5 Bad Habits That People in the Digital Marketing Service Industry Need to Quit

While technology is at the heart of online marketing, to be successful you need a digital marketing professional who can combine their creative know-how with human psychology and scientific data. Since a significant portion of digital marketing involves A/B testing and optimizing for different audiences, many professionals in the digital marketing services arena fall back on them as justifications for bad habits. Keep reading for our top 5 bad habits that professionals in the digital marketing services space need to quit (or never start), as well as suggestions on how to correct the learned behavior.

5 Bad Habits That Digital Marketing Services Professionals Need to Quit

1. Advertising the Product, Not the Solution

While product launch campaigns are notorious for advertising the product and not the solution, bad habit number one is something that every digital marketer has struggled with, whether they have two or twenty years of experience: advertising the product (features), and not the solution (benefits).

The problem with this strategy is that the digital marketer makes two incorrect assumptions about the consumer:

1. That they will recognize the brand
2. That they will understand why the features of a product are important

2. Not Cleaning Campaign Data

The internet is a dirty and cluttered place, with spam, bots, scams, and Nigerian Princes that want to share their fortune with you. It’s easy to be misled into thinking your campaigns are an international success. However, before you celebrate (or share your data with a client or manager), it’s important that you clean your data so they can get an accurate view of your campaign analytics.

After applying your Google Analytics filters and getting rid of junk email addresses and phone numbers that don’t exist, your campaign numbers will probably be much lower; however, swallowing your pride and digging into what worked, what didn’t, and how you can optimize separates the digital marketing services experts from the novices.

3. Believing Statistics Quoted by Industry Insiders

Making the assumption that all campaigns have a predictable conversion rate is a dangerous path to go down for a digital marketer. There is no universal number that applies to every campaign! Quoting industry publications and white papers might make you seem momentarily smarter in a client meeting, but explaining why that client’s campaign performed below that figure weeks later can be an unnecessary embarrassment.

4. Aggressive Consumer Data Collection

In the past, many professionals in the digital marketing services industry viewed consumers’ data with a laissez-faire attitude towards privacy and security. Today’s consumers are inundated with internet junk, and because of some high profile data leaks, they are more sensitive about their privacy. Digital marketers that don’t recognize this attitude shift will probably see a backlash in the form of lower campaign results and diminished customer trust. For businesses that have customers in the European Union, GDRP compliance is another data collection factor to always be mindful of.

5. Continuing a Campaign That Isn’t Working

Digital marketing campaigns require a huge about of research, analysis, and setup, and that’s all before hitting the “go” button. However, when digital marketers let their campaign goals turn into moving targets, they are wasting everyone’s time.

While nobody enjoys seeing dismal numbers after putting their heart and soul into a project, the habit of picking out the good numbers and leaving the poor ones should be avoided at all costs. If a tactic doesn’t perform, the best digital marketing service professionals see it as a learning opportunity and then turn around and apply this learning to the next iteration of the campaign.

To learn more about Kaizen Sigma and how our best-in-class team of digital marketers can help your business, contact us for a free consultation.