Top Digital Marketing Mistakes to Stop Making in 2020

Digital marketing can prove frustrating to business owners, because the rules of what works in digital marketing are constantly changing. That’s why it’s beneficial to hire an experienced, dynamic digital marketing agency to manage your web presence and stay up to date with the latest rules and trends in SEO, pay-per-click advertising, social media marketing, and new digital advertising platforms. However, it also helps to check in with an in-house audit of your marketing plan and make sure you aren’t breaking any cardinal rules with your current campaign. Below you’ll find some of the top advertising mistakes businesses are making online in 2020.

Not Maintaining Your Website

Your website is at the heart of your digital presence. It is where all paid advertisements, social posts, and blogs will lead consumers who encounter your brand online. Therefore, it should be continuously updated to improve user experience and offer consumers new, relevant content related to your business.

While many businesses understand the value of adding new blogs other site content, it’s common to neglect technical maintenance that improves your site’s performance. For example, sites may suffer from slow loading times, broken links, or missing meta-descriptions. With SEO services from a specialized digital marketing team, your site maintenance should be taken care of. Still, it can help to run reports Google’s site analytics tools and services like Moz and SEMrush to see for yourself whether your site has any technical errors that need correction.

Not Using Demographic Data

In the days when television and radio ads were king—and even in the early days of digital marketing—the most successful advertising campaigns tended to have mass appeal. Today, however, personalization is key to marketing success. The information age has produced more informed, savvy consumers who are not as receptive to conventional advertising approaches. Modern digital marketing requires courting users through several phases of contact and interest to lead to a buying decision. In order to properly court your audience, you need to know who they are.

Unfortunately, many businesses fail to create a complete picture of their target audience. Thus, their digital marketing efforts suffer. By increasing the use of demographic data and building ideal customer personas, you can better tailor your marketing approach to the people you most want to reach.

Trying to Go Viral with Your Content

Going viral has become a buzzword among digital marketing clients. Often, businesses are under the impression that getting a large volume of views is the best way to grow their consumer base. While a viral video or other piece of media may gain your business an influx of attention, most of the viewers of your content won’t be within your target demographics. In addition, going viral is, by nature, a temporary boom. What’s all over the internet one day can feel like an antique within just a few days or weeks. Even more importantly, viral content is often so popular because it is controversial, shocking, or taboo. So, you may end up losing key members of your audience by trying to go viral. Instead of focusing on the mass appeal of creating viral content, you should focus on gradual, targeted growth for your business. Successful digital marketing in 2020 is not about generating mass appeal. It’s about carefully honing client relationships and gaining long-term brand ambassadors through well curated, high quality content. 

Overspending on Paid Advertisements

Paid advertisements such as banner ads, social media ads, and pay-per-click ads are still relevant in 2020. However, they should only represent a fraction of your digital marketing efforts. Paid advertising is effective for gaining brand recognition and building your audience. However, organic marketing through SEO, social media engagement, and review management all have a high impact on your visibility on the web. If you aren’t seeing many conversions but have a following online, it may be time to shift ad spend to other elements of your digital marketing plan, such as website improvements, landing pages, and email marketing.

Not Engaging with Your Client Base

Consumers expect a personalized experience with digital marketing. Not only does that mean tailoring content to a targeted audience. It also means being part of a conversation with your customers or potential clients. Client engagement may take place on your website, social media platforms, and review sites. Simple actions, such as responding to customer comments and reviews, can create more positive impressions for your audience. For example, seeing that you respond to negative reviews shows that you care about customer feedback and will work to make things right with ongoing customer service. Alternatively, sending a quick thank you in response to positive reviews shows that your business values its customers and their loyalty.

Straying Too Far from What Works

In 2020, the number of advertising opportunities available online may seem overwhelming. It might also be tempting to invest more of your budget into new advertising mediums where you won’t have as much competition. However, you shouldn’t completely ditch old, effective methods in favor of new marketing trends. Ideally, you’ll keep your solid foundation with SEO as the focus. But you can expand into other areas with a gradual, refined approach. For example, you may find that digital streaming audio is an ideal platform for experimental new advertising in 2020, but that shouldn’t overshadow your successful marketing efforts.

Whether you are building your brand reputation or seeking new growth for your existing digital marketing campaign, Salem Surround can develop a modern, effective plan for your business. Our method allows you to surround your audience where they spend most of their time online. So, you can be seen where it matters most. To get started with us, visit our website or call (844) 277-5797.

 
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