13 Reasons Why Your Online Marketing Is Not Working

If you believe that you have a sound marketing strategy and have been trying everything under the sun to get visitors and turn them into customers without success, it might be time to think again. Just because someone told you that their method was sound and foolproof, it doesn’t mean that it will work for your niche and your business profile. It is important that every now and then you take a step back from your marketing and evaluate your results, as well as the costs to make your promotions more effective. Below you will find thirteen different reasons why your online marketing might not be delivering the results you have expected.

1. You Focus On the Wrong Markets

You might think that the market you have chosen is profitable, but in reality it is hard to get people to buy from you. If the market is saturated and there is a huge competition, chances are that you will have to work harder to stand out from the crowd. You will have to develop a unique offer that is irresistible to your potential customers, so you can win the business and not other companies.

2. Lack of Market Knowledge

Knowledge and information are crucial to delivering a profitable marketing campaign. If you don’t spend enough time on finding enough data about your target market and your customers’ behavior, you might as well be shooting in the dark when it comes to promotions. You will need to understand what your customers are looking for, where they are searching for information, and what their most important problems are. Further, you’ll need to understand how you can overcome the most common buyers’ excuses.

3. Not Using Multiple Channels

Many small business owners make a mistake by not engaging in different types of marketing. You will need to explore and experiment with various marketing channels to see which ones deliver the best results for your business. If you ignore social media marketing, business directories, and only focus on search engine optimization, you can never get the right results. Find the perfect combination of various promotion and branding methods, and measure the success rate of each one to improve your results.

4. Lack of Consistent Brand Messages

One of the most important things you must get right is developing a strong brand and constructing strong positive brand messages. If you don’t do this, you might be giving out a different message to various audiences, getting them confused about what you have to offer. Make sure that you start by developing your mission and vision statement, create a brand message that emphasizes your unique selling propositions, so you can connect with your audience on a new level.

5. Not Accepting Help

It is important that you are aware of your limitations when it comes to search engine optimization and online marketing. You cannot be a professional copywriter and statistician as well as a business owner. Sometimes it is better to  outsource some of the specialist services to get the best return on your investment. Companies like Weboptimizers offer comprehensive packages tailored to your needs, so you don’t have to spend your time designing and executing marketing campaigns, instead of focusing on your strategy.

6. Focusing On Search Engines Not Users

There’s a lot of talk about search engine optimization these days. Many small business owners take this task too far, and make their content less user-friendly by optimizing every detail. Search engines, indeed, are looking for visitor engagement, as well as on-site and off-site optimization. When you are searching for the right design and content, step into your visitors’ shoes, instead of looking at your business from the search spider’s perspective.

7. Trying to Copy Other Companies

You will never get anywhere in business without originality. Instead of trying to copy the marketing methods of other companies in your marketplace, find unique ways to connect with your audience, so you can stand out. It is always better to eliminate the background noise and deliver clear messages that reach your target market than trying to outshine your competition.

8. Still Believing In the Magic Button

Of course, people trying to sell you the latest SEO software or online marketing management suite will tell you that there is a magic button to press and you will immediately get targeted visitors to your site. The fact is that that button doesn’t exist, and never did. While there are some grey areas of internet marketing that some companies use to automate their content creation and optimization, these can only work for a limited time, and can do more harm than good. Online marketing requires an investment of time and energy.

9. Poorly Designed Sales Funnels

In case you are wondering why you are not achieving your desired conversion rates, you will have to walk through the route your visitors take and tailor your sales funnel to the needs of your audience. You will have to create personalized local marketing solutions for your small business, with the customer in mind. Find out more about your visitors’ online behavior and preferences, and tailor your sales funnels to their needs, wants, and expectations.  

10. Bad Landing Pages

Your landing page matters more than any other content on your website. Designed to turn your visitors into subscribers and customers, if it doesn’t work, you will not make any money. You will have to design a landing page that grabs your visitors’ attention and gives them a good enough reason to sign up for your updates or buy from you. Your online customers’ attention span is shorter than you would imagine, therefore, you only have a few seconds to convince them to stay.

11. No Social Media Integration

While your website acts as your online shop window, your social media pages give your brand the credibility and reputation it needs to become popular. It is important to create social proof and give your market a chance to connect with your brand through various marketing channels. If you don’t integrate social media into your website and set up professional business pages, you are missing out on effective marketing opportunities.

12. Neglecting Mobile Users

Using an old web design or template has several disadvantages. Your site might not be compatible with some of the browsers, or be too slow. It is important that your pages appear clearly on all screens, including tablets and phones. You can get cheap and low cost responsive web design packages to integrate in your site, so you can reach every visitor, no matter what device they are using to reach your site.

13. Not Tracking Traffic and Visitors

Without checking and understanding your statistics, you will not be able to make adjustments to your online marketing strategy to make it more effective. There are several free traffic tracking tools, including Google Analytics. You can find out where your visitors are coming from, how they behave, and which content is the most popular among them. You can also check the busiest times and the pages that convert the best. A great online marketing software will allow you to see the insights of your traffic and get to know your target market better.

No matter what you are trying to achieve with your online marketing; branding, selling your products and services, or promoting affiliate products, you need to review your results and methods every now and then. Check the above areas and make smart adjustments to your marketing strategy to improve your conversions and profits. Take a step back from your routine and identify the most effective promotion channels online.

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