The benefits of pursuing a sound digital marketing strategy have been proven in the last few years. At a time when most businesses struggled to stay afloat during the pandemic, businesses, which had been able to make the digital transformation saw successes.
Search engines like Google and social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok have almost become second nature to human beings.
The increased sales of smartphones in developing countries, aided by the rise of internet connectivity has means that millions more are emerging as target audiences for businesses.
While the advantages of internet marketing for both big and small businesses have been written about, not a lot of attention has been given to the mistakes, which should be avoided.
In this article, we speak to the best tech and marketing minds over at Exults Marketing and ask them about the five most common internet marketing mistakes businesses should stop making right away.
Table of Contents
Internet Marketing: Meaning and Definition
Internet marketing has been called Online or Digital marketing as well. It relates to the promotion of a brand and its products or services on digital platforms like search engines and social media. Creating a business website, running ecommerce, having social media pages, creating Google AdWords campaigns are some of the few aspects of internet marketing.
Internet Marketing allows smaller businesses to compete with the bigger ones, on a level playing field. It also ensures that the right strategies, thought and content can play a major role in a business reaching out to its target audiences, communicating its proposition, and converting them into sales.
With the pandemic raging all over the world, businesses should look to make the digital transformation as soon as possible. This is primarily because there has been a marked change in the way users are consuming information on the internet.
List of 5 Internet Marketing Mistakes to Avoid in 2021
Not Creating a Customer Profile for your Business-
Businesses need to sit down with their agencies and work on who their customer really is. The digital is a highly specific domain, which can allow you to narrow down your target audiences. This is why the first thing you need to do is create a customer profile of your target audience. This should enable you to create your internet marketing strategies accordingly.
2. Not using Real Imagery on Social Media-
Most businesses are now convinced when it comes to trying out social media. However, if you are looking to derive real results from social media, you need to focus on creating quality content. This means abandoning stock images and going for photoshoots and video creation. Even if you limit the number of posts, you will see how real imagery outperforms stock.
3. Not Optimizing Brand Website on Mobile-
Did you know that more than 70% of all Google searches take place on mobile devices? Imagine someone searching for your products and services only to find that your mobile website is not properly optimized. This would not only make you unpopular with Google but also negatively impact your credibility and brand. Ensure that your website is well-optimized.
4. Not Offering Discounts, Coupons, or Rewards-
It is important to incentivize your customers all the time. Can you imagine how many options they have in your industry niche? If they are picking you over others, you need to reward them from time to time with discounts, shoutouts, coupons, offers, and so on. This will help you build a long-term relationship with them and boost your sales and revenues.
5. Not using Google My Business to your advantage-
If you are a business that is looking to target local audiences in your target area, you need to start looking at GMB in a serious fashion. Google works according to a digital ecosystem. In other words, if you need to boost organic visibility for your website, you need to focus on your GMB. This means having ratings, reviews, images, and videos of your business establishment.
The Final Word
In addition to the above-mentioned five mistakes, businesses should look to pursue innovating internet marketing strategies to boost performance. Using PPC from time to time and setting up a website blog can help in boosting credibility and building a brand.
