Mistakes happen.
But it’s not the end of the world. In fact, most mistakes won’t set you back far, if at all. Forgot to publish your podcast yesterday? Don’t stress. Push it out today and Tweet a reminder.
Some mistakes, on the other hand, are less obvious.
There are a handful of common mistakes unique to digital marketing that can cause serious harm to your business, especially if left unresolved. By understanding and foreseeing potential errors, and acting promptly on each issue as it arises, you’ll be able to prevent potential mistakes from turning into actual nightmares.
Let’s take a look at the most important mistakes your business needs to avoid.
Unclear Goals
There’s no such thing as “winging it” with digital marketing. You can wing that chicken casserole, but a successful digital marketing campaign requires some serious prep work.
Failing to set goals from the beginning is one of the most common mistakes businesses make.
Establish clear objectives from the outset, and set process orientated goals that support each objective. Each goal should be tracked and measured to ensure you’re sustainably hitting your intended milestones. With clear goals in mind, businesses can easily identify the parts of their digital marketing strategy that show success—as well as the ones that do not. Catch poor performing parts of your campaign early on, and you’ll avoid the biggest 404 error you’ve ever seen in your life.
No Mobile Focus
It’s hard to believe that in 2017 this still needs mentioning, but here goes: prioritise mobile.
For years, mobile has risen steadily in traffic reports, ad revenue and conversion rates. In fact, global mobile users exceeded desktop users way back in 2013. Unless we’re working, most of prefer browsing online content from a phone or tablet while we’re waking up or winding down.
Without a mobile focus, you risk losing potential customers and connecting with roughly half of all online users. The longer businesses wait to adopt mobile, the harder it will be to attract attention, generate brand awareness and retain customers.
Poor Email Marketing
There are two email marketing pitfalls that businesses face when it comes to digital marketing campaigns:
· Bad A/B testing
· Obscure subject lines
A/B testing should be performed on a sizeable pool of observations—about 1000 per test. Not only does a larger pool have more statistical importance, but more observations tend to show consistent results when repeatedly put to the test.
Obscure subject lines—while certainly more creative and interesting than clear subject lines—simply don’t generate the number of click-throughs an otherwise “safe” subject line would receive. Stick to writing clear, punchy subject lines that are upfront about the value of your content.
Neglecting Analytics
When it comes to digital marketing, those numbers really do matter. By observing micro-trends alongside big picture developments, you’ll gain the kind of insight other businesses fail to see. Some important analytics to consider include conversion rates and lead generation—two metrics that enable you to locate and expand on the elements of your campaign that are actually contributing meaningful growth.
Spare a Headache and Avoid Digital Marketing Mistakes
Digital marketing is challenging, and mistakes are bound to slip through the cracks. But if you can identify key troublemakers early on, you’ll be able to avoid the types of missteps that can doom a digital marketing campaign before it even begins.
About the Author
Sertan Djelal is head of online at Five Geckos Digital Marketing. He has worked as an online marketing consultant and strategist for over 14 years, having held positions both in-house as well as agency side, working with a variety of businesses and brands, supporting them to improve their online presence, web visibility & SEO.