Today, most savvy business owners realize the importance of online marketing, yet the latest research shows that less than half of businesses have a digital marketing strategy in place. Without a plan, it is extremely difficult to measure results. How do you know what is working and what isn’t?
If you don’t have a strategy, or maybe you want to review if your plan is helping you achieve your goals, we’ve determined the 8 most common problems you’re likely to face without a digital marketing strategy.
A digital marketing plan should consist of recognizing opportunity, developing a strategy, and taking action.
1. You’re directionless
Possibly the most important part of marketing is defining clear goals for your business. What exactly do you want to achieve? Are you looking to build your brand and attract more customers? Do you want more direct customers in order to pay less commissions? These are crucial questions you must ask yourself. If you don’t have clear goals you likely won’t reach them.
2. You don’t know your customer
Do you know how many people are looking for what you are selling? There are great tools such as Google Analytics and Ads to help you understand who your customer is, where they are coming from and how interested they are in what your product.
3. Competitors will take your business
If you’re not devoting enough resources to digital marketing, someone else will. We like to say that whoever builds the best trap, wins. It takes research and experimentation to stay ahead in the competitive game of online marketing.
4. You’re not diverse enough
Some people put all of their efforts into one channel. Facebook is a great example of this because many small businesses feel it is easy and that “everyone is on Facebook.” While that may be true, it doesn’t mean it’s the most effective. A well-rounded plan is necessary to successfully market a business. Remember, not all channels are created equally.
5. You don’t have a marketing budget
It’s understandable that business are hesitant to spend money when they aren’t sure of the return they will get. However, the importance of marketing should never be underestimated. It is essential to business in this age, and it is the reason why huge companies like Amazon, Ebay, Expedia and Google invest billions dollars every year. If you have a competent person or agency managing your marketing strategy, the results will be clear.
6. You don’t know the value of your customer
When determining your marketing budget, you must first calculate the value of a customer. How much are you willing to spend in order to acquire a customer? It can be a simple formula like this one: My product costs $100 and I need to make a $60 profit so, I can spend $40 to acquire a customer. Your formula should also take into consideration other factors such as overhead, but this an easy way to start.
7. You’re too busy (or lazy) to stay ahead of trends
The digital marketing industry changes so rapidly that it can be difficult to stay on top of things. Who has the time (or energy) to invest in constant research? Marketing agencies do. It is their livelihood to know the trends and act upon them.
8. You’re not optimizing
Most companies with a website have analytics, but managers don’t ensure that their teams actually do anything with that data. A strategy lets you get the basics right, then you can continuously improve aspects like search marketing, website experience, email and social media marketing.
So that’s our top 8 problems that can be avoided with a well thought out strategy. How did you score?
A recommended approach for developing a digital strategy
But what if you’re one of the companies that doesn’t have a digital strategy yet? There is a simple way to start:
- See an opportunity for growth.
- Formulate a marketing strategy with clear goals.
- Put your plan into place and measure results.
Need help formulating a plan? Let us know.
