6 Mistakes Marketers Make and How to Fix Them
For many organizations, digital marketing is new territory. The concept of leveraging one-to-many communications via open channels on the Internet is something new for most companies and brands. It's important to understand some of the common mistakes that will turn fans into foes, or leave your company-wide open to attacks from detractors who are waiting to jump on any social media missteps. So here are 6 mistakes marketers make and how to fix them.
- You Don't Have all the Time in The World – the biggest mistake marketers make is thinking that they have all the time in the world to create a successful social media campaign. In reality, successful social media takes time and care to develop strategies, monitor them for effectiveness, and of course cultivate an ongoing following that can help you scale your success.
- Guessing without precision – One of the main reasons marketers have a tough time creating successful social media strategies is because they are using inaccurate or incomplete data to make decisions about what works and what doesn't. Social monitoring tools can help you understand who the key influencers are within your industry, which topics are worthy of engaging your audience, and which times of day you should publish your content to ensure that it will be seen.
- Not listening to the customers – Marketers who don't take the time to understand their customers' wants and needs are making a mistake. Digital marketing is to be used as a conversation about your brand, not a monologue. It's important to engage your audience, find out what they are looking for, and then meet them where they are. Content that is self-centred or too promotional will not be shared, commented on, or liked by others.
- Being lazy with your efforts – The excuses marketers come up with because of lack of time or resources are inexcusable excuses. Social media isn't about how many followers you have or which tools you use. It's about engaging in purposeful one-to-one conversations with your customers, prospects, and stakeholders to establish trust and find out what they want.
- Showing a lack of creativity – Digital marketing is not just another advertising platform where marketers can push their messages out to the world and expect to see conversions. In the words of a famous marketer, "Digital marketing is a party – and you better bring something." The tasteless approach is about your company or brand wanting to please everyone and doing it by broadcasting content without gaining any feedback from the audience first so they can adjust their strategy accordingly. Nobody likes the person who walks into a party and immediately starts spouting off about themselves without taking time to get to know anyone else in the room.
- Coming off as manipulative – social media is all about engagement, influence, and trust. Content that is carefully crafted by marketers to coerce someone into doing something may make you feel good about yourself, but it's not going to build the kind of relationship that you need to be successful in social media.
How to Fix These Mistakes:
- Understand that social media isn't about you – social media is all about meeting the needs and wants of your audience. What do they care about? What topics are they interested in? How can you engage them in a meaningful conversation to help them solve their problems or achieve their goals?
- Know why you're using digital marketing – if you're not clear on your digital marketing goals, you'll never be able to create a successful strategy. What are you trying to accomplish? By when do you want it done? How will you track success? Is this campaign to support an existing program or initiative or is it designed to meet new goals?
- Don't force anything – don't create content just for the sake of pleasing everyone. Content should be relevant and meaningful to your audience. If you're not sure what they want, ask them! Social media is a great place to get feedback from stakeholders or customers – use it.
- Be social – Be social! Encourage dialogue, answer questions, provide advice only when it's wanted or needed, and ask questions that will spark conversation.
- Don't over-think things – there isn't a magic bullet for all of your digital marketing needs either. Just because someone else did something well doesn't mean you should do the same thing. Do what works best for your business or organization and avoid trying to be someone or something you're not.
- Be human – don't try to manipulate people into doing your bidding by using tricks and other shady techniques. While it may make you feel good, social media is a long-term relationship that requires trust and honesty to succeed.
Now that you know the 6 mistakes marketers make and how to fix them, you can venture out to the digital marketing field a bit more confidently. If you need some extra help, we at We Love Digital Marketing are always down to assist you in any way you need. We're the best digital marketing agency in Canada, and we offer a wide range of digital marketing services such as email marketing, pay-per-click marketing, and website design. We've assisted a long list of organizations to increase their client bases and profits through internet marketing, thanks to our expert and courteous staff. We can improve the site's search engine rankings while also assisting you in designing it at a low cost!
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