The ghosts and goblins are out this time of year, but your business doesn’t have to be spooked if you can avoid these haunting marketing mistakes.
1. Not creeping on the competition 👽
Your competition can be a great source of ideas and strategies, but it’s also important to know how they may be working to out-maneuver your business. It’s never good to underestimate, and while you may already surpass them in terms of quality, reputation, prices, or all the above, it’s never good to let our guard down. And by leveraging competitor monitoring services, we can stay one step ahead of them, and respond sooner if needed.
2. Getting caught in analysis paralysis 🐍
Don’t get frozen in fear by making a commitment to a new piece of content or strategy. It is all too common that businesses of all sizes want something to be “perfect” before it goes live. But this is rarely this case. We almost always look back at completed work seeing the ways we could have done better. Since we know this, we can factor it into our decision making. Set a timeline and standard of quality, and once the project reaches that point, and everything like hyperlinks and grammar have been double-checked, go live. It’s also worth mentioning that if there’s too many cooks in the kitchen, or stakeholders, this can also cause issues. As the saying goes, a horse designed by a committee is a camel, meaning that if there are too many voices with influence on a project, this can obscure the end result. Let people who know what they’re doing do what they do, and move forward!
3. Falling for black hat tricks 🧙♀️
Search Engine Optimization, possibly one of the most important strategies in a digital marketing campaign, can be a complex method of outreach. SEO gets further complicated the more you research, and that includes both ‘white hat’ and ‘black hat’ strategies. White hat SEO strategies are ones that are valid according to search engines like Google. Examples include, creating new content like a blog, optimizing page titles and meta tags, and using structured snippets. Things get scary when businesses want to try ‘Black Hat’ SEO, which includes buying backlinks, keyword stuffing content, and spamming their content on web forums and comment sections. Google will send a website straight to the SEO crypt if it gets caught doing these tricks. Stick to an honest SEO strategy over time, and it will pay off!
4. Not carving out time for reporting 🎃
Marketing reports are just like any good Jack O’ Latern, it can take time and effort to make something great. And, it can help you see in the dark. Of data that is. Okay, this metaphor is a stretch, but you get the idea. Taking the time to plan, and execute, when it comes to marketing reports is crucial. It’s almost an art. It’s almost a guarantee that there is hidden value in the data you already have. So before spending big budgets on fancy new efforts, take a look at what is already there. Or, find cost-effective ways to collect data, like Google Analytics or StatCounter, and let the data roll in.
5. Getting spooked by early results 👻
Nothing good happens overnight, and this is just as true when it comes to any new marketing efforts. Instant results often don’t happen, even in PPC. Sure, you are getting new and fast traffic, but is it converting? Maybe, but probably not to an optimal degree. Marketing requires patience and flexibility. The more we are willing to experiment, and wait and see the results, the better off we are in the long run. Issues often arise when businesses overwork themselves in a new effort (see above), then expect results that exceed statistical probabilities.
That’s it for now! We hope that these spooky tips helped your business avoid getting tricked! Let us know on social media if they helped you.
Ready to get started on a new project with us? Contact our team and get a free consultation for your business here!
