There are many guides out there to the techniques you should use and the aims you should have in sight when you undertake digital marketing – but what about the challenges it presents? What do people commonly get wrong and what should you be trying to avoid? How can you resolve difficult issues and make sure you stay on track for success?
Starting without a plan
The single most common error made in this field is jumping in at the deep end with no thought about strategy. You can work all day and all night, pour massive financial resources into it and still have all your efforts come to nothing if you have no plan. That’s because the internet is simply so big that uncoordinated activities may as well be invisible. To avoid this, set clear goals from the start and focus not just on selling your products or services but on building your brand.
Creating the wrong impression
A large part of brand-building is about building trust. This means that you have to make a good impression on your customers, and you have to do so consistently. Beyond the basics of managing the sales process efficiently and being honest when describing what you’re selling, you need to think about what your company’s values are and how you want to communicate them. Never let a single social media post or comment to a customer send a contrary message, even as a joke.
Failing to focus
No matter how ambitious and hardworking you may be, you can’t reach everybody through digital marketing so it’s vital that you focus on select groups of people: your target customers. This means you need to do your research first and carefully tailor your campaign, working out the best and most cost-effective ways to reach particular demographics.
Failing to track results
When you’re investing money in marketing, you need to know what you’re getting in return. You need to be able to track the results of every small innovation so that you can find out what works most effectively. The Amazon ACOS guide is a useful way to learn how this works and Amazon ACOS makes it easy to manage in practice. If you sell through multiple outlets you should make sure that you can access comparable information from each.
Taking on too much
There are so many options when you first try out digital marketing that it’s easy to find yourself overwhelmed. Many businesses get in trouble by taking on more than they can sustain. Whether it’s email list management, social media activity or blogging frequency, be careful to set realistic targets. Think not only about what you’re doing now but about the workload you expect to have going forward. A narrow but consistent approach is much better than a broad, disorganized one.
Being aware of these issues will help you to manage your digital marketing in a practical way over time. You’ll be able to avoid common pitfalls and focus on getting the results that your business deserves.
