Marketing.
If you’re going to do anything on the Web, it is required. However, in so doing there are numerous mistakes that someone entering the world of online marketing can make.
Examples could include but not be limited to:
1. Mismanagement of self-promotion opportunities.
2. Avoiding SEO and/or social media strategies.
3. Not blogging.
4. Refusing guest and ghost blogging offers.
5. Failing to network with peers.
6. Not tapping into the power of YouTube.
7. Neglecting superior customer service.
Don’t let this be you!
Yes, there are several errors one can enter as it relates to marketing faux pas. The question is, what are the top four?
Overextending Your Limits
This is perhaps the biggest error and easiest to fall into too.
For example, you successfully started your blog, but demand that each page be optimized perfectly without exception.
While it is certainly good to provide your best work on your own blog, when it cuts into attainments of success in other avenues it is time to find a workable balance.
Yes, you should be active socially with Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram just to name a few. However, you too only have 24 hours in a day. If they aren’t used correctly, you will find them absorbing pretty near every second of each minute in every hour available and then some.
Take these steps to balance available time with enthusiastic initiative.
1. Determine how many hours you have available each day for marketing your business.
2. Decide how much time you can invest in each marketing activity you are pursuing.
3. Buy a time and set it per the schedule you have defined.
4. Stick to your outlined structure as much as possible from day to day.
5. Track, rinse and repeat while adjusting where and when necessary.
Limiting Your Exposure
Now that you know how much you’re able to invest into your online marketing pursuits, it is time to strategically align your plans.
Just because you have 1000 followers on Facebook or Twitter, it does not mean that you have completed your marketing activities. Having a blog is great, but considering that your only marketing avenue will be counter-productive to your success.
Here’s what I do.
Say I determine that I have 3 hours daily to focus on my new launch. One hour would be focused to the blog/website, another to social media and the third to paid marketing events.
However, I don’t stop there. As it relates to social media this is what it could look like:
· Monday Twitter
· Tuesday Facebook
· Wednesday Linked-In
· Thursday Google
· Friday Pinterest
Or something like a model like that which fits for your own marketing agenda. Of course, this should not be limited to just social media marketing but any strategy you may be launching as part of your online marketing plans.
Here are 24 ideas that you can build into your overall marketing game plans:
1. Advergames
2. Article Marketing
3. Contests
4. eBook Marketing
5. Email Signatures
6. Facebook Ads
7. Facebook Groups
8. Forum Marketing
9. Guest Blogging
10. Joint Ventures
11. Link Building
12. LinkedIn Groups
13. Automation
14. Mobile Marketing
15. Niche Marketing
16. Pay Per Click
17. Referral Marketing
18. Podcasting
19. Press Releases
20. Search Marketing
21. Teleconferences
22. Video Marketing
23. Viral Marketing
24. Webinars
My own personal favorite of the above strategies would be guest blogging.
Doing Everything Yourself
Once you have balanced your life with your marketing plans it is time to get everything done. Given that you want it all done right, isn’t it best to do it yourself?
While there is certain logic to that theory, it breaks down fast when you realize that you can’t be an overnight expert in every area imaginable. A better plan would be to find an expert in video marketing and outsource that part of your business to them.
Same goes for whatever other marketing plan you use.
Two popular places to find outsourced talent include Upwork and Fiverr.
Of course, you do need to balance the amount of people that you are outsourcing too with the income being generated for your marketing efforts. If you have investment capital available, this would be a great time to tap into it. Just be sure that you are budgeting everything correctly or you may find yourself without an option for outsourcing due to a lack of finances.
Lacking Trackable Success
With everything now being done in a consistent pattern of regularity, what can possibly go wrong?
Ever try driving to an unknown destination without a GPS or map?
If there are a lot of complicated turns you may find yourself in store for more than just a little bit of a challenge. The same theory goes for getting to your desired destination of online success from your marketing efforts.
Analytics are your map and your guide here.
Yes, this includes Google Webmaster tools where you can see what keywords you are or are not ranking on search with as well as other important details. However, this is not the only ingredient to be concerned about when it comes to understanding the path forward.
Social media sites like Facebook and Twitter have their own analytics to consider and Alexa offers its own version of details related to your project and its success. However, it doesn’t stop there, anywhere you can uncover invaluable details related to your projects success it is another view of where you have been as well as where you are going that you should consider paying attention to.
HOT TIP: While stats and analytics are important it is highly advised not to get to lost in these details as it will absorb the time required for accomplishing important activities for your marketing growth.
Concluding Thoughts About Beginners Marketing Mistakes
Making a living on the Web is quite possible if you avoid the errors that everyone starting out can find themselves falling into. Just be sure to make the right investments of:
1. Time
2. Technology
3. Talent
4. Tracking
Repeat success while eliminating failure and you too can, in time, find the business success you seek and desire on the Web.