It’s not just you. Across different industries and company sizes, there are common mistakes that marketers make when it comes to their digital marketing. And it’s no surprise: we’re all scrambling to figure out new strategies in the Digital Era. But the worst part? These most common digital marketing mistakes are so simple, you may not even know you’re making them…and they may be costing you money.
Mistake #1: Providing A One-Size-Fits-All Marketing Experience
Whether you’re B2B or B2C, one of the main things that makes digital marketing so exciting is the ability to segment customers and provide a unique experience for each buyer persona. Rather than approaching every customer as if they’re all the same, focus on creating campaigns and experiences that target them based on their specific needs and (if you’re B2C, specifically) demographics. Your customers don’t fit into a single category, so neither should your marketing.
Mistake #2: Neglecting Analytics
One of the costliest things any marketer can do is to ignore analytics. Creating content, social media campaigns, PPC campaigns, etc. and not tracking which of them are connecting with customers most successfully defeats the purpose of all the marketing you did in the first place. Every marketer should be tracking the impact of their efforts—and tweaking their strategy to be more successful based on the analysis.
Mistake #3: Failing to Make the Most of Key Integrations
Plunging forward into the Digital Era without leveraging key integrations is a big mistake. No man is an island, and neither is any marketing department. Consider the areas in your strategy where you need extra support and forge the necessary partnerships to make them stronger.
Mistake #4: Forgetting That the Offline World and the Digital World Are Linked More Closely Than Ever—Thanks to Mobile
Forgetting that mobile is a part of the digital marketing picture is one of the costliest mistakes that any marketer in any industry can make. After all, smartphones make it possible for a consumer to connect to the real world from the digital world with just the tap of a ‘call’ button, and they’re doing so at record rates. In 2014, there were 37.9 billion calls to businesses from mobile search alone (BIA/Kelsey). As you craft your digital marketing strategy, don’t leave out this crucial piece. You’re leaving out 37.9 billion opportunities to connect with customers.
Mistake #5: Not Optimizing Social Media Activity Based On New Information
Ignoring Facebook’s algorithm change, for example, is a mistake too many marketers are making. In January of this year, Facebook introduced a major update to its Newsfeed algorithm that significantly diminishes the reach of promotional posts on company pages. In November 2014, Twitter overhauled its on-site search engine to allow users to search through every Tweet posted since 2006. Optimizing your social media activity based on this information is crucial—operating for the future based on information from the past is useless. For Facebook, consider using organic posts only for value-adding, non-promotional content—use the paid platform for new products, offers to install an app, etc. For Twitter, ensure every tweet you craft has SEO-like qualities of hashtags, links, and other qualities so that when Twitter users search for relevant content, they find you easily.
Have you noticed any other common mistakes that marketers are making in the Digital Era? Leave a comment pointing them out! In the meantime, if you want to learn more about the role of mobile in today’s marketing world, access this free on-demand webinar, The Role of Mobile Optimization in 2015.