Customers don’t respond well to these online marketing transgressions; yet they are very common.
And they could seriously impact your brand image in the long run.
So become aware of these deadly sins, forgive yourself, and make amends to benefit from your online marketing efforts going forward.
Find out if you’re guilty of :
Not having a strategy
Without a plan, your messages will not connect with your target audience.
This is the first sin most businesses commit. Marketing success can never come instantly so take time for planning, experimenting and strategizing if you want to benefit from your digital marketing.
This means – know for sure who your target audience is, where can you find them, what your product can do for them, what will you tell them and how will you tell it to them.
Once you have this, your brand will have a clear voice and message that will be reliably consistent and complete.
Making an effort for marketing and then not following up
Your business doesn’t need to be on every social media platform. Customers might connect with a post, email, photo, article, or anything else that you update through your chosen marketing channels. If you do not follow up and update your posts on social media regularly, then you risk losing the interest of those customers. Equally, responses on live chat when customers reach out to you, are valued by customers and if you do not respond, you risk alienating your customers. It is therefore better to remove your presence from the social media channels that you cannot keep up with, rather than having a ‘dead’ presence on too many places. Stay updated and fresh and be more skillful in leading consumers to social media accounts that are ‘alive’.
In case you do need to abandon a channel, do it professionally by first issuing a warning announcement and giving it time before finally removing your presence there.
Not removing outdated offers
Don’t ever do this! You really don’t need to be a digital marketing guru to know the value of removing outdated offers from your website. Enough said!
Not measuring and tracking your digital marketing performance
Whether you are using paid advertising, organic traffic generating methods, or just monitoring your website, the ability to track the performance of all of this is incredibly important for your online business. This is how you can make the most of what’s working and improve your strategy.
So stop making incorrect assumptions and start working on real data instead.
Including too many buzzwords, Calls-to-Action and not educating potential customers
No – don’t always only sell; don’t be too pushy and certainly don’t confuse visitors to your website with too many Calls-to-Action. Stick to one or two options like a “sign up for a subscription” button or an invitation to “like” an Instagram post. Simple.
Your audience isn’t going to be interested in reading poorly written, unimaginative content too. So use buzz words sparingly, and focus instead on building a genuine story and giving real value.
Remember, informed and empowered customers are more satisfied and confident with their choices. So keep content marketing customer-centric to build authority, credibility and trust with your potential buyers. This makes them understand your company’s unique selling proposition and message better too.
Ignoring the basics for social media posts
Yes, you must use some channels of social media to market your online store. But this must be done well to be effective. Pay attention to ensure that you have –
- Articles, newsletters or posts and pictures that are informative and entertaining for your customers.
- Photographs that are attractive
- Links that lead back to your own web pages so that google and search engines understand the importance of your web pages
- That you update content regularly and consistently.
Selling to everybody!
Don’t be greedy; that is the definition of a stage set for failing as a small business. Instead you must know through deliberate research what are the profiles of your customers so that you can target your campaign effectively, increase engagement, and ultimately improve sales.
So take stock of your digital marketing efforts and if you can see these mistakes being made by your business, and fix them for maximum success.
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