer is simple. People not only gravitate towards niche campaigns, but they buy from them.
Still struggling with marketing? You’re not alone.
Building an audience and finding the right customers isn’t easy. Whether you are just starting or trying to introduce a new product into the market, smart advertising takes time and effort and many of us don’t get it right on the first try.
Getting back to the basics of marketing is always a good idea. Knowing your customers, creating a consistent brand throughout all your touchpoints, and weaving your niche, personalized brand story in all that you do will amplify your marketing efforts tremendously.
Leave your comments below to tell us what digital marketing mistakes you’ve made! We’d love to hear them!
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