Think Outside The Box: Digital Marketing Tactics That No Longer Work
Digital marketing is an industry that changes quick — and if you don’t keep up, you’ll find yourself wondering why your business is lagging behind your competitors.
The strategies that were considered the gold standard yesterday are constantly being phased out as newer, more effective tactics are discovered and practiced.
Don’t get stuck behind the times: ditch the old strategies that are no longer working for you!
Don’t know what those strategies might be? Luckily for you, we’re here to give a rundown of the tired old techniques in digital marketing that need a serious facelift.
1. Having a static social media presence
Let us tell you a story: once upon a time, when social media was first emerging, it was enough for a business to have an account and post automated content on the main social media channels. All you had to do was setup a Twitter account and a Facebook page, post fun and informative content, and you were set.
Do you want to know how the story ends? It’s 2016 and this kind of static social media experience doesn’t work for users anymore. The end.
Today’s social audience wants to see true engagement from businesses — not a “thank you” Facebook response here and there and not an automated retweet for a complimentary Twitter post. The businesses that are getting the most bang for their buck are having on-going conversations with their customers — and the conversations are interesting, quirky, and public!
2. Trying to engage with superficial personalization
“Joe, let me tell you about the best way to grow your traffic today.”
“Jennifer, have you tried this new marketing software?”
“Thanks for signing up, David — here’s a free gift for you!”
What do all of these lines have in common, besides utilizing the customer’s name? Well, they’re clearly automated — and totally boring!
Web-savvy customers in 2016 aren’t impressed when they get an email with their name in the subject line, nor do they fall all over themselves when you personally thank them for purchasing your product or service.
Most customers these days know that it’s easy enough to throw their name into an automation program and send a thousand emails out to a thousand different people saying the exact same thing!
Customers in 2016 want real personalization: they want a business with a dedicated customer service rep that knows more about them than just their name, they want someone they can chat with them via email instead of a “no-reply” address, and they want to know they matter.
3. Publishing clickbait headlines
When was the last time you read a headline that said “You’ll never believe what we learned”…and then you got to the end and you really didn’t believe it?
If you’re like most internet users, we’re guessing probably never.
I’m sure whatever the writer of that clickbait headline learned was totally great, but was it unbelievable? Likely not.
When people read headlines like that on the internet today, they walk away feeling like the business thinks they’re stupid. Not many things are “shocking” or “unbelievable” or a
“miracle” — so stop relying on clickbait headlines like this with no substance. Instead, be honest about what’s in the post — it may not be as sensationalistic, but customers will definitely value your candor.
P.S. Here’s our favorite headline that we love to hate:
4. Being everywhere on the internet
You’ve just published a piece of what you think is quality content, what’s the next thing you do?
Well, if you’re like a lot of businesses, you run over to Hootsuite or another social automation app and schedule it to be pushed to Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Tumblr. Then you create a Pinterest graphic with a headline and set it up for a new pin.
What’s wrong with this strategy?
Remember our story about the business that just set up a few social profiles and used to get a great return, but doesn’t anymore? Well, it’s the same for the idea that you can push content to every single social media outlet and expect to see great results.
Not all of your users are on all of the platforms, so you may be wasting a lot of time trying to push content to each one. Besides that, though, it’s worth taking some time to figure out the statistics on some of these social platforms — for example, younger millennials aren’t engaging as much with Facebook as they use to.
Think smarter: figure out which platforms are best for which content instead of trying to be everywhere.
5. Focusing exclusively on the user’s desktop experience
Building a great website is obviously critical to any business in the digital age. But in today’s digital marketing world, so is building a great mobile site.
For quick bits of information, we’re all on our phones. When’s the last time you visited a site with an awful mobile experience? I’m betting it wasn’t that long ago and I’m betting you did what most users do: leave and try a different site.
Mobile optimization is a critical factor in engaging users, so don’t spend all of your resources on your desktop site.
Not only that, the mobile optimization of your website is also factor for search engine rankings, making it a super valuable tool in your digital marketing strategy.
So, what’s the moral of our story? It’s as simple as this: digital marketing is not a static field. It’s not enough to simply learn a skill or strategy and think it will work for your business for years to come.
In order to get the return you are looking for from your marketing efforts, you have to keep up with the times — and review and update your marketing strategies early and often!
