How To Avoid 7 Common Marketing Mistakes - The New Rules

Are you working your marketing plan with the new rules? That is, the rules of the digital marketing age?

Here are 7 very common mistakes made by marketing efforts in business, along with the solutions to avoid them.


#1 Not understanding the difference between marketing and advertising.
This one is easy. Advertising is buying ad space in a printed publication, TV, or the radio. Marketing is using your web site, including social media and the new radio - podcasting, to produce short term and long term awareness about your products and services to your desired audience.

#2 Misunderstanding about reaching your target (niche) market
Nowadays there are many influential sources that can distribute your news. Before the digital age, a few magazines and TV held all those cards. Not any more.  What is better, spending a lot of cash to push out generic ads, or building a network of resources that can deliver your crafted message to your niche market?

#3 Forgetting that great content is the first  reason people make purchases and return to visit a site. 
Make your content the primary reason people visit you. Forget the flashy graphics and exciting banners. But, not to the extent of just having a text page. Deliver appealing content that educates the mind of a consumer. Think of questions a potential buyer will have and answer them in your content. Build connections with your content by allowing people the opportunity to comment - a demonstration that people use you and are engaged.

#4 Losing the natural power of content sharing.
The world gets smaller as social media and other content sharing methods increase. Throwing up a web site will not produce the returns  you want unless people can connect to their family and friends about liking your content. And, you want to be able to easily share your updated content into social media channels that become inbound links to your site. High quality inbound links are an asset in traffic building and extending your web reputation.

#5 Content is not scaled to achieve specific marketing goals. 
The two main functions of a web site visitor are browse and search.  Is your site easy to search? Have you laid out the architecture so that a search enhances your key words and exemplifies SEO targets?

#6 Brand message is not clear and/or compelling. 
When you visit a web site, see if you can spot the brand message. Most sites do not have one, or it is hidden. A good brand message is on your Home page, displayed on the the top half of the page - above the fold. It is clear and contains your key words that emphasize the benefits you offer.

#7 No plan in place to produce and publish momentum content.
What is your goal with your site in the next 6 months ... two years ... or five years?  Your content is a natural stepping stone to produce the means by your reputation is built. I have clients who were successful when they had no web site or a minimal web site; one that had no current updates published for a long time. Once they hired me to produce current content from their projects, they received exponential attention from new potential clients. Today,  they now have more active projects - and more new clients.

Good luck with your marketing efforts. Every piece you do helps to build the momentum of your success and fortify your web reputation.

Steu Mann, Owner
Ez Web Company