When it comes to finding products, services and brands, the first place everyone looks these days is online. This makes digital marketing essential for small businesses that need to tap into the online audience. For SMBs that have to do their marketing themselves, it can be easy to make mistakes. Here we look at some of the most common digital marketing errors that small businesses should avoid.
- Not catering for smartphone users
One of the biggest errors that SMBs make is not catering for smartphone users. No one is ever without their mobile today, and it has become, by some margin, the most popular way to browse the internet.
Unfortunately, not all digital marketing content is designed to work on smartphone screens. To ensure you don’t lose out on all those mobile sales, not only do you need a responsive theme for your website; you also need to make sure that marketing tools, like pop-ups, buttons and sign-up forms, etc., also display properly on the small screen.
- Ignoring social media
It can be hard for small businesses to put in the time to create and post content on social media sites, but the benefits of doing so can be substantial. With billions of daily visitors across the different platforms, the potential to reach new audiences, attract new followers and generate new business is enormous. Start by finding the platform that’s most used by your target audience and focus on that. Even if you just post a couple of times a week, it will have an impact.
- Forgetting to blog
A blog is a vital part of a small business website and for a multitude of good reasons. Your posts are searchable, so people can find them on the internet; they attract people at different stages of the sales funnel, not just those at the ready-to-buy stage; they improve SEO by adding important keywords to your site; they ensure that your content is fresh; and they can be posted on social media and thus bring more visitors to your site. Of course, all those visitors are going to get acquainted with your brand, your products and your services.
- Failing to use social proof
You might have a fantastic business and be great at marketing, but that doesn’t mean when push comes to shove, that people are going to click the buy it now button. Modern consumers don’t take marketing spin at face value. Before they buy, they’ll need convincing and today, that comes in the form of social proof.
If your business, products and services have great reviews and ratings, those who are new to your brand will be more confident in making a purchase. For this reason, signing up for reviews on Google, Facebook, Trustpilot, etc., can reinforce your marketing messages.
- No special offers or promotions
The cost of acquiring a new customer is far greater than the cost of keeping them. This is why it is vital to keep customers loyal. The great thing about special offers and discounts is that they attract new customers and give them good reasons to keep coming back, helping you build those important long-term relationships.
Special offers and promotions don’t necessarily need to involve giving products away cheaply. Today, we see a much wider range of experience-led things on offer, for example, getting to see new products before anyone else, priority bookings, membership rewards and so forth.
- Not using the correct keywords
Using the right keywords is vital if you want your digital marketing to reach your intended audience. This means taking the time to research the keywords, including long-tail versions, which are going to be most useful in helping your content get found and which aren’t dominated by your bigger competitors.Those keywords should be used in the titles, headings and content of your web pages, blog posts, social media posts and in the wording of your PPC ads. If your advertising platforms ask you which keywords you want to target, you should include the most important ones in the list.There are quite a lot of tools, like marketgoo, that can help you find the right keywords and boost your SEO.
- Letting your website get out of date
The aim of your digital marketing will be to drive visitors to your website. However, if your website is not kept in good order, many of those visitors may leave without staying for very long. It is important to make sure the site’s layout and design remain attractive and up to date, that the content is fresh and relevant, and that the site loads and responds quickly.
Keep an eye on how your competitors update their websites’ appearance, add fresh content to your site regularly and make sure your web hosting gives your site the speed and performance it needs.
Conclusion
Digital marketing is increasingly important for attracting people online. Hopefully, the points raised here will help you avoid some of the most common pitfalls that small businesses make and thus improve the impact of your digital marketing and drive new traffic and sales. For fast, secure and high-performance hosting, visit our homepage.
