Digital advertising is not easy, and the myriad of articles detailing what you should do can become overwhelming. Are you supposed to do it all at once, or pick out one or two strategies?
One way to start is to get an idea of what to avoid. This can help you select the best ways to move forward in your marketing plan. Below, we give our top 8 mistakes with advertising online.
1. Overlooking the Mobile Market
No matter how good your website is, it will be useless if you have not optimized it for mobile. With smartphones becoming the primary method of internet browsing, a company that does not optimize for mobile is losing sales and conversions. A staggering 82% of phone users turn to their phones when making a decision on purchases.
Being optimized does not mean you have to spend money building an app (though that would help a lot). You can have a mobile-friendly website by choosing mobile-friendly themes. Make sure the website loads quickly on mobile by hiring a developer to strip back unnecessary code and installing caching software.
2. Targeting the Wrong Demographic and Audience
To avoid wasting money on PPC advertising and marketing campaigns, you must make sure you have a defined audience to target. You must know who your customers are, and what their age, gender, income, and interests are. Take some time to research this, and ask your current customers for their information and details.
Do not make the mistake of targeting a broad audience. Your ads will be ignored by the majority of people and cost you money. Even if you have a wide spectrum of clients, create custom campaigns for each of your customer types.
3. Not Paying Attention to SEO
Search engine optimization (SEO) far surpasses any other form of internet marketing, because it is free. It is also common knowledge that anyone who searches online is more likely to click on organic links over paid ones. You can not afford to overlook the benefits of SEO.
SEO is not a short-term strategy. You must work at it over a period of time and incorporate it into the content of your website. To do this, you need to develop a full strategy implemented in everything you do.
4. Mistakes With Advertising on Social Media
Social media is another free tool that allows you to reach a customer who is at home or on the move. The real benefit lies in the fact that people choose to follow you, so they already have a degree of trust and engagement with your brand. This can be used to increase the customer experience and drive conversions and leads.
When starting on social media, make sure you spend time on the correct platforms. For example, if you are aiming your product at a business-orientated crowd, a platform like LinkedIn would provide more worth than a youth-focused platform like Tiktok.
5. Not Utilizing Promotions
Promotions, done badly, can make a brand look desperate. However, done correctly in campaigns that are planned well, they can catapult your traffic. Once you have the people on your site, it is likely you can dazzle them with more products and services, getting them to spend even more.
Coupons and discount codes are a great way to do this. You can also use competitions for free items to increase your social media following and brand awareness. Make sure you are offering something of value, and always ask customers to share so more people see the promotion.
6. Failing to Comment
Digital advertising is about building a relationship. Relationships do not work if only one person is responding. You need to spend time on answering questions and having conversations with customers and followers. This can be on social media or blogs.
This does not just mean commenting on your own media. Having conversations online with people in your field or answering questions on sites like Quora can help make you look like an expert in your field. They can increase brand awareness and build trust with potential customers.
7. Failing to Remarket
Acquiring new leads for your business is important, but remarketing to old customers or those who have shown an interest in your website is just as important. These people are the most involved with your brand, as they have either already bought something or are at the final step and just need a nudge.
An easy way to do this is to collect emails from potential leads and send them a reminder, especially if something is left in a shopping cart. You can find out more about marketplace remarketing.
8. Producing Content That Lacks Value
All content that you put out or advertise digitally must have value. It must provide something or be of worth to the customer. One of the worst mistakes someone can make when advertising brands online is putting out content that does not really advertise anything at all.
Go back to your data and see what your audience wants. Have a look at what they are visiting on your site, what is being shared, and what they are downloading. Then brainstorm more content in this vein and use that as part of your digital advertising strategy.
Starting With Online Advertising
Now that you know the mistakes with advertising online, you can begin to work out a sound strategy.
If you need more help and assistance with online marketing and any digital business growth advice, visit our blog. We update daily, and you can keep up to date by bookmarking our website right now!
