6 Digital Marketing Mistakes to Avoid
We spend a lot of our time and focus a lot of our efforts on showing businesses and brands what to do with their marketing. Today we’re going to take a bit of a different approach and relate to you the top 6 digital marketing mistakes to avoid if you’re a brand or business.
Why? We commend businesses that take the time to market themselves, so we want to make sure that we equip you with the right tools to do so properly and to stand out in the marketplace.
Let’s get into it!
1. Ignoring Mobile
This should no longer have to be a selling point. We all have cell phones at this point and interact more with our phones than any other device we own. More than our televisions, our computers, and our tablets. Because of this, many social media platforms focus mainly on providing a mobile-first experience. We saw this to be true when Instagram first launched in 2010 and today with TikTok.
Make sure that your website is mobile-friendly and think of the user’s experience on your website while they’re on their mobile devices. Think of the menus, the fonts, the colors, the images, etc. Yes, make your website look beautiful while on the computer, but don’t skip on what we believe to be the main experience for users today and going into the future…mobile.
2. Not Using Graphics
This is a nod to our last blog 5 Instagram Marketing Strategies for 2022, where we talked about the importance of visual and graphic representation. We have a much shorter attention span than we used to, and this has become more and more true with each generation because of the advancements in technology. Because of this, we need attention grabbers or what we call in the industry, “scroll stoppers.”
If you’re leveraging social media, email marketing, or your website, make sure not to make it too wordy, and try incorporating images when you can. This helps give readers a break from all the text and the monotony of longer-form content.
3. Not Using Video
As kind of a continuation of mistake #2, we see the lack of effort when it comes to video marketing. With the launch of YouTube in 2004, Instagram in 2010, and now TikTok, we are heading toward a very video-based world. Actually, we’d dare to say we’re already there. Content being consumed today by users is mainly through video, especially short-form videos.
We still recommend businesses learn how to master long-form video, but we are excited about where we are today with short-form. Why? Short-form video requires less effort than long-form. Typically a shorter video requires little to no scripting, less staging, and little to no editing. If you have a cell phone, it’s easy to hold the camera toward yourself, hit record, and say what you have to say for about a minute.
Pro tip: When shooting short-form video. Always hold your phone in a vertical position, as these shorts are really meant for TikTok, Instagram Reels, Facebook Reels, Snapchat, and YouTube Shorts which are all vertical-based.
4. Not Using Email Marketing
As much as we preach about social media, we still hold true to old-school email marketing. You might be reading this because you came from our email newsletter. Some argue that the open rate of emails is not what it used to be, so they no longer want to focus on email marketing. Although this is true, we still strongly recommend and push email marketing. Why? Being top of mind.
Our goal with email marketing apart from providing value through our content is to be top of mind because we’re putting another piece of content out there. So, when our contacts see our emails pop up, they see our company name and subject line, keeping us top of mind especially if we do it frequently.
Email marketing also works great for its traditional use. Do you have a current promotion? A new product? News? Sending an email blast out is great because you’re already working with a warm audience versus a new/cold audience through advertising.
5. Not Storytelling
We get it. When it comes to marketing and advertising our goal is to bring in more business. In the early days of advertising, you would be able to put out an advertisement that promoted the business and get people to walk it. It simply just worked. That’s not where we are anymore. It takes a lot more convincing to get people to buy your product or use your service. Why? We believe it’s because of the saturation in the marketplace and because of the lack of trust new buyers have when it comes to businesses.
In order to convince customers to buy from you, your business will need to leverage storytelling. What does this mean? It means the information and content you’re putting out in the world isn’t solely focused on sales. If you focus on content or ads that are strictly sales-based, it will turn off many potential customers. People don’t want to be sold, so stop selling them. Instead, focus on their pain points and see how you could help them. This will naturally segue to a sale.
Pro tip: Start creating more social media content that focuses on providing value or inviting the audience to see the backend of your business. The more personal you get with your audience, the more trust you will build, and the more chances of closing the deal.
6. Not Consulting a Digital Marketing Agency
This is a shameless plug but we believe it to be true. Businesses fear being tied into a long-term contract with an agency or being sold a marketing product. But, what most businesses don’t know is that many agencies provide free consultations at the beginning to assess where they’re at.
We recommend you take advantage of a free 30-minute call or zoom meeting so a company like ours could asses your current efforts and give you advice on where you need to be.
And there you have it. Your top 6 Digital Marketing Mistakes to Avoid for businesses and brands.
Good Luck and Good Marketing!