As in any industry, there are certain blunders and pitfalls which everyone experiences from time to time. However, for those involved in digital marketing, these mistakes could make the difference between a fantastically successful campaign that boosts sales, customers and the brand’s image – and one that flops completely, having wasted a lot of everyone’s time and money.
Here are the 7 deadly sins of digital marketing, mistakes and bad habits that you must avoid at all costs:
- Overdoing it on social media. Believe it or not, your brand doesn’t have to have a presence on every single social network known to man, nor do you need to post incessantly. Regular engagement with a handful of well-chosen channels will allow you to focus your attention, engage with customers and build your brand.
- Creating an expensive app just for the sake of it. Unless the app is functional or adds something to the user experience, it could be a huge waste of money. So many brands think that optimising for mobile means creating an app, a process which can be a big drain on time, money and resources. It doesn’t – and a website that is simplified, easy to use and displays well on smaller screens is a far better investment.
- Allowing your website to become cluttered and out of date. Your website should be quick and easy to navigate, not filled with clutter, flashing banners and excessive calls to action. This is a trap many brands fall into with web design – thinking they have to cram everything into every page. They also fail to maintain their websites so that they’re up to date – if an offer expired several years ago, take it down. If you haven’t touched your blog since 2012, get a post on there pronto!
- Neglecting mobile. As any digital marketing expert will tell you, a website and marketing emails that are optimised for mobile are absolutely essential. If you neglect mobile, you’re failing your brand.
- Overly aggressive data collection tactics. Web users have become increasingly guarded about their private information, so too many requests to join mailing lists or update details could annoy them. Similarly, emailing without permission or failing to make unsubscribing easy could drive customers away from your brand.
- Putting too much faith in ‘vanity metrics’. Successful digital marketing isn’t about the number of Facebook ‘likes’ or Twitter followers, so don’t use these metrics as indicators of success. If conversions aren’t also on the increase, these metrics mean next to nothing.
- Setting unrealistic goals, or setting no targets at all. Digital marketers need to look ahead and plan campaigns with realistic short and long-term goals. The campaign itself should be geared around these targets, and you should be checking to see if you’re achieving them. If you don’t have clear goals or they are always a moving target, you need to reassess what you’re doing.
Have you fallen victim to any of the above mistakes? Can you think of any other pitfalls that digital marketers need to avoid? Please feel free to share your thoughts.
