Are You Fishing Without Bait? The #1 Digital Marketing Mistake

You have the top of the line carbon fiber fishing rod and high tech reel.  You have the Cadillac of fishing boats that will get you to your favorite fishing hole in nanoseconds.  It’s equipped with radar, sonar, lidar (okay maybe not lidar) to pinpoint the exact location of that trophy fish.  Casting your line into the water you wait…and wait…and wait without so much as a nibble because you forgot one important piece.  The baited hook!

So many businesses today are fishing without a baited hook.  They have a nice website and all the social media platforms but still they wait for clients/customers to contact them.  Just having all the digital marketing tools in place does not insure you will generate business.  You need the right bait on your hook.  You need an effective content marketing strategy.

Most business owners don’t have the luxury of little or no competition.  You compete for the attention of your customers/clients with other local businesses.  But you also compete with “do it yourself” solutions.  Getting your message heard above the noise requires a strong content marketing strategy.

Your digital marketing presence – your website, social media, videos and email marketing – must have solid content that moves your prospects from browsers to buyers.  It’s not enough to just tell people what you do.  But rather, you need to tell them how your product/service is the answer to their problems.

A common mistake I see with websites is that the site’s content doesn’t answer the question, “What’s in it for Me?”  Businesses tout their experience, their awards and certifications and how great they are, but they don’t tell visitors how they solve their problems.  I would rather not hear an opera rehearsal (me, me, me, me), because it’s not all about the business.  It’s about whether you can solve my problem, save me time or money or make my life easier.  If you can do that, I’m in.

Another common mistake is not telling visitors what you want them to do.  A call to action.  Don’t assume that someone on your website or social media knows what the next step is to get started working with you.  Tell them what to do next.  Call Me.  Sign Up Here.  Watch My Video.  Learn More.  Getting them to take action is paramount to a successful marketing campaign.

Now, by “Call to Action”, I don’t mean you hammer them with a sales pitch.  For example, when you walk on a car lot, you are already primed with 3 little words – “I’m Just Looking”.   Right?  We know we are fixing to get pitched on why this car is perfect for us, how low the financing is and how great we will look as we are driving off the lot in it.  No one likes to be “sold” but we love to “buy”.  Your digital marketing needs to help people “buy”.  Give them ALL the information they need to make the right decision and gently guide them through the process.

Effective content strategies today should also be “edu-taining”.  We live in a media driven world.  We carry our movie theater and music library in our pocket/purse wherever we go.  If we’re waiting at the doctor’s office, we can watch a video to entertain ourselves.  Go a few minutes at lunch – we can listen to our favorite music or podcast.  So if someone is researching your products/service, doesn’t it make sense to entertain them as you are educating them.  The longer you can keep someone engaged, the greater your chances of making the sale.  Creating content that educates and entertains is essential.

Like all good fishermen, knowing how to use the digital marketing tools you have in your arsenal will help you set the hook and land those customers and clients than otherwise might get away.

Need help creating an effective digital marketing strategy?  800biz Ninja Marketing has been helping small businesses develop effective and efficient marketing strategies through web site design, search engine optimization and social media marketing and training, that improves search engine ranking, increase traffic to their door and converts more browsers into buyers.