Digital marketing is one of the most exciting, creative, and challenging aspects of running your own business. No matter if you own a local boutique, provide expert HVAC services to customers in your area, or spend your days feeding patrons at your restaurant, you likely have a limited amount of time to devote toward your digital marketing strategy.
With that in mind, you want your marketing efforts to pay off. Unfortunately, our team at YourVIBE Marketing has seen countless small business owners make common mistakes that impact the results of their advertising strategies. Rather than getting frustrated or giving up on digital marketing entirely, you can use these common pitfalls as a learning experience to improve your offerings and streamline your approach.
Below, we’ll discuss the top three most common–and avoidable–marketing mistakes that small business owners make, plus the best way you can improve your digital marketing strategy, reach more customers, and drive more sales.
The Top Digital Marketing Mistakes for Small Businesses
1. Not Understanding Your Audience
We know that you would sell your designer clothes/HVAC services/mouthwatering signature entrees to everyone if you could. However, digital marketing campaigns work best when you narrow your reach to a specific, relevant, and realistic audience.
Too many business owners launch generic ads and hope for the best. Rather than wasting up to 75% of your advertising budget on customers who don’t need your products and services, you can pinpoint your ideal customer. Then, you can use demographic characteristics to guide your digital marketing and advertising strategy, such as:
- Age
- Sex
- Location
- Income
- Family size
- Marital status
- Career
- Education
2. Neglecting Social Media
Word-of-mouth marketing and referrals are extremely effective for expanding your customer base. If you put all of your marketing eggs into one metaphorical basket, though, you might miss out on potential clients.
Leveraging social media is a simple and low-cost way to expand your reach, access new markets, and increase your audience. That said, don’t get caught up in follower counts and the number of likes you get, and forget to track conversion rates alongside audience growth.
To measure conversion rates, use the following formula:
(Total Conversions / Total Customers) x 100 = Conversion Rate (%)
For instance, if you had 200 conversions last month and 10,000 web visitors, your conversion rate would be calculated as (22 / 10,000) x 100 = 22%. You can then use your conversion rate to measure your performance against industry averages.
3. Not Having a Marketing Plan At All
It may seem strange to consider in 2021, but some small business owners don’t have a marketing plan at all. They simply send out the occasional email, share a post on Instagram, or upload a blog every few months, then wonder why their business isn’t growing like they imagined it would.
Developing a specific, actionable, and concrete marketing plan enables you to make informed decisions, allocate marketing resources, and reach more customers with relevant marketing campaigns. And remember: “Increase sales” isn’t a marketing plan. “Increase sales by 5% through targeted social media advertising and influencer campaigns before the end of Q3” is.
The Best Digital Marketing Tactic for Small Business Owners
Now that you know what not to do, let’s talk about what you should do. Fortunately, the best digital marketing strategy for small business owners isn’t complicated.
To make the most of your time and resources, partner with an expert marketing team like ours at YourVIBE Marketing. As small business owners ourselves, we understand your brand, your story, your vision, and your value. Most importantly, we know that you don’t want a generic agency. You want a partner in growth who will leverage your expertise to drive more web traffic and help more customers.
Ready to transform your digital marketing strategy? Then click here to schedule a call with our YourVIBE Marketing team today.
