For most marketers, digital marketing isn’t a native language. It’s another tool we’ve adopted and added to our marketing tool belt to be used later as a part of a larger integrated campaign. With the rules of digital marketing changing seemingly every day, its tempting for marketers to jump on a trend to “see what works.”
The problem is knowing when to jump off—or jumping off too early! Below are the top three things you need to stop doing in your digital marketing campaign right away.
1. Stop treating “personalization” as a trend
We’re not just saying this because customers are immune to homogenous messages (even though they are). Each customer wants individual attention—hence the allure of a hand-crafted $3.00 coffee or wearable technology that tracks biometrics. So if you are personalizing your messaging to your recipients only occasionally, you may want to rethink this tactic. Email campaigns and landing pages can be customized to greet a consumer by name when they arrive. Banner ads that are relevant to a user’s most recent search results or geographical location can be served up.
Your audience may be global—but you can’t forget the individual.
2. Stop focusing on Likes, Shares, and Tweets
These short-term social media measurements are based on an even shorter-term engagement with users. If users aren’t using social media to complain about your company, they probably won’t even remember you by the time they finish reading another 5 tweets – unless you are serving up engaging content that keeps them informed and coming back for more. Users can get information anywhere—you want them to come back to you because they perceive you as a thought-leader.
Remember, Real content = Real engagement.
3. Stop splitting your digital marketing across too many pillars
You will always have prospects in various parts of your sales funnel, and a variety of vertical markets that you’ll want to segment. It’s tempting to start getting granular and creating channels (for different regions, products/services, personas, etc.) but you need to take a step back. Digital marketing shouldn’t be a catch-all solution to reach everyone. If you spread your focus and marketing dollars too thin, you’ll run the risk of losing your marketing message completely—and watering down your overall brand. Pick a target audience (or two) and focus your efforts and budgets towards them.
B2B marketers are still scrambling to find the perfect combination of tactics that will elevate their marketing success. A strong strategy and consistent messaging will always be the driving force behind every campaign – but these three tips will help you steer straight.
Thinkdm2 can help you create a digital strategy for generating leads and discuss your current marketing challenges. Get started by downloading our FREE ebook on 30 Tips and Tricks for Generating Leads.
