Post about "Marketing"

10 Costly Digital Marketing Mistakes to Avoid in 2016

With the new year here, marketers have been working on and executing their 2016 digital marketing strategy. All professionals have plans to grow their business, build their brand, and be a leader in their industry. While a sense of urgency is essential to hitting all of these goals, there are some mistakes to avoid during the planning and execution stages. These mistakes will set your business back in hitting your revenue targets, resulting in wasted time, effort, and cost.

1. NOT KNOWING YOUR AUDIENCE

Knowing your audience is the first place to start in building your digital marketing strategy. Without a clear understanding of your audience and its needs, your entire strategy will crumble. Digital marketing isn’t just about publishing content, tweets, and Facebook posts; it’s about getting a return on your efforts. If you don’t clearly understand your audience, you won’t be rewarded with the results you’re looking for.

2. LACK OF FOCUS

In addition to knowing your audience, there needs to be a clear focus. Invest in the areas you know what works first for quick, quality wins. Long-term goals are a part of your digital strategy, but solid rewards along the way drives consistent and improved effort into reaching those longer goals, keeping momentum throughout your organization.

3. NOT SETTING THE RIGHT EXPECTATIONS

Expectations are key in setting your marketing team up for success and knowing where your team is in hitting annual targets. With every campaign launched, set a realistic goal. Factors that help set your goal can be budget for the campaign and ensuring you’re targeting the right audience. Come up with these numbers and audience types by reviewing past campaigns and analyzing the results and factors that went into producing them. Knowing or estimating the timeline from planning to execution is also a major factor in knowing when to expect results.

4. LACK OF METRICS

An essential part of any campaign strategy is establishing metrics of success. Measure your campaigns results against these metrics to determine where you’re getting the most ROI so you can invest intelligently in future campaigns.

5. NOT USING SOCIAL IN THE MOST EFFECTIVE WAY

Don’t post to social just for the sake of it; use these platforms to your advantage. Know the strengths of each platform as it pertains to your business. Facebook may be the best platform for customer engagement, and LinkedIn may be the best tool for sales prospecting. Craft your campaigns by the channel you’re planning to use to garner the best results.

6. NOT ENOUGH CONTENT

Like social, content is essential but needs to be strategic. Publish content that’s:

  • Relevant to your brand
  • Speaks to the value of your product(s)
  • Connects with your target audience and presents a solution for the problem(s) your business solves.

7. EVOLVING WITH YOUR AUDIENCE

This ties back to knowing your prospects and customers. Identify what your audience has responding well to: What has driven the most effective engagement? Based on your analysis, you may have to make minor or major shifts in your digital strategy.

8. NOT HAVING A DETERMINED BUDGET

Most particularly when you’re launching social campaigns, budget is a significant factor in a campaign’s success. Know your budget so you can set realistic goals and expectations for how your campaign will perform.

9. NOT STAYING INFORMED

The world of digital marketing is evolving constantly, and being informed on best practices, trends, and what audiences are looking for helps companies keep up. Never stop learning about how to leverage digital marketing tools to grow your business.

10. LACK OF PLANNING

A lack of planning could big the biggest mistake to make in executing on your digital marketing strategy. Your digital strategy should embody your brand, know your audience, and have clear goals that focus on growing your business.

What to Look for in Homes for Sale

If you’re moving to a new location, you’ll want to look carefully at the homes for sale in the area. This is not a snap decision, but one that takes lots of research and time to thoroughly scope out the region. When you’re new to a town or city, it’s hard to tell at first glance where the preferred spots to live may be. Look into local amenities, crime statistics, and school districts. These pools of information can tell you what you need to know about a particular neighborhood or area.Nearby AmenitiesLook at homes for sale near shopping centers, entertainment venues, parks, hospitals, libraries, public transportation, and potential employers. While the idea of living way out in the country may be appealing, it will cost more in terms of your daily commute. Having some amenities within walking distance can be a big plus. Long drives take time, money, and physical energy. In terms of resale value, it’s much easier to sell a centrally located house rather than a house that’s out in the country.Crime StatisticsWhen you’re moving to a new town or city, it might be hard to tell where the high and low crime areas are. You can find out about various neighborhoods’ criminal activity by calling the local police department or contacting the city statistics departments. Statistics can provide information about the types of crime as well, such as violence, home theft, or drug-related crimes. Of course you’ll want to look at homes for sale in safe neighborhoods.School DistrictsSchool districts are another thing to make sure to take into careful consideration when researching homes for sale in a particular area. This is especially true if you have children, or plan to in the future. The quality of education your child receives is critical to his or her development. Even if your kids are grown, living near top quality schools can be an important factor in a home’s resale value.Other ConsiderationsIn addition to nearby amenities, crime statistics, and schools, you’ll want to ponder other considerations as well. It’s wise to drive up and down the streets of neighborhoods you’re considering moving to during all times of the day and night. Visiting the areas on weekends and holidays allows you to see an entirely different view of how things may be. Look at the people in the area; notice their yards, pets, and the general ambiance of the neighborhood. If you like what you see and feel, chances are you’ve found the right place to live.Purchasing a house is an important decision to make, one that shouldn’t be made lightly. In addition to finding a place with enough square footage, the right number of bedrooms and bathrooms, and with a large enough garage, is also very important in the decision making process.