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Digital Marketing Mistakes to Avoid

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Digital marketing campaigns are a great way to grow an online audience and develop a brand image. However, with so many options available and even more emerging, some companies don’t know where to start. Below are a few broad guidelines that offer some guidance for brands participating in Internet advertising activities.

 
Too Many Campaigns
 
People launch too many campaigns and don’t see great results because they cannot give them the time and attention required to optimize delivery and generate growing revenue. Both the consumer and the brand image suffer in this case. While enthusiasm and presence are two key factors of a successful digital marketing strategy, having too many ongoing projects can detract from the overall goal. Instead, companies should focus their energy on a few campaigns that they can continually test and re-design to appeal to their audience.
 
 
Not Enough Campaigns
 
On the same note, companies that don’t have enough online activity run the risk of not seeing great results from their efforts. An inconsistent or unorganized campaign schedule may lose the consumers’ attention because they either forget about the brand or don’t understand what service or product a company offers. Digital marketing strategies entail a balance of consistent activity and consistent content. Just as bombarding the audience with advertisements and ongoing promotions alienate users, random and misguided campaigns are just as detrimental.
 
Copying Everyone Else
 
Using the same strategies as other brands, especially those in the same industry, isn’t always the best idea. Having a unique and creative approach to reaching audience members not only allows a brand to form its own identity, it intrigues consumers because they’re seeing something new or exciting that other companies aren’t doing. Furthermore, mimicking the promotional techniques and ad formats of other brands might make consumers think that a company is lazy or unauthentic. As a rule, brands should strive to create original content that offers value and enjoyment to their followers.
 
Ignoring the Consumer
 
What do customers want? Unfortunately, some companies don’t even bother to explore the answer to this critical question. There are so many easy and mostly free ways to learn more about consumers yet brands fail to look deeper into their audience for the sake of meeting their needs. Product reviews, comments on social media profiles, mentions on twitter and even peak sales seasons are ways to better understand when and how customers interact with the brand.
 
Inconsistent Brand Image
 
One of the most important goals of a digital marketing strategy is communicating the brand’s persona to consumers. No matter the venue, companies must develop their image through the content they post and the manner in which they post it. From logos to diction, every activity is a direct reflection of the brand name behind it and campaigns should remain in line with the desired reputation a brand wants to impress upon consumers. A company’s identity should be clear from the start and their online activities should reinforce the different intricacies of everything they offer to their audience.
 
 
Too Many Channels
 
With the development of so many new online networks, especially in the social media space where membership is free and advertising tools are affordable, companies tend to open an account on every platform available. While this is a good idea in theory, it could be a mistake. First, the company needs to consider where their audience spends time. For example, Facebook has a higher number of members ages 25-40 than Twitter. Alternately, Twitter and Instagram are utilized primarily by users aged 13-24. While each of these social media accounts is free to join, posting daily on each of them could be a waste of time if a large share of the target demographic isn’t active on those platforms. Brands should consider how their ideal user seeks information and make themselves readily available in those spaces.
 
Overall, a digital marketing strategy is tricky to master. Companies must constantly consider new ways of reaching their audience and releasing content that matters. In reality, there is no right or wrong way to do things simply because consumer needs constantly evolve and something that didn’t work before may see great results in coming months. Still, the above guidelines outline general ways to avoid sabotaging the efforts companies put towards their online campaigns and should be considered whether a brand is just getting started or has been active for years.
 
This article was originally published by The Mail
Published: March 13, 2015
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Murray Newlands

Murray founded The Mail in 2013, an angel-funded start up publication covering performance marketing and mobile marketing. Murray is also editor of www.moneymakerdiscussion.com and is best known for his video reporting. Murray is an advisor to a number of Bay Area startups. In 2011 Wiley published his book Online Marketing: A User's Manual. Born in England, Murray moved to the USA in 2011, being recognized by the US government as an alien of extraordinary ability.

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