Some say every digital marketer needs to go through a long process and journey to excel in the digital marketing career. That is in fact, very true.
To become a good digital marketer in 2019, one needs to have a good foundation on the marketing concept.
From websites, content creation, Google Ads, Facebook Ads, Insta stories, LinkedIn, podcasts, video advertising, SEO, chatbots and email marketing, we, the digital marketers need to know almost everything.
For small businesses and startups, most likely the owner himself needs to know how to do well in digital marketing too.
After 4 years of exploring and learning in the digital marketing world, here are my thought and insight on the common mistakes made by most digital marketers.
1. Overthinking
“The world is not perfect and there is no perfect digital marketing campaign.”
If you still believe that there is a proven formula to execute a promised high return, let me burst the bubble and tell you there is none.
Every company, industry, product and human is different, thus, you need to be flexible in all your digital marketing campaigns.
Yes, you can have a crazy detailed plan of your next soon-to-be viral social media campaign, but you need to show something first.
Overthinking kills efficiency and momentum.
Just remember what Nike says: Just do it!
2. Spend too much time on content creation
How to be successful in your digital marketing career? The answer is time management. Remember the amount of time you spend on content creation is not equivalent to how well your digital marketing performs.
Certainly, good content is essential to any business, for example, well-crafted email subjects, newsletter content, in-depth blog posts about a niche topic, good copywriting on websites.
However, distribution and amplification are equally important.
It’s recommended to apply the 80/20 rule for your content creation and promotion strategies. Content creation is just the beginning part of content marketing strategies; promotions and amplification should be your primary focus.
You can have the best content in the world, but if nobody knows about that, your effort is wasted.
Remember, it’s an era of “fast fish eat slow fish”.
3. Weak Execution
For digital marketing that has a schedule, calendar or task management system, do you really follow the due date? Absolutely no delay every single time? Deliver high-quality results every single time?
Don’t be lazy, slow and procrastinate for the tasks that you hate or not familiar with. Even worse, become too focused on tasks that bring low conversion because it’s easy.
Furthermore, watch out for team members who spread the “sluggish” mindset to the entire department.
Still no idea how to prioritize your tasks? What about labelling all your tasks using the Eisenhower matrix above?
4. Not Updated
Are you aware of the new feature in Insta story that may benefit your business?
What about the latest trend, technology and tool that are able to simplify your workflow?
The digital marketing industry is booming, new methods are invented and innovated every single day.
“Nothing changes if nothing changes.”
The same strategy and online marketing method need to be changed according to the trend and human behavior.
Lastly, do you like, follow and subscribe to those news portals related to your field? Those are the resources that always publish newly discovered news on digital marketing.
5. Weak Tracking or Not Tracking
I would say this is the killer for many online businesses.
I advise you to learn simple data analytics and interpretation from Google Analytics, sales revenue, Facebook Analytics etc.
Do you track and monitor Cost per click (CPC), number of lead generated per day, sales revenue, website traffic, budget allocation for your online store?
Another metrics that would help in decision making for marketing budget allocation is the cost per acquisition (CPA). Do you have the number?
Keep in mind: don’t believe anything you see online. That are too many blog posts that are not accurate and give false statements so that the post would go viral.
Lastly, because of the lack of knowledge and unwillingness to learn, some even track the wrong metrics for the business.
Summary
Don’t make the same mistake twice. Learn from mistakes, reflect and change to become a better digital marketer.
It is normal to make mistakes in any learning process. A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new.
Here is my video talking about these topics:
