The Unpardonable Sins of Digital Marketing Strategies

Savvy marketers worth their metrics are faced with the never ending dilemma of choosing the best toolset that’ll help them achieve their business goals. The onslaught of digital media has only served to thicken the plot. Conventional display banner ads, social media habitats, reputation bombs, it’s like a mine-field out there. As if the complexities of running a business weren’t enough already, marketers have to pick and choose the best approach even as the goal posts are moving constantly.

Mistakes are not that uncommon in a dynamic scenario such as this and some even go on to help uncover invaluable business insights. But there are a few alleys that no self respecting business should ever be visiting. The Unpardonable Sins of Digital Marketing Strategies are a welcome reminder of the dangers out there and how important it is to avoid them.

Tracking correctly:          

One of the biggest virtues of advertising in the digital medium has been the precision with which visitor interactions can be tracked. But most businesses limit themselves out here. They fail to realize that it isn’t enough to get visitors. It is one thing to attract a large number of visitors and another to figure out, who among them is adding to your bottom-line. This is why, it is important to track not just the impressions, but also the conversions in particular. Such an approach helps to sift through and weed out the ineffective elements, thereby strengthening the marketing strategy further.

Targeting Spread:

Marketers that take to the digital wave, often make the mistake of spreading the net out into the distance. While this is good as a standalone practice, one would be surprised to know the potential that may lie, right below their very eyes. There is often latent demand among the captive audience on the local scale and businesses often fail to capitalize on it. Some argue that the very premise of digital marketing is to widen the audience base and it is true to a large extent. However, this does not mean that one should ignore the local demand. Marketing strategies must evolve in ways that allocate resources in areas with the highest demand, irrespective of whether they are close or far.

Hoisting the Flag:

The popularity of organic searches is leading the change in search engine rankings and businesses that deploy their entire arsenal of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) weapons are the one that stand to benefit. And when it comes to stockpiling weapons for the arsenal, ‘Google Places’ ranks at the top of the charts. Any business worth their reputation should hoist their flag on this amazing outpost and claim their dues with respect to what is being said about the business.

Happy Landings:

Designated landing pages have been one of the preferred tools that marketers use to drive up traffic to the site. As has been discussed above, conversions are the key and efforts that simply drive up the visitor numbers is, more often than not, an exercise in futility. Site Usability audits go a long way in helping to map, analyze and offer solutions that should provide ways in which the conversion rates can be improved.

Effective Handlers:

So you’ve put in the efforts, managed to avoid the pitfalls discussed above and are now reaping the benefits in the form of increased interest from potential customers. All this will come to naught if the back-of-the-house personnel decide to fire away according to their own whims and fancies. Standardized operating procedures governing each and every step of the lead handling process go a long way in offering a consistent and stable response to each, individual inquiry, thereby improving the chances of doing business.

Publicity:

Some famous personality once said that there is no such thing as bad publicity. Hate to prick that balloon but word-of-mouth publicity is proving to be a potent tool that can make or break a business in this increasingly connected world. Impeccable customer service is no longer just another buzzword but, it has in-fact, transformed into the critical piece of the profitability equation.

Bouquets and Brickbats:

A customer who is happy with a product or service may or may-not choose to talk about it. However, he/she will tom-tom it to the world if they have to, if indeed, the provider has faltered in the delivery process. This is the harsh reality of the world that marketers face everyday. Reputation and goodwill that take decades to build up can be shattered in a matter of minutes, hours or days. The near-instantaneous sharing capabilities of the online habitat mean that news and especially the bad news will travel like wildfire. This is why, responsible marketers prefer to take charge of the bouquets and brickbats in the digital domain and improve ways in which the good things can be amplified even as the brickbats are handled in an effective manner.

The verdict on the Return on Investment for digital marketing strategies may still be under evaluation but few marketing managers would ignore the importance of putting their best foot forward. Brand success is increasingly becoming a technical challenge, one that needs to be met head-on, albeit in a well prepared manner.