In this article, Michael Brenner looks at and busts 9 of the more common digital marketing myths. It is another in our “Great Articles You may have missed” series.
Busting Some Digital Marketing Myths
We all lie to ourselves in one way or another. And this is certainly true in Digital Marketing.
Fortunately, we are facing the truth that consumers don’t want our banners or need our ads. We know those aren’t helping anyone.
We are also facing the truth that marketing has value. And executives expect to see us deliver business results.
But in Digital Marketing, we still tell ourselves that we’re not good enough. Or that we’re too good. Maybe we still think in terms of campaigns instead of customers.
Whatever lies we tell ourselves, here is some hard truth:
- Effective marketing is not hard. Scaling and repeating it is
- We need to commit to customer value in our marketing and across the company
- Customers buy from us because of the sum total of their experience with us
- Marketing brings out the humanity of your organization
- We waste money, not in trying new things, but in repeating things we know won’t work
That’s just 5 truths. I have a whole list. But before we go any further on truths. Here are 9 of the digital marketing myths we buy into.
1. A Great Website Is All I Need
Having a great website is a perfect start to your digital marketing success, it’s never enough. Your web presence needs to be compelling, relevant, and filled with quality content focused on customers.
To have an effective digital marketing plan in place, you’ll need to update it regularly, and we need to consider how we will attract the right people to our site. Often, that means publishing in places other than your website.
2. I’ll Produce Great Content Every Day
There are two myths in this statement: first, that you’ll consistently produce great content, and second, that it’ll be produced every day. It is a good start that you’re aiming high – it’s always a good idea to try and produce more great content.
But as Robert Rose says, “more content can be more effective, until it isn’t.”
We have to produce great quality stuff, as often as we can. And recognize where the limits are in time, budget, your audience’s attention.
3. Social Media Is Owned Media
We don’t own our social accounts. The platforms do. They decide how and how often your social updates are seen.
Are you posting content that people actually want to read and share? Or the stuff we avoid. Sharing engaging content is the only way to get organic social shares.
Are you building a following on your social accounts by following and sharing other people’s content? That’s the only way to build a real following of engaged influencers.
4. Negative Comments Are Bad
A negative reaction in digital isn’t always bad. Not all conversations are positive. It’s OK to disagree with people and it’s easy to do online. Avoid the trolls (don’t feed them). But engage with everyone who participates in the conversations you start online.negative.
Just remember the Mom rules. Be polite, say “thank you” and treat others the way you want to be treated. Then you will see the opportunity in handling bad comments.
5. Everyone Will Love Our Content
Even if you are convinced that the content you’re producing is amazing, it may not always elicit the reaction you expected from your audience.
Keep in mind that just because they don’t love what you’ve posted doesn’t mean it isn’t doing its job! If you can get any kind of reaction (usually a positive reaction is best) that encourages them to engage, it’s working.
Instead of trying to evoke love, think about the other reactions that might benefit your strategy. Your content might be helpful, thought provoking, amazing, funny, or relatable.
6. Everyone Will Hate Our Content
Don’t let the fear of rejection from trying new things and venturing in different directions. As long as you have a clear mission statement, focus on customer value. And start with the goal of measuring their engagement, you will learn some amazing things from the experiments you conduct.
7. We Need To Be On Every Social Media Platform
Digital marketing encompasses so many different mediums, from blogs and social media platforms to websites and email and more. It’s a huge job! People go to different social media platforms looking for different things. And depending on the platform, your content may be more or less relevant.
And don’t even get me started on Snapchat.
8. We Need To Blindly Follow Our Competitors
If your competitors jumped off a bridge, would you jump too? Same is true for digital marketing.Looking at your competitor’s digital marketing plans is a good place to start, but it’s not a great end goal. Marketing should be specific to your business and it should aim to put you out ahead of your competitors, not at the same point. The best way to get ahead is to go beyond with your marketing strategy. Just because you aren’t familiar with a specific digital marketing strategy doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try it.
Looking at your competitor’s digital marketing plans is a good place to start, but it’s not a great end goal. Do what works for you.
Go left, when they go right. Marketing should be specific to your business and it should aim to put you out ahead of your competitors.
9. SEO Is No Longer Relevant
SEO is more important than ever. We continue to block more ads. Search visitors create more than of all traffic and leads for many companies.
Yes, SEO is constantly changing, and it’s important to stay up to date on the latest techniques. But SEO is not a complete marketing strategy when used on its own – it works best when paired with great content, mapped to the buyer journey, focused on customer value, and conversion you earn.
Please comment!
Those are a few truths and myths to start off your day. Which ones did I miss?
This article was previously titled “9 Digital Marketing Lies You Should Stop Believing” and posted on Marketing Insider Group. It is republished here with permission.
Michael Brenner is CEO of @MKTGInsiders, Consultant, Speaker, and Author, Head of Strategy @Newscred, Former VP of Content Marketing @SAP.
Featured Image: Copyright: ‘https://www.123rf.com/profile_iqoncept‘ / 123RF Stock Photo
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