There are constantly new myths being heard through the grapevine about digital marketing. It often makes it misleading and difficult for businesses to know what the right thing to do is when it comes to digital marketing. In this blog I have explored some common myths to help cut through the confusion.
#1 — Digital Marketing is just for Large Businesses
This may have been a true statement once upon a time, but luckily technology has become more affordable and therefore accessible to businesses of all sizes. Growing your business digitally is easier than ever, and as nearly everyone is online in one way or another, a digital presence is great for driving sales.
#2 — Email Marketing Doesn’t Work – It’s just Spam
Email marketing has been around since the 70’s and while there has been need to adapt strategies for email marketing, it is still as strong as ever.
99% of consumers use their email account daily
Almost 60% of marketers claim email is their largest ROI
These stats alone show that email marketing does work, you just need to make sure you do it right and keep adapting with the times. For example, currently interactive emails are showing more engagement rates than any other types of email marketing.
#3 — You Should Get Instant Results with Digital Marketing
As with any marketing, digital marketing is a marathon, not a sprint. It can produce excellent results, but don’t fall into the trap of thinking it hasn’t worked because you don’t get these results instantly. Instead, monitor progress to ensure it is heading in the right direction and adjust tactics as and when needed.
#4 — You Need to Target Every Single Social Media Platform
This is a trap I see so often and it’s an easy one to fall into. There are so many shiny platforms promising so much interaction and functionality Instagram, Tik Tok, Pinterest, Facebook, Clubhouse, the list goes on….
You can’t be everywhere at once, so rather than having accounts on everything but not being active on them, research platforms to understand the right ones for you. Then from this research pick a few platforms relevant to your business, that way you can focus on those platforms properly and gain the results from them that you want.
#5 — Digital Marketing Messages aren’t Personal Enough
Technology is ever changing and growing, which is great because it is enabling us to personalise our digital efforts to ensure they are relevant to our audience. That can be with remarketing, careful targeting tools and strategic advertising.
#6 — SEO Is Dead
This is simply not true. Search Engine Optimisation enables you to reach people from across the world as well as locally, if you have the right strategy in place. Search Engines are regularly updating their capabilities and algorithms to make them more intuitive to visitors needs. Great content, a digital marketing plan and SEO strategy combined will see you onto a winner!
#7 — My Competition Isn’t Online, So I Don’t Need To Be
If your competition aren’t online then that means the complete opposite! Everyone uses digital for something or other now, so if your competition aren’t currently online then you have the opportunity to get ahead of your competitors and reach people that they can only dream of! Don’t make the same mistakes, place your business as an innovator and market leader instead.
#8 — Digital Marketing Doesn’t Work for my Industry
I hear this one often and the truth is that everyone uses the internet for something, whether you’re a product or service based business, B2B or B2C. Which means that you simply need to research what that is and use that information when making a strategy for your digital marketing.
#9 — Content Marketing isn’t Important
So many people believe that once your website is launched you can simply leave it there to do its thing. Unfortunately that is not the case, regularly updated and relevant content is crucial to the performance of your website. This is key for SEO rankings but also for your visitors, if they see that you haven’t added a blog post or updated your website in the past year, then they are less likely to trust you as a business.
#10 — All You Need is Digital Marketing
Digital marketing needs to be viewed as one cog in a marketing wheel.
Having a digital marketing strategy is definitely important, especially in this digital age, but it needs to be part of a wider marketing plan combined. Traditional methods, while not quite as high performing as digital marketing now, are still key components in successfully growing your business.