Originally published on SocialSpiceMedia.com on Feb 23, 2016 By Jonathan Boring
Many companies never put any kind of thought into their digital marketing strategy.
They ready, fire… and never aim.
Does that sound familiar?
People don’t have time to sift through a ton of websites to find the perfect solution. If your website doesn’t offer a compelling experience, visitors will almost certainly move to the next site.
In fact, 79% of users will search for another site to complete the task they started if they don’t get what they want (Experience Dynamics).
Being self-aware as you audit your digital marketing is a bit of an art form. You may not know how you’re coming across to your online audience unless you’ve tested every aspect of your experience, and you’re conscious of how the average web surfer thinks.
It’s not easy trying to figure out where there’s a disconnect. Fortunately, the following five-step process should help you uncover the faults in your digital marketing.
1. Determine Whether Or Not The Team Is Competent & Knowledgeable
A haphazard approach to marketing is unlikely to produce a consistent and pleasant user experience. Unless your marketing team is collaborating on every initiative, and they have the experience and knowledge necessary to carry out an organized and coherent plan, your digital marketing is unlikely to be everything it could be.
It’s easy to underestimate the value of digital marketing, but the Internet has never been more important to business. Make sure there are no obvious holes in your marketing team.
2. Determine Whether Or Not You’re Focused On The Right Channels
Digital marketing strategies fail when a business isn’t putting their resources into the right channels. Some rely entirely on a single tactic for traffic generation and monetization. Others spread themselves out way too thin. Both extremes have their dangers.
If you’re only using one tactic to draw people to your website, you may not be adequately diversified to create a sustainable approach to business. The plug could be pulled on that channel somewhere down the line.
On the other hand, if you’re running like a headless chicken trying to stay on top of a dozen different platforms, you’re not going to be able to do a good job of engaging, interacting with your audience, and answering questions. Make sure you know where your audience is and what channels yield the highest return.
3. Determine Whether Or Not There’s Offline & Online Integration
Many businesses use a variety of offline and online digital strategies to market their business. Unfortunately, some aren’t taking an integrated approach. This means creating a consistent image and message across different mediums.
If you want your marketing to be effective, it is necessary to create a holistic marketing plan – not just one that pertains to your online or offline efforts.
4. Determine Whether Or Not You’re Adapting
Search engine algorithms and even social media algorithms are constantly being updated to reflect their overall agenda. Businesses that aren’t mobile-friendly, for example, are far less likely to rank highly in search results.
This is problematic, since 80% of local searches from mobile convert to a sale (Unbounce).
Case in point: e-commerce businesses absolutely need to be optimized for mobile in today’s marketplace. Make sure to keep pace with where things are going on a technological level.
5. Determine Whether Or Not You’re Using The Right Tools
Investing in the right technologies is essential to your digital marketing success. If you choose the wrong tools, you could end up racking up unnecessary expenses, and your marketing team’s productivity will also be affected. Ultimately, this can have a negative impact on your profit too.
Finding the right solution should be a priority, since not all tools play well together. It’s important to find tools that integrate well with each other.
Conclusion
88% of online consumers are less likely to return to a site after a bad experience (InVision Blog).
If you aren’t well coordinated, your digital marketing efforts can fall flat. Focus on providing an excellent customer experience, and take the time to understand what that actually means.
About Jonathan E. Boring
Jonathan Boring is a social media marketing expert with more than a decade of proven success in corporate branding, sales and communications. With an extensive background in marketing, sales, and technology, Jonathan has created and carried out social media engagement campaigns that have resulted in greatly increased brand awareness, media attention, customer loyalty, and sales.
Jonathan founded Social Spice Media in 2012, with the vision of helping corporations bridge communications through technology and creative marketing solutions. His goal is to develop, improve and maintain powerful social media integration programs in order to increase awareness, brand loyalty, website traffic and sales. Jonathan has spent the past four years immersed in social media, and has been a speaker on the topic at several social media conferences.
Prior to founding Social Spice Media, Jonathan served as Director of Sales and Marketing at The California Wine Club (CWC).
His role included all aspects of social media engagement and marketing, as well as business development. Under Jonathan’s direction, CWC sponsored the 2010 and 2011 Taste of Camarillo, Bryan Brother’s Foundation Tennis Fest, Camarillo Art Council, and World Council Affairs Dinner.
Prior to joining CWC, Jonathan founded Rush Appraisals, which provided both residential and commercial appraisal services throughout Colorado. In 2005, he expanded Rush Appraisals to 35 states.