Creating a competitive digital marketing strategy is a fundamental part of reaching and engaging today’s consumer. However, many businesses’ poor approach to planning and execution is hindering them from achieving success in digital marketing. If this sounds like your business, then it is time to take a step back and re-evaluate your strategy. This blog post will help you do so by highlighting five common digital marketing mistakes to avoid in 2021. It will also provide tips on how you can rectify these mistakes. This will enable you to correct the things you are doing wrong and avoid making the same mistakes in future. It’s never too late to change. So, here are five digital marketing mistakes to avoid in 2021.

1) A lack of clarity surrounding your audience and goals.

The first step in creating a winning digital marketing strategy is identifying your target audience and establishing goals for what you are aiming to achieve. Many marketers make the fundamental mistake of trying to target too wide an audience and end up reaching no one as a result. To avoid this fatal error, you must know who your ideal customer is. Knowing your customer is the foundation of any strong digital marketing strategy. The most effective means of gaining clarity on who your target audience is is creating Buyer Personas for your customers. This approach will allow you to develop a deep understanding of your customers’ interests, pain points and behaviour. Buyer personas will help shape your strategies and reveal the most effective channels to invest in for maximum return.

Another common mistake marketers make is the failure to clearly define their digital marketing goals. Setting clear, measurable goals is essential as it provides direction and makes it easier for you to gauge your digital marketing success. Whether your aim is increased traffic or better engagement, ensure you set a measurable goal so you can track your outcomes. When setting goals ensure you follow the SMART acronym. SMART goals are:

2) Focusing on your products instead of your audience.

Many businesses make the mistake of focusing their digital marketing strategy solely on their products instead of their customer. This means they end up neglecting customer interaction. To avoid this fatal error, your business should strive to answer the following fundamental consumer question ‘What’s in it for me?’. This means consistently creating value through customer-centric content across all marketing channels. Your content should foster meaningful interaction with your consumer and create an online community. In the long term, an online community will promote brand loyalty which will ultimately boost sales.

Additionally, an online community provides you with detailed information on who your customer is, what influences their purchasing behaviour and how to improve your offering to meet their wants and needs. An example of a brand who have achieved incredible growth largely as a result of their online community is Gymshark, one of the fastest-growing fitness apparel brands in the world.

3) Not having a blog for your website.

Having a blog for your website is a must. Why? Blogging plays a crucial role in driving traffic to your site. According to Hubspot, businesses that have a blog get 55% more website visitors than those who don’t. As well as driving traffic to your site, blogging also helps your website improve its rank in search engine results and gain authority within your field. Despite this, many businesses do not have a blog or abandon blogging after a few posts. If you are one of these businesses then you are missing out on the opportunity to grow online that blogging provides. To avoid this digital marketing mistake and get the most out of having a blog, you should ensure that you post regularly, generate quality content and engage with your audience in the comments section. Consistency is key.

4) Not honing your SEO strategy.

Neglecting search engine optimisation (SEO) is detrimental to your business and should be avoided at all costs. If you have not prioritised SEO as part of your digital marketing strategy, your audience won’t be able to find your website in the search results. This means you lose out on valuable traffic and leads. Patience is essential when implementing an SEO strategy and many businesses make the mistake of not giving it time to start showing results. 

There are plenty of guides available online to help you gain a strong understanding of SEO. The most important thing you need to be aware of when implementing an SEO strategy is keyword research. Researching keywords allows you to target the queries of your audience. Including keywords that are relevant to your audience on your website and blog enables you to show up in search results and reach valuable leads. As well as keyword research, you must follow other SEO best practices such as:

• Creating high-quality content that creates value for your customer.
• Including authoritative backlinks.
• Adding visuals and interactive content to improve dwell-time.

However, search engine algorithms are continuously evolving so you must keep up to date with the latest SEO best practices to stay competitive. Working with a digital marketing agency can be a smart move to advance your SEO strategy. To learn more about how a digital marketing agency can benefit you, book a consultation with us today. 

5) Not measuring ROI.

Establishing the return on investment (ROI) of your digital marketing strategies is vital. Making the mistake of not doing so and blindly allocating funds, means you will be unable to determine the success of each strategy. Continuing to use ineffective strategies will negatively impact your financial position in the long run. Calculating your ROI will allow you to avoid this mistake, continue to do what is working and change what is not. 

Calculating your ROI may seem daunting but it is much simpler than it sounds. The first step is establishing what you’re measuring, for example, traffic or leads. Once you have decided what the goal of your campaign is, you are ready to calculate ROI. Follow these steps to do so: 

1. Take the financial gain from your investment and minus the cost of the investment.
2. Divide that number by the total cost of your investment.

It really is that simple. Ensure that you calculate ROI for all campaigns in the future.

Conclusion

Is your business currently making any of these digital marketing mistakes? If so there is no need to be discouraged. Once you have acknowledged the mistakes you are making, you can follow the steps we have laid out to avoid making them again in the future. If you require any further guidance on creating a competitive digital marketing strategy, then make sure you contact us today to find out how we can help.