Hello, small business owner! You’re probably here because you are feeling a little apprehension about digital marketing and how (in the world!) you should incorporate it in your small business. Well, let me start by saying that just because you are small doesn’t mean you have to settle for small results.
Maybe you have a website, you’ve created social media accounts, and you have been trying out some digital marketing strategies, but you haven’t yet had a breakthrough. Don’t panic. We have put together a short list of digital marketing mistakes that you might just be making and could be holding you back. Being aware of these mistakes and working to correct them is the first step to bringing big results to your small business through digital marketing.
Here are 5 digital marketing mistakes you might be making as a small business:
1. Forgetting to update WordPress
If you’re like most small businesses and you take advantage of great content management systems like WordPress, you may be one of many who forget to make sure everything stays up to date. You’re a busy person. It’s a busy world. You have so many different things pulling at your attention, demanding your time. Sometimes it is so easy to let things slip by unrecognized. We understand! Unfortunately, one of those things is often website updates, and if you do not have a site that supports automatic updates or have someone doing it for you, it is easy to let months go by without the proper updates.
The problem lies in the risk of hackers sneaking viruses into your website coding while it is getting outdated. Even viruses aside, the truth remains that the longer you put off making the necessary updates, the harder it will be in the future to get everything back up to date.
So whether you hire a professional to maintain your website or you decide to maintain it yourself, make sure it is being updated as regularly as necessary to avoid any messy business in the future.
2. Not knowing your target
Take two minutes to browse online and you will see examples of this very common problem: businesses’ websites or ads that shout into the void but seem to have little to no specifically targeted audience. In order to reach your full potential and effectively utilize your valuable time, any digital marketing you do needs to be done with intention.
Your website and your advertisements should have a specific demographic in mind. If you haven’t already done so, we would recommend taking a few minutes to sit down and focus solely on defining your targeted audience. Ideally, this would grow more specific from your general website to each individual online ad or digital marketing campaign–and even more specific according to platform (social media, Google search, etc.).
3. Failing to highlight your Unique Selling Proposition (USP)
Every business (even a small one) has a USP–a Unique Selling Proposition. Entrepreneur.com defines this as the following: “The factor or consideration presented by a seller as the reason that one product or service is different from and better than that of the competition.” If you don’t know what your USP is, here are some questions you should be asking yourself:
- What do I offer that other businesses of the same kind do not or can not?
- What would make customers choose me first?
- How can my business go above and beyond?
Have you figured it out by now? If not, take some time to think on it. Once you have discovered your business’s Unique Selling Point, the next question for you is: How can I show this in my digital marketing in a way that gets results? This is where resources such as Google Ads can help by allowing you to plug in multiple USP keywords and telling you which will bring in more online traffic for your website.
4. Allowing fear to control your budget
We know that making the best financial decisions for your company is top priority, and money is always a touchy subject. Budgeting for your digital marketing needs takes a lot of balance. This is especially challenging for a small business with limited resources.
On one hand, you don’t want to dump an endless supply of money into marketing campaigns that don’t get lasting results, but on the other hand, skimping on the digital marketing budget could lose you a lot of income in the long run. It is important to do substantial research on costs and map out a reasonable budget for your digital marketing needs. Again, don’t fund-dump without knowing what your results will be, but don’t be afraid to spend money either. This is your company, and you want to invest in growth.
We recommend getting quotes from trusted digital marketing agencies on digital marketing packages that suit the specific needs of your company.
5. Getting technology overwhelm
Digital marketing is a constantly-changing field. As technology advances and the vast online world only grows larger, it is easy to allow “technology overwhelm” to set in and rather than taking strides to keep up, you simply fall farther behind.
Trends change almost daily and “best practices” as often. It’s hard to keep up with what’s what. (To learn about some myths surrounding digital marketing, read this post on the Top 7 Digital Marketing Myths Debunked). The good news is that you don’t have to be the expert, because there are people who already are.
Digital marketing companies exist to help business owners and leaders market their brands online and achieve the greatest possible results. They do so by utilizing the best tools in the best way and doing all the hard work for you. That is a challenge they are willing to take on so technology overwhelm has no chance to stunt the growth of your business.
Don’t be discouraged! Each of these mistakes can be overcome, whether on your own or with help. We suggest considering if partnering with a digital marketing agency would be the best option for you. Making the necessary updates, figuring out your target demographic, finding your USP, working with your budget, and overcoming technology overwhelm–that is what we digital marketing agencies are here to do. From our end, we would love to be the ones working with you, but you should find the best fit for your company and go conquer the internet!
