Let’s get one thing straightened out first: digital marketing is not the next big trend you should follow to help your business thrive; it is the biggest trend happening in the world of marketing now. A recent survey performed by ThinkVine claims that over 50% of today’s executives anticipate to spend a lot more of their annual budget on online marketing than on offline marketing in the following 2-3 years.
However, before you spend all your cash on advertising online, it is important to understand that not all strategies work. Targeting customers in the online environment is a lot more challenging than meets the eye. Here are several digital marketing trends to avoid when marketing your business.
Focusing 100% on digital
While many top-tier companies have gone all-in into digital marketing, experts advise you not to do that. An all-in approach is not the smartest strategy to make your brand stand out. Rather than waste your budget on digital channels, a wiser option would be to choose a more balanced methodology. Before getting started, find out how your targeted customers consume media. Get informed and find out how different media strategies can work seamlessly to attain brand objectives and sales.
Have a closer look at your audience and customers, and assess their behavior before spending any cash on a marketing campaign. Get to know them, learn what drives them, and try to reach out – whether that means using the internet and going digital, or using offline advertising channels.
Information overload
We can understand that big data and the internet are alluring. Using social media to craft a digital marketing campaign for your business is common. And yet, information overload can do more harm than good to your reputation. Many marketers fall into the trap of using too much information when gathering info about their audience. They get stuck in the attempt of measuring the data, and eventually end up with information that is useless.
Feel free to assess the efficiency of every ad you place online, but if you can’t comprehensively understand what you want to achieve, it’s unlikely that your collected data will bring any value to your strategy. Rather than create chaos when using analytics and data, it’s better to consider a more empirical approach. Collect data that can solve a business problem, not just to keep it there.
Content overload
Unique content is fundamental to many companies advertising their products and services online. However, owners must understand that many brands with an appreciation for content marketing have people helping them sort it out; and we’re mainly referring to content marketing professionals and advertorial teams.
Apart from having the right people handle your content and develop a content strategy, it is equally important for your company understand content creation and customer reach. Relevancy is key, and every brand should develop content that attracts and differentiates from the competition.
Ignoring mobile customers
In certain industries, mobile marketing is on the rise. However, many businesses that should implement mobile marketing into their strategy, prefer to steer clear of mobile. We all know that many people today use smartphones to access information; and yet, not that many companies use mobile marketing. It is important to figure out a strategy if you want to appeal to tech savvy consumers. Rather than ignore it on the assumption that it’s complicated, businesses should take a risk and experiment as they have lots of options available.
Exaggerating with retargeting
Remarketing (retargeting) is a very smart tool that should be used to get more customers. However, using retargeting abusively can do more harm than good to your brand. Done right, retargeting can be extremely effective, and the outcome can be valuable returning customers. People find this marketing technique annoying, because in all honesty, it can be if you’re not paying enough attention. Use retargeting in moderation, and you should experience incredible returns. Draw people to your website using information they want to read about, and don’t be over-persistent in convincing them to buy a certain product, or read a certain fact.
Bottom line is, there are lots of digital marketing strategies you can use to make your brand known to the masses; from sagepay integration and quality content, all the way to smart retargeting and data analysis. Settle on some clear tactics, define your audience, and build your website from the bottom up, taking one step at the time.
However, before you spend all your cash on advertising online, it is important to understand that not all strategies work. Targeting customers in the online environment is a lot more challenging than meets the eye. Here are several digital marketing trends to avoid when marketing your business.
Focusing 100% on digital
While many top-tier companies have gone all-in into digital marketing, experts advise you not to do that. An all-in approach is not the smartest strategy to make your brand stand out. Rather than waste your budget on digital channels, a wiser option would be to choose a more balanced methodology. Before getting started, find out how your targeted customers consume media. Get informed and find out how different media strategies can work seamlessly to attain brand objectives and sales.
Have a closer look at your audience and customers, and assess their behavior before spending any cash on a marketing campaign. Get to know them, learn what drives them, and try to reach out – whether that means using the internet and going digital, or using offline advertising channels.
Information overload
We can understand that big data and the internet are alluring. Using social media to craft a digital marketing campaign for your business is common. And yet, information overload can do more harm than good to your reputation. Many marketers fall into the trap of using too much information when gathering info about their audience. They get stuck in the attempt of measuring the data, and eventually end up with information that is useless.
Feel free to assess the efficiency of every ad you place online, but if you can’t comprehensively understand what you want to achieve, it’s unlikely that your collected data will bring any value to your strategy. Rather than create chaos when using analytics and data, it’s better to consider a more empirical approach. Collect data that can solve a business problem, not just to keep it there.
Content overload
Unique content is fundamental to many companies advertising their products and services online. However, owners must understand that many brands with an appreciation for content marketing have people helping them sort it out; and we’re mainly referring to content marketing professionals and advertorial teams.
Apart from having the right people handle your content and develop a content strategy, it is equally important for your company understand content creation and customer reach. Relevancy is key, and every brand should develop content that attracts and differentiates from the competition.
Ignoring mobile customers
In certain industries, mobile marketing is on the rise. However, many businesses that should implement mobile marketing into their strategy, prefer to steer clear of mobile. We all know that many people today use smartphones to access information; and yet, not that many companies use mobile marketing. It is important to figure out a strategy if you want to appeal to tech savvy consumers. Rather than ignore it on the assumption that it’s complicated, businesses should take a risk and experiment as they have lots of options available.
Exaggerating with retargeting
Remarketing (retargeting) is a very smart tool that should be used to get more customers. However, using retargeting abusively can do more harm than good to your brand. Done right, retargeting can be extremely effective, and the outcome can be valuable returning customers. People find this marketing technique annoying, because in all honesty, it can be if you’re not paying enough attention. Use retargeting in moderation, and you should experience incredible returns. Draw people to your website using information they want to read about, and don’t be over-persistent in convincing them to buy a certain product, or read a certain fact.
Bottom line is, there are lots of digital marketing strategies you can use to make your brand known to the masses; from sagepay integration and quality content, all the way to smart retargeting and data analysis. Settle on some clear tactics, define your audience, and build your website from the bottom up, taking one step at the time.