Imagine spending thousands on your digital marketing efforts – only to see minimal results. While there are many contributing factors to this, including fierce competition and an industry which seems to change faster than the latest TikTok trend, it’s often the same mistakes that are proving costly for many businesses. Becca Tee, Digital PR Lead at Repeat Digital, shares insights into the common pitfalls that could be holding your business back.
Keeping up with the digital marketing industry is no easy feat. One minute it can feel like you’re making progress, with a spike in online visibility and leads/sales – the next, you’re back to scratching your head and having to adapt after yet another algorithm update, or change to pay-per-click (PPC) bidding strategies.
These developments naturally play a part in the results you see from your digital marketing efforts, as you make adjustments here and there to stick to the guidelines or jump onboard that latest trend. But, the reality is that despite us working in arguably one of the most fast-paced industries, it’s the basics that businesses are still struggling to get right.
Here are six mistakes that crop up time and time again when working with companies of all sizes. Some of these relate to one particular digital marketing function i.e. PPC, PR, search engine optimisation (SEO) or social media, while others can be applied across multiple different services.
1.Not having Google Analytics or Search Console access
Previously known as Universal Analytics (UA), Google Analytics 4 (GA4) became Google’s ‘next-generation measurement solution’, providing businesses with a wealth of insights to help them discover how people interact with their website and apps so they can make data-driven decisions on their marketing strategy. Despite this being a free tool, it’s surprising how many companies don’t have GA4 set up or are failing to utilise its full potential.
GA4 can assist with all areas of digital marketing, from seeing how much organic traffic is being generated, to whether any referral traffic is coming from your PR activity. GA4 also supports PPC with enhanced conversion tracking, audience segmentation, cross-platform insights and real-time data, while having a seamless integration with Google Ads.
Google Search Console (GSC) is another tool that’s worth prioritising, if you don’t already have it. This platform focuses specifically on organic search performance, while GA4 provides broader marketing insights.
Both tools are fairly easy to set up, taking anywhere from 30 minutes to a couple of hours, and there are plenty of tutorials and resources available to guide you through the process. If you have an internal web developer, they will be able to assist and let you know if it’s been set up correctly.
2. Working in silos
Many businesses – small or large – take a siloed approach to their digital marketing operations. The SEO and PPC teams may never speak, and the PR strategy is misaligned with the overall marketing plan. This lack of synergy between different services is likely to result in inefficiencies, wasted budget and suboptimal results; as the famous saying goes ‘teamwork makes the dream work’!
One specific example of where collaboration is super important is when a company is investing in digital PR. With backlinks still considered an influential ranking factor, SEOs can help digital PRs to understand the areas of the site which will benefit the most from a boost in high-quality links. PRs can then use this knowledge to prioritise their efforts, creating highly targeted campaigns that have a good chance of receiving coverage on reputable and relevant publications/websites.
3. Producing thin content – or worse, no content at all
While there is no magic number of words that guarantees high-quality content, there is a misconception that if content is too long, it’ll put users off – but this isn’t true, providing the copy is engaging and valuable.
In the SEO world, we call sparse, shallow copy ‘thin content’. Often, it’s made even worse by being stuffed with keywords in a bid to rank better. But that just makes it look like it’s been written for Google bots, not for humans, and this can have negative consequences, such as:
- Lower search engine rankings
- SEO penalties
- Poor user experience
- Reduced crawl efficiency
- Low conversion rates
And then there are businesses that won’t be producing content at all, other than what’s on their core landing pages. This is a costly mistake as a content strategy plan which encompasses new website pages, blogs, whitepapers, reports, case studies and social media (to give a few examples) will help to drive new users to your site while nurturing existing customers/clients.
4. Underestimating the power of social
Whether you like social media, or you don’t – it’s here to stay, and with platforms such as Bluesky becoming increasingly popular, it makes sense for your brand to leverage this as part of its marketing strategy. The issue is a lot of businesses aren’t – and yet it’s one of the first places potential customers/clients might go to learn more about your business, products or services. Showing you’re active on social media also invites people to contact you there (which may be their preferred method of contact) and know they’ll get a swift reply.
It can be difficult to plan social content months in advance, so don’t worry about this. Aim for a consistent stream of relevant content at least two weeks in advance, enhanced with interesting brand consistent visuals or videos which keep people engaged.
5. Paying for backlinks
Backlinks are links from websites (i.e. publications) that point to your site. They are considered to be an important ranking factor – but paying for them is against Google guidelines.
If you suspect/know competitors are doing this, then you may be tempted to follow suit, especially if you see them skyrocketing in the search engine results pages (SERPs). It may work for a short time, but they’re putting themselves at risk of penalties. In severe cases, Google may completely remove a site from its search index, making it impossible for users to find. Imagine how detrimental this would be, considering how many people search online?
6. Focusing on the wrong metrics
Focusing on the wrong metrics can lead businesses astray in their digital marketing efforts. In PPC, for example, it’s true that clicks, impressions and click through rates are important – but they don’t tell the full story of your advertising’s effectiveness. The numbers may be good on paper, but they don’t necessarily mean you’re making money.
Instead, companies should dig deeper by focusing on actual conversions, conversion value and metrics outside Google Ads, including nCAC (net Customer Acquisition Cost) – how much you’re spending to get each new customer and MER (Marketing Efficiency Radio) – the total revenue generated divided by total marketing spend.