To attract more customers, many small business owners focus primarily on offering excellent products and services. While this is essential, there’s an exciting and efficient aspect of business ownership that’s as crucial as delivering outstanding services. What’s that? It’s digital marketing! Surprisingly, digital marketing has transitioned from simply marketing goods and services to be an integral part of businesses. Sadly, though, many small businesses that have taken steps to harness the power of digital marketing are taking the wrong route. So, what are common digital marketing mistakes? In this article, our digital marketing specialists at MyCity Social in Tampa have compiled the 10 most common digital marketing mistakes small business owners make. Thus, if you want to know what can go wrong in digital marketing, read on!
- They Focus On Likes And Follower Count- What’s more important than likes and follower count? Conversion! While having thousands of followers and likes can make your brand more desirable and famous, it doesn’t automatically translate to a successful brand. Therefore, what’s more vital is paying attention to your conversion rate. Conversions are positive actions that make prospects draw closer to your brand and make purchases via your social media pages or website. These involve:
- Filling out contact forms
- Making inquiries or requests
- Calling your support team
- Setting meeting appointments
How do you enhance your conversion rate? Follow these tips:
- Create relevant posts using high-quality videos and images
- Make your website content more mobile-friendly
- Diligently track your metrics
- They Depend Only On Organic Traffic- Has your brand ever tried paid ads? What have you heard? That organic traffic is the alpha and omega? Well, it’s a well-known fact that organic traffic is a strong indicator that you have quality content. It means that what you write addresses what prospects they are looking for online. However, that isn’t enough for success. You’ve got to make wise investments. And that investment involves paid ads. Paid ads bring more relevant and qualified leads as you’ll be able to target specific customers that might want to patronize your brand. Also, they offer measurable results. These include clicks, conversion, and impressions. And these allow you to make the right budget decisions and enhance your results with time.
- They Don’t Know Who Their Audience Are- This is also one of the mistakes small business owners make with digital marketing. Digital marketing allows you to target your ideal audience. But that feat can be achieved if you know who the people you are targeting are. Before you begin a marketing campaign, be sure to do some research. These include:
- Knowing your audience
- Understanding your audience—interests, demographics, online habits, purchase journey, needs, and wants.
- Building a buyer persona and establish a clear image of those you intend to reach
Only by doing that will you figure out who you are directing your campaign and content to. Don’t try to sell to everyone, and don’t shut your eyes to your current customers because you are searching for new consumers.
- They Are On All Platforms With Little Impact- About 75% of all small business owners are guilty of this. They are present on all platforms, yet their impact is nothing special or significant. It’s exciting to be on all platforms, but it’s going to be a waste of time in the long run. You don’t want to pick a social media app because many are using it. Know where your leads are and channel your strength there. It isn’t wise to post on all platforms. Avoiding this mistake will optimize your social profile, develop quality content, and excellently engage with your community. In addition, it’s best to select only platforms you are sure you or your team can efficiently manage. Just prioritize a few things.
- Zero Solid, Specific, And Actionable Plan- Small business owners must design detailed marketing plans. This written plan will guide business decisions. It will also help create a relevant campaign using specific strategies and plans that lead to success. To establish that, here are a few things to consider:
- Who do I want to talk to?
- Why is my business different from my competitors?
- What platforms can I use to reach my customers and potential customers?
- What’s my budget? How much will I need to reach them?
- What do I want people to know about my brand?
Plan now!
- They Pay Small Or Excessive Attention To Competition- You want your business to stand out. Yes, that’s fine! But you can learn a lot from your competitors. That’s why you need to know about their strengths, opportunities they aren’t addressing, and weaknesses. This competitive research will offer insight into what works and what does not. It can also teach you what to do to beat them. But there’s a caution: Don’t mirror what they are doing! If you do, you’ll be missing out on vital things that work well. There might be some decisions they are making that aren’t oblivious to you. Just pay enough attention and implement what you learn to stand out differently!
- Failure To Measure And Track Results- They Forget to track what’s working well in their strategies and what’s not. If you don’t track your results, you won’t know what should be optimized. You might lose or waste money if you fail to pay attention to page traffic, leads, paid ads results, or conversion. Worst of all, your entire brand will miss out on several opportunities.
- Not Implementing SEO- One way to attract organic traffic and gain visibility on Google is to embrace search engine optimization. Since SEO keeps changing, you’ve got to hire experts who utilize current ethical techniques to enhance your ranking in the search results. What happens when small and big businesses hire our experts at MyCity Social for SEO services? They handle all aspects of search engine optimization to allow business owners to pay attention to other parts of their business.
- They Don’t Keep Critics Closer- We aren’t talking about those who deliberately talk your business down. We are speaking of those who leave genuine negative reviews or feedback. Most small businesses pay little attention to that. They leave them un-responded. Well, that’s bad. If you do nothing to acknowledge or address a negative review, it’ll likely impact your business. Rather than thinking of ways to delete a negative review, it’s best to accept and respond to it. Of course, your business isn’t perfect. However, we recommend you respond to negative reviews. Treat negative reviews the way you’ll treat positive reviews.
- Not Patient- If your ads fail to accomplish their initial goal, it’s best to not quit. Instead, be patient. Advertisement isn’t a waste of time at all! Even if it didn’t convert, it’s done something—exposed your brands. Moving forward, you know you can always make wiser decisions when setting up ads. Things will always take shape. Trust the process and work more.
Small Business Owners And Digital Marketing Efforts
Now that you’ve seen some of the digital marketing mistakes to avoid, what’s next? Focus attention on the right thing! This prevents you from wasting energy, time, and money. As a recap, always keep an eye on your conversion rate, take advantage of paid ads, understand your audience, study your competitors, plan, track your progress, implement SEO, and draw closer to your critics. Above all, be patient! If your business hasn’t invested in digital marketing, now is the time to get that done! And if you’ve been, avoid these common mistakes so you can tap into the full benefits of digital marketing.
Hiring A Brand For Your Digital Marketing
If all of these tips seem daunting, you could hire digital marketing specialists who take up the role and allow you to focus more on your products and services. A digital marketing specialist is competent in all SEO marketing areas; they understand how SEO can impact your business. They can measure your SEO success and also make essential adjustments.
In addition, digital marketing specialists have the skills to manage relationships with your clients to build customer loyalty and ensure satisfaction, which will further lead to repeated customers. They also offer expert opinions on how to listen to consumers’ demands and requirements. Finally, they are strategic! Each action they execute has a meaningful purpose. They analyze data and make adjustments to ensure successful techniques are utilized. If you need the best digital marketing specialists to access your business, offer expert advice, and enhance your RIO, speak to our specialists at MyCity Social today!
Contact Us
Do you need further information on the 10 most common digital marketing mistakes small business owners make? We’ve got digital marketing specialists at MyCity Social in Tampa who will evaluate your business to know what it’s lacking and what should be incorporated! Our services are affordable, and we deliver only quality services. We are the best digital marketing specialists locals swear by. For a quote, make sure you contact us now!
