Digital marketing is an ever-changing industry. After all, bananas have a longer shelf-life than certain digital marketing trends. With the constant evolution of internet marketing best practices and trends, it's enough to lose your mind. Here are three oft-ignored tips to help ease the day-to-day stresses of web-based chaos:
Don't over analyze. Monitoring your analytics, such as keyword rankings or site traffic, on a daily basis (or even more) will drive you crazy and induce undue stress. This is such a common mistake, and you may not even know you're doing it. Track your numbers consistent with the pace of your progress, and give your brand enough time to evolve organically so you can gather valuable insights from the data.
There's not specific timeframe for reporting. It could be once a week, twice a month or monthly; it's different for every brand and the specific metric you're tracking.
"This is such a common offense. It's like checking your email constantly; it can be a waste of time and prevent you from getting things done, despite your best intentions," says Adam Fridman, CEO and founder of the Chicago-based digital marketing firm Mabbly.
Automate when possible. You've got a lot on your plate, so it can be hard to keep track of every little item on your to-do list. This is especially helpful with blogging and social media marketing campaigns. Get the most out of your time by planning, writing and scheduling daily Tweets or Facebook posts in advance. Platforms like Sprout Social and HootSuite are affordable, user-friendly options that allow scheduling, in addition to account management and analytic features.
"Automation is a must, but it comes with a word of caution: Don't rely on this shortcut for 100 percent of your social media efforts. Don't forget to engage with your audience -- that can't be planned in advance," Fridman advises.
With Google Adwords, automation can save both time and money. Based on daily budget requirements, Adwords can automatically adjust your maximum cost-per-click to ensure the most clicks within a specified price range.
Hire out. Mundane projects (you know -- those that involve dense, mind-numbing Excel spreadsheets) can be a major time suck. An efficient business owner can discern when his or her time is better utilized elsewhere while a temporary employee or contractor takes over the other task.
The digital era has made it easier than ever to find qualified workers and hire out assignments when you need to lighten your load. Platforms like Odesk, Guru or Craigslist can connect you with international and domestic workers in a broad range of services, including web development, personal assistants or writers.
Like a lot of aspects of digital marketing, results can vary with outsourced work. I've had great results with on-off projects, and I've also built long-term relationships where I go back to the same people for repeat work.
Hiring out specific tasks can be advantageous, but Fridman offers a bit of caution.
"Never sacrifice quality for inexpensive outsourced labor. Gauge your assignments carefully and pay for the same quality of employee that you want reflected in the work," he adds.
Digital marketing is such a complex beast that even the most seasoned pros have violent episodes of frustrations. These three tips can be applied to any campaign right away, hopefully adding a little serenity to your workflow.