As people continue to spend a large amount of time online, the importance of digital marketing is growing. Being present in the digital space with a website is only part of digital marketing. You need to be active on social media, have a Google Business Profile, have a presence on industry-specific websites, and much, much more. Companies also use digital marketing to advertise and create conversations with their audiences. This creates a personalized experience that can help turn visitors and one-time customers into loyal clients. To succeed with digital marketing, avoid these nine mistakes. 

Not everyone is a prospective customer. Your business and the products and/or services you offer are designed to fit a specific need and demographic. Defining that audience and tailoring your messaging across all of your digital marketing is important.

Do your research. Consider the needs of your customers. Then target your efforts so you can get your business in front of the right potential customers. This will save you money and also help you increase your sales, because you are reaching a targeted group of prospective buyers; not just a random group of people who may not care about what you have to offer.

For example, if you sell running shoes, don’t target all people searching for shoes. Target people looking for running shoes or running gear. It is unlikely that people who are looking for high heels or kids' shoes are looking for your running shoes. Target your efforts and narrow your focus. Don’t waste your time, money, and energy on super broad audiences. Be specific.

Websites are never done. So don’t set it up and forget about it. You need to regularly update your website with new images, content, and blog posts. Customers look for a seamless, interesting experience when they visit your website. If the experience is not engaging, people will go somewhere else. That’s where PhotoBiz can help you out. Our website builder makes it easy to update your site, plus you have a powerhouse collection of tools to keep your website user-friendly and appealing. 

Digital ad platforms like Google Ads also rely on your website being up-to-date. Your ads send people to your website to show them your products and services, and Google takes website performance, once people get to your website, into consideration when it comes to rankings. Therefore, keeping your website up-to-date will help with your digital advertising and search engine optimization as well.

In order to best succeed in the digital world, you need to have a strategy. You should not throw your money to the wind and hope something sticks. You need to plan who you are targeting, when you are targeting them, how you are targeting them, and for what you are targeting them. Consider a digital content strategy like a roadmap for your digital marketing. Where do you want people to go when they see your content? What’s the first step, second step, final step, etc.? Know the strongest and weakest points of your tactics and have backup plans at the ready. Here are some simple steps you can take to start planning your digital marketing strategy:

1. Define your target market and buyer personas.

2. Follow SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-Bound) goals.

3. Set up your tools, channels, and tactics to achieve your goals.

4. Track your progress and make changes as necessary.

Writing blogs should be part of your digital marketing strategy. Blogs are a great way to keep your website up-to-date and add new content to your website on a regular basis. That’s not to say you should write a blog every day; not everyone has the time for that. Define a goal for how much time and content you can contribute to your blog. Then set a realistic schedule for yourself, whether it’s publishing a blog once a week or once a month. Blog posts also help with keywords and SEO (see below). The best practice for the length of a blog post is at least 300 words. Choose your words wisely and don’t make your blog posts so long that people won’t want to read the content.

SEO is a must to get your website and your business noticed. Many businesses ignore SEO or have it set up once and then never make any changes or updates. Don’t do that! SEO is integral in helping customers find your business and can help combat tough competition in the digital world. SEO attracts organic traffic (unpaid search results), giving you an increased chance of gaining sales. There are a number of elements to SEO. Using the right keywords, anchored links, URLs, and meta descriptions can all help make your website stand out from the crowd. 

If that all sounds foreign to you, consider our SEO GO service. We monitor best practices and changing trends and identify opportunities to optimize your search presence. If you're ready to start seeing real SEO results, we are here to help you succeed. Our team of SEO experts will optimize your website, including metadata, keywords, content, and navigation. Then, for a monthly fee, we can continue to suggest strategies and tactics to help improve your SEO and thus, your website. SEO matters more than many businesses realize, so it is vital to make sure you have the tools you need to keep your SEO up-to-date.

Remarketing is reaching back out to contacts who interacted with your business in the past. It could be through your website, emails, or ads. Sometimes people need a reminder and to look at something more than once before they make a purchase. Sending follow-up marketing via email or ads to these customers offers a high likelihood that they will come back. Plus, it is by far less expensive to reach out to customers who have already interacted with your business than it is to find new customers, so remarketing is a great way to promote your business and keep people engaged.

Social media requires time and effort. You need to keep your content up-to-date and relevant for your audience. Why does that matter? Some 82% of Americans have a social media profile, according to Statista.com. That’s 4.2 billion people worldwide. This matters because people often check out businesses on social media before making a purchase, so you want your social media to represent your brand in the best way possible. This does not mean you need to be on every social media channel. Take the time to learn about each channel and what it is best for, then decide where you should focus your efforts (think about where your current customers and ideal customers are). Showing up where your customers are will help increase awareness of your brand and drive conversions. Plus, you can give customers the information they need first-hand, rather than them trying to track it down from what might be an unreliable source. Here’s how you can make social media work for you:

1. Post high-quality photos people will want to share.

2. Use videos. Videos are becoming more popular and can be used for everything from showcasing a product, to creating a how-to video, to Q&As featuring your products. 

3. Use your social media to promote your sales and discounts, whether they are in-store, online, or both.

4. Invite your customers to sign up for a newsletter with product updates and promotions.

5. Invest in paid social ad campaigns on the channels where you are most likely to find your customers. Don’t waste time and money promoting where you are unlikely to get many leads and/or sales.

Tracking the wrong metrics is a top digital marketing mistake. For example, tracking your number of followers on social media may look great on paper, but if they’re not engaging with your content, all of the followers in the world won’t matter. You need to focus on making effective engagements with your audience. Not likes, but comments, shares, clicks, purchases, etc. These are the measurements you should consider in your digital marketing plan. Engagement plays a vital role in establishing a good customer-business relationship. Talk WITH your followers, no matter how small a group you have. Don’t only put out information for your brand, but listen to what your followers have to say, and take action where it makes sense. Engaging with 10 people is more likely to bring in leads than having 100 passive followers who are disengaged from your brand/business. Take time to ensure you’re measuring the right metrics, so you can truly see your success (and identify what isn’t working).

Google Business Profile, formerly Google My Business, is a free tool to help you get found online. It’s an online directory that helps you show up in Google Search, Google Maps, and Google Shopping results. It contains all of the information you want to share about your business, such as location, hours of operation, details, and photos. You can showcase items you sell, add regular updates, and even create coupons for your store. Creating a free Google Business Profile is a great way to increase your visibility across Google’s services. So, take time to fill out all of the sections of your profile.

Success in digital marketing relies on a multitude of factors. You need to put in the work to get the results you want and the return on investment. Digital marketing plays a huge role in helping your business engage with your target audience. PhotoBiz’s marketing tools can help you with your digital marketing journey.