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Mission Control / Digital Marketing

5 Digital Marketing Mistakes You’re Likely Making (and How to Fix Them)

Before you press “publish” on your next campaign, take a moment to make sure you’re not falling prey to these common missteps.

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By Drew McCullough

Launching a new digital campaign takes time and money. And if you’re not careful, a few mistakes along the way can rob you of your ROI. The good news is that with a little planning, your campaign can make a big impact. Here, we break down five of the most common digital marketing mistakes and how to fix them.

1. You’re rushing a campaign into market without doing the research.

One of the biggest marketing mistakes to avoid when launching a campaign is racing to get something into market without first doing the necessary legwork. The result is an ineffective campaign that underperforms.

Before making any creative decisions, you need to dive into the data. Start with competitor research to see what approach your competition is taking, what their overall messaging strategy is and what kind of imagery they’re using. This will help you frame up how you’ll differentiate your organization and its offerings.

Next, conduct keyword research to see what search terms people are using that you can leverage for your campaign.

2. You didn’t define what success looks like.

What’s the point of launching a campaign if you don’t have any goals in mind for said campaign? Hint: There is no point, and yet this is an all-too-common marketing mistake.

Before launching a campaign, define your goals. Common campaign goals include increasing engagement on your site, driving users to fill out a form or encouraging travelers to book a trip.

Whatever your goals may be, make sure you explicitly outline them before beginning any creative work. If you don’t know what your goals are, your campaign will likely feel disjointed — and not as focused as it could be if you’re working toward a specific outcome.

3. Your tracking is lacking.

Your goals are no good if you’re not measuring whether or not you reach them. That’s why implementing tracking measures is so crucial — you need to keep tabs on your key performance indicators (KPIs). For example, if you’re working on getting more people to sign up for your e-newsletter, you’ll want to track how many people fill out your form to start receiving your emails.

4. Your targeting didn’t hit the mark.

It can be tempting to want to try to reach anyone and everyone with your campaign. But if you don’t define your target audience and instead just try to get as many eyeballs as possible — regardless of whom those eyeballs belong to — your campaign will not be as effective as it could be. Similarly, if you target the wrong audience, your campaign could flop.

Let’s say you’re a destination marketing organization running a campaign to encourage people to visit an art festival in your area. You’ll want to target art fanatics who also have an affinity for attending live events. You could drill down even further and target local residents and people who live in drive markets.

Or maybe your hospital is launching a campaign to encourage patients to schedule their first-ever mammogram. You’ll want to target women 40 and above who live close by.

5. You’re not A/B testing.

You’ve got the strategy, goals and audience nailed down. It’s finally time for the creative. To get the most out of your campaign, you’ll want to implement A/B testing. This will allow you to see what imagery, messaging and calls to action work the best with your audience. Plus, it’ll give you the insight you need to adjust your campaign in real time, increasing its impact and giving you a solid understanding of things to avoid for future campaigns.

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Drew McCullough Editor

Drew comes to Casual Astronaut with a decade of media experience that includes everything from producing videos to writing blog posts to editing print publications. He’s covered sports, science, general news and business throughout his career, which has helped him hone the ability to connect with a wide variety of audiences on a wide range of topics.

A sports junkie at heart, Drew is a former online sports producer at the Arizona Daily Star. Although he earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Arizona and his master’s degree from Arizona State University, Drew is a Wildcat through and through. Outside of work, he can be found cheering on the Seahawks or frolicking outdoors with his wife and their son and dog.

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