Top Digital Marketing Mistakes (And How to Use Data to Avoid Them)

Marketing Strategy
"There are quite a few potential pitfalls when it comes to digital marketing. The good news is these issues often stem from one of four major missteps. By being aware of these hurdles, you can prevent quite a few smaller related mistakes."
by Shelby Dennis

If one thing’s for sure these days, it’s that we’re living in the digital age. This means your business has to adapt to modern times. The best way to stay relevant is with data-driven digital marketing.

If your first reaction to that statement is worrying about digital marketing mistakes, you aren’t alone. A recent study found 44% of companies engage in digital marketing, but don’t have an actual strategy. (1)

The thing is, your customer base, revenue, and branding can all be impacted by online marketing—good or bad.

Good marketing is based on data and the way our brains respond to certain triggers. Bad marketing, on the other hand, can often be chalked up to a major oversight or mistake. Especially if you’re new to advertising online, there are four common errors you may not be aware of.

Top 4 Digital Marketing Mistakes You Might Be Making

There are quite a few potential pitfalls that you might encounter when you first dive into digital marketing for your business. The good news is, these issues often stem from one of four major missteps:

1. Not Having A Blog

Today, it’s not enough to just market your business, products, and services. You have to establish your brand as a trustworthy and knowledgeable leader in your industry.

When you regularly publish blog posts that are relevant to your audience, share valuable information, and written in a tone that appeals to your readers, you’ll naturally start to create customer trust and loyalty.

As an added bonus, data-driven blog topics positively impact your SEO. Every entry can help your website rank higher in Google search results. Not having a blog means your competitors will rank higher, and you’ll miss the opportunity to connect with potential customers.

2. Targeting A Broad Audience

The old adage about casting a wide net sounds logical, but it just doesn’t apply to online marketing. Spending your budget trying to reach the maximum number of people is simply inefficient.

Before you publish anything, narrow down and clearly define your target audience. Do enough research to really understand what this audience wants, needs, fears, and loves. Once you have a solid grasp of your target market, it becomes simple and cost-effective to reach them.

If you insist on targeting an extremely broad audience, you’ll either spend more than is necessary or find yourself spread too thin. People today are too complex and unique for broad, generalized marketing to have an impact.

3. Under-utilizing Keyword Research

Keyword research is a huge part of successful data-driven marketing. This research helps you focus on SEO and target the topics which are most important to your audience.

Basically, you need to figure out the most relevant keywords for your industry that are also frequently searched for by potential customers. Once you find keywords that meet both requirements, you can start publishing blogs or content around those topics.

Utilizing this research before you start distributing your marketing pieces is absolutely crucial. If you don’t, you’re very likely to spend your marketing budget distributing content that your potential customers will never find. Fortunately, an SEO agency like Incognito Logic can also help you with this step.

4. Not Evaluating Your Data

Utilizing your keyword research is only part of the equation. As you publish pieces based on your keyword research, you’ll also need to evaluate data from the results.

Find out your ranking for each keyword, the traffic generated by each keyword, and whether or not searchers for that keyword become paying customers. If you aren’t evaluating your data and adjusting as needed, it doesn’t matter how good your content creation is – no one will discover or see any of it. 

The Best Way To Avoid Bad Digital Marketing

Being aware of these common missteps is a great way to avoid them, but it’s not the best way. As a newbie to online advertising, you have years of tips and information to absorb before you’re anywhere near expert-level. The odds of you having time to learn it all is low, considering how busy you already are.

Hiring a data-driven SEO agency to spearhead your digital marketing is a foolproof solution. By hiring an expert, you will enjoy the benefits of digital marketing expertise with none of the headache and hassle.

Picture reaching a far wider audience without having to do any of the guesswork or wasting money on fruitless ads. That kind of frustration-free business ownership can be yours.

A new golden era for your business is within your reach. Whether you take a risk on doing it all yourself or opt for a guaranteed quick success with the help of an agency, there’s no end the power of digital marketing.

References
  1. Forbes, Five Tips For Creating A Successful Digital Marketing Strategy, https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbescommunicationscouncil/2021/04/15/five-tips-for-creating-a-successful-digital-marketing-strategy/?sh=56c693de5221
Shelby Dennis

Shelby initially became known for using her management experience from several very unique niches to solve her clients’ challenges in new and creative ways. As the daughter of two successful small business owners, she knows the value of staying relevant and constantly evolving in an ever-changing landscape.

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Shelby Dennis

Shelby Dennis

Author

Shelby initially became known for using her management experience from several very unique niches to solve her clients’ challenges in new and creative ways. As the daughter of two successful small business owners, she knows the value of staying relevant and constantly evolving in an ever-changing landscape.