You've started focusing on digital marketing,

but you're not seeing the results that you had hoped to see. 

That's OK because today we're going to talk about some possible mistakes that could be holding you back.

This article will be geared toward those looking to truly optimize their digital marketing efforts and are curious about how to take their marketing to the next level.

When we begin marketing, meaning when we don't really know what we should be doing, we try all sorts of different things and hope that they work.

We avoid things like creating a strategy and paying attention to metrics.

Once again, this is all OK!

As you learn and grow, you'll be able to identify more opportunities to expand and reach more and better clients.

Let's dive into some of the mistakes you could be making with your digital marketing.

We'll work in no particular order, and keep in mind this list is not meant to be comprehensive but serve more as a guide to prompt some thoughts.

You're avoiding going wide.

I've been here; we've all been here. 

Maybe you have a post that gets a lot of engagement on social media. You throw some money at it, hoping to get it in front of even more people. To your delight, it does just that, and now you're getting a bunch of likes and even a few comments. 

Naturally, you roll the dice and sponsor another post. 

Some time passes, and your post fizzles out. You've gained some new followers but have yet to have any sales as a result of the posts. 

You become frustrated and go back to just posting occasionally on social media a few times per month.

Your frustration is common. Who wouldn't be frustrated by seemingly wasting money and getting nothing in return? 

By avoiding going wide, you've eliminated huge amounts of potential clients from seeing your offer. 

Instead of putting all of your figurative marketing eggs in one basket, you should test the waters by creating a new strategy. A strategy in which you go wide to test the waters in various online locations. 

Let's assume you post on Instagram a few times a month and have a blog, but you only post articles occasionally. 

Some easy wins would be to utilize those platforms. Post more often on Instagram and improve your blogging frequency. Start slow and build up to blogging twice a month. The more you post, the easier it becomes, so don't stress!

Once you've got these platforms more consistent, consider expanding with things like a podcast and adding Facebook or another social app.

Your potential clients are likely hanging out in more than one place online. Stay consistent and learn how to track and measure with metrics.

Once you've put in a minimum of six months, you can decide which platforms are yielding results and turning into actual sales and which to consider dropping.

When you drop something, look at it as an opportunity to try something else!

PRO TIP:  Don't try everything at once. We want to avoid burnout and remain consistent.

You're talking to far too many people.

This one is widespread, and for a good reason. 

It's natural to operate under the assumption that if we market to everyone, then the odds are the right clients will find us. 

This approach backfires almost all of the time. 

I know this sounds counterintuitive, but by marketing to everyone, you cannot dial in and speak to those specific clients that are a perfect fit for your business. 

Instead, spend some time creating and refining client avatars. 

Identify the commonalities that your perfect clients demonstrate. Who are they? Where do they live? What do they do for work? Where do they spend their free time? Do they have children? Are they married? Do they have disposable income? Are they in school? What age bracket do they fall into? What are their hobbies? 

Once you've built your avatar or multiple avatars, you can begin speaking directly to those people.

Using avatars is a much more effective method that will give you some structure and ultimately improve your return on investment.

You'll be able to direct your offer to those who are actually looking for it rather than trying to convince everyone else.

PRO TIP:  Name your avatar. Talking to Student Suzy is much easier than talking to Avatar #1.

You're inconsistent. 

We've all heard how important consistency is, and it's even more advantageous when it comes to marketing. 

The most powerful brands in the world are known, and they thrive due to their consistency.

The same holds true even when you scale things down to small businesses. 

Human beings love stability. 

As small business owners, we need to create that stability in our potential client's minds.

If you struggle with staying on a schedule, you'll want to figure out why. 

Some possible reasons may be a lack of clear goals, a lack of support, difficulty with time management, and outside distractions. 

Additionally, running a business's complexity and often unpredictable nature could quickly derail even the best of us!

When these factors begin to pile up, we can become overwhelmed and either give up or struggle with finding inspiration. 

Other inconsistencies in our businesses can be a turn-off to clients. For example, if your pricing is inconsistent and you have some clients on discounts and others grandfathered in with old pricing, you'll risk irritating clients should they find out that someone else is paying less for the same service. 

If you're someone who, like myself, has a podcast, then you'll appreciate the power of consistency. 

When I launched my podcast, I committed to publishing an episode every week. At the time of writing this article, I posted a total of 66 podcast episodes.

Releasing a podcast episode every week for over a year was something that took work at first. 

We recorded in between appointments, tried batch-recording episodes, recorded while we were away on travel, and recorded more than once with a kid sitting on a lap. 

We had committed and stuck to our game plan, and it's working out for us.

I know our listeners expect our episode every Monday because they tell us. When your clients are being vocal...listen. They're not always 100% right, but odds are, if they're saying anything at all, you'll be able to find value within their words.

PRO TIP:  Underpromise and overdeliver. 

You're sending mixed messages.

Sending mixed messages in marketing is another common problem that could be holding your business back.

Let's say that you're a hairstylist or barber who's using social media with the goal of attracting more clients. 

You need to post content that resonates with your target client and avoid posting content aimed at getting likes from other hairstylists. 

Posting hair formulas is fine, but don't expect it to make sense to normal everyday people looking to cover some gray hair.

It's easy for us to believe that people will buy into our business by overstating our knowledge and using big words, but the opposite is true. 

The average person doesn't understand hair formulas, nor should they be expected to understand them.

What they do understand is their problems and the challenges they face day to day. 

Establishing the foundation of your business will clarify your messaging and lead you to a more concise offer. 

Focus on creating a solid mission and vision statement and a marketing strategy that aligns with those things instead of making random content that creates confusion amongst potential customers. 

PRO TIP:  Don't be afraid to take a step back in order to make progress!

You're not standing out.

This is a big one!

The trick to marketing is to stand out. You need to be different to get noticed.

I often don't believe most people when they tell me their market is saturated. 

Why do most people struggle with marketing effectively if the market isn't saturated?

The answer is simple: You don't stand out.

If potential customers are scrolling through social media and your business page looks exactly like every other page, then you've given them no reason to choose you. 

What you should do is identify what separates you from your competition. 

Are you the cleanest? Do you offer the most hours? Do you specialize in certain services? Are you the most convenient location with tons of free parking? Are you a luxury brand? Are you the most competitively priced? Is your customer service five-star?

The items listed above are what you should be promoting in order to attract more clients. 

And not randomly from time to time, but often you should be screaming your differences from the rooftops!

*Please don't actually get up on a rooftop and scream. You'll scare your neighbors and possibly fall. 

PRO TIP:  Don't be afraid to scope out the competition. There's a ton of talk about avoiding competitors in the hair industry, but something tells me the most successful businesses aren't too concerned. 

Hopefully, you've found some value and identified a mistake or two. Don't be afraid to experiment; never be scared to make mistakes! You should only focus on not repeating them and learning whatever lessons you can.

Reach out today if you'd like to chat about having us help take your digital marketing to the next level!