4 Reasons Your Digital Marketing Efforts Aren't Working

Digital marketing is a fairly new concept that most businesses just aren’t getting. It’s a shame, too, especially for companies that are small to medium sized that could really benefit from increased website traffic. Wait, everyone can benefit from that! You can be going through the motions (building profiles on social networks, sending out a newsletter, or blogging),but if you don’t have the right thinkers implementing the right strategy then chances are high your effort, time, and investment are futile.

1. You have marketers, but not writers.

As quoted by Gilad de Vries from iMedia Connection, “content marketing is probably the biggest opportunity that the world of online advertising has to offer.” This is because search engine optimization (SEO) is implemented through the content on your webpages. Search engines such as Google don’t just monitor how many keywords are throughout the text, but how relevant users find the information you’re publishing. That’s why it’s important to have writers that can compel website visitors to comment and share content.

2. You’re not utilizing the right analytics.

You could be active on all the social networks, publishing blogs daily, and implementing amazing nurturing campaigns but if you’re not monitoring your sources of website traffic and conversion rates correctly then you’re probably losing a good amount of your marketing ROI. To know what’s working with your target audience and what’s not, you have to measure the successes and failures of your digital marketing practices and adjust accordingly. The issue most companies encounter when they start practicing digital marketing is that their current staff doesn’t know how to properly use the analytics programs. They’re paying for the right tools, but the staff is uneducated in how to use it to its full capacity.

3. Your team lacks experience in digital marketing.

In traditional marketing one typically sees larger, long-term campaigns. Digital marketing offers numerous yet small-scale opportunities that complement each other to make up a bigger picture. Today’s marketers are having trouble piecing these campaigns together to achieve their desired results. Unless your marketing team has a true knack for social media, creating content, and piecing numerous tactics together in a way that prompts your target audience to make an action online – then you’re already far behind.

4. You don't understand the digital world and how your target audience engages.

There is no true rule book or guide to digital marketing. This isn’t just because digital marketing is so new, but because digital marketing efforts have to be in line with how your target audience engages online. Being active on Twitter and Facebook isn’t going to help your campaign if the majority of your target audience utilizes LinkedIn and Google Plus. One has to know what devices their target audience uses, what social networks they utilize, what content makes them “Share,” “Like,” “Retweet,” and “Subscribe.” One has to understand what kind of online offers will make people pick up the phone, find a store, or place an order online. This requires a different kind of talent and understanding of one’s target audience.

Digital Marketing Solutions

If your marketing department is new to digital marketing, don’t let this discourage you too much. There’s a large learning curve that takes extensive understanding of online consumer habits, social networking, and analytics programs. The good news is that companies today have two options when it comes to digital marketing. One can either take the time, resources, and investment to train their current marketing team how to successfully implement digital marketing, or one can start seeing results within a few months by outsourcing. Outsourcing can be beneficial because you’re working with digital marketing professionals whose learning curve only applies to familiarizing themselves with your company and target audience.