5 Signs You're Doing Digital Marketing Wrong

Digital marketing mistakes can be deadly to your bottom line. You've done the hard work of getting visitors to your site, but the job of conversion has only just begun. Here are five of the biggest digital marketing mistakes — and how to fix them.

1. Your Site Is Slow

Consumers love to look, but hate to wait. With the average page size coming in at a whopping 2 MB, according to SitePoint, load times are slower than ever. Search Engine Journal notes that making your page load just one second faster can increase sales by 7 percent. Shoot for a 1 MB page size.

2. You're Not Providing Users With Helpful Tools

Despite widespread belief, CNN tells us that most people cannot multitask. A user can easily mistype information into an order form and give up when it doesn't go through. You should make sure your site includes certain safeguards to prevent common user errors, such as a calendar to select dates from, drop-down menus for states and countries or an option for recurring users to save their information. This can make all the difference between an abandoned shopping cart and a sale.

3. You Aren't Taking Advantage of Retargeting

Retargeting, or serving ads to consumers based on their Internet behavior, has proven to be a powerful form of online advertising. Very few visitors convert on their first visit, so retargeting is critical to boosting conversions. And be sure to include burn code so you're not wasting resources on converted customers.

4. You Don't Have a Content Marketing Strategy

With the quickly evolving digital landscape, content marketing is no longer a recommendation - it's a must. Content marketing helps you attract and retain customers by creating content focused on topics your target audience cares about and positioning your brand as a thought leader in that field. You build trust among your audience by providing them with fun and useful information, and that trust ultimately leads to conversions.

5. You Have a Confusing Value Proposition

Last, but by no means least, a confusing value proposition may be the most egregious of all errors. It's the first thing your customer should see on your website, and it makes the difference between a click on your call-to-action and a bounce. Speak directly to your target and avoid jargon. And don't forget to test!