Digital marketing is an indispensable business strategy in the contemporary world, and there’s zero doubt about it. It has become so ubiquitous to the point that it has been embedded in the fabric of our daily lives. The ads we see on social media and search engines, the videos we consume on video-sharing platforms, and the articles we enjoy to read on our smartphones are all components of digital marketing that significantly changed the way businesses compete and find success nowadays.
Digital marketing has become so powerful – all to the point that many business owners think that it’s timeless, and all concepts, strategies, and tactics being churned out by so-called “gurus” are infallible and true.
It’s completely true that digital marketing is ever-changing; what was once the truth is not applicable anymore. However, it’s a completely different story if one banks in on certain notions about digital marketing which aren’t true in the first place.
Read on as we detail the top myths in digital marketing and the truth behind these false beliefs.
Myth 1: Low Budget Can Produce Huge Results
You can experience very substantial results from a basic digital marketing campaign created on a shoestring budget.
Reality:
The digital marketing arena has significantly changed over the past decade. More and more businesses are incorporating digital marketing into their marketing budget, even small businesses. This means that the competition has gotten tougher, and companies have to pay more to get similar results as their competitors.
Image from GetResponse
In fact, the GetResponse survey found that percentages of small and midsized businesses (SMBs) have planned to increase their marketing budget for the following areas:
- 59% will increase their budget on social media marketing.
- 50% will increase their budget on mobile marketing.
- 42% will increase their budget on email marketing.
Furthermore, success in digital marketing can only be realized by doing it holistically – meaning taking advantage of all possible strategies in the most efficient way as possible to achieve better results.
From SEO, PPC and content marketing to video marketing, email marketing, and social media marketing, today’s digital landscape encompasses a lot of strategies that must work altogether to produce substantial results – and to do so means more budget for digital marketing is warranted.
Image from PROCOMM
Myth 2: Campaigns Can Work Without Supervision Or Collaboration
Outsourced digital marketing campaigns can generate results even with zero intervention or collaboration from your company.
Reality:
In order to have a productive outsourced digital marketing experience, a company must understand that the process should be collaborative throughout the entire partnership. An outsourcing relationship is an effective solution that can only work if everyone brings their strengths to the table.
The outsourced digital marketing professionals have to use their expertise, skills, and the right tools to plan, implement, monitor, and improve strategies designed to generate new business for the company. The management of the agency has to continuously coach and manage their people and take necessary actions to further improve their skills.
Lastly, the client company must provide the agency with in-depth knowledge about their brand, product, or solution, decide the goals they want to achieve, and make recommendations based on the results provided by the company. After all, the digital marketing agency will be promoting the company and its brand, so it’s only imperative to have a clear understanding of the company as well as its business practices and goals.
Image from Medium
Myth 3: One-Size-Fits-All Approach In Multiple Channels
What’s working in SEO can also be applied in social media marketing, email marketing, content marketing, etc.
Reality:
Businesspeople tend to look for simple, clear-cut answers when presented with a problem. That’s why you can find a lot of articles titled “the definitive guide” or “keys for a successful campaign” as if these content are specifically made to solve their problems.
The sad truth is that there are no simple tricks for successful online marketing, let alone a multipurpose template that can be implemented in all digital marketing strategies. What’s available, however, are data monitoring strategies that businesses can use to gather insights about their campaigns on each channel– from SEO to social – and make the necessary improvements along the way. In digital marketing, learning to monitor your analytics is a must to maximize the potential of each digital channel you’re using.
Myth 4: The ROI From This Strategy Comes Quickly
Plan a good digital marketing campaign, and when it goes live, you’ll get your ROI in no time.
Reality:
Far too many businesses and marketers believe that when they spend a certain X amount on SEO, email marketing, or social media marketing, they will get a 3x or 4x of that amount in sales and profits right away. However, aside from the fact that measuring ROI is a challenge faced by digital marketers, realizing ROI from this strategy will also take time.
In most instances, the only digital marketing strategies that are capable of bringing near-immediate results are the short-term ones – PPC campaigns and paid ads. Other than these two, most types of digital marketing are designed to produce long-term results and on-going benefits for the company, such as SEO.
Myth 5: High Website Traffic is Imperative
Profitable digital marketing campaigns can only be realized if the website gains tons of traffic.
Reality:
This is one of the myths that can be easily debunked with simple logic. Put it this way, take a group of 1,000 young adult men and place them in a shop that sells teenage girl accessories and clothing. How many are likely to stay around the shop for more than a few seconds, and more importantly, who is likely to make a purchase?
The answer is obviously none in both cases, which means that all efforts for enticing those customers to go to that shop were all wasted time and money. Having high website traffic holds no value unless it’s high-quality traffic that converts. Therefore, it’s entirely possible to experience a decrease in traffic and an increase in revenue in digital marketing.
Image from Search Engine Land
Myth 6: SEO is No Longer Effective
Search engines, especially Google, is rapidly evolving every year, and new search features are being used more by people such as voice and visual search than traditional text-based search. Hence, SEO has had its day.
Reality:
There exist tons of articles online saying all the same thing: SEO is dead. But that is not the case at all. SEO is from being dead, but it is constantly evolving. The tactics that were effective 4-6 years ago would probably do little today other than getting your website penalized.
In any case, SEO is as important as it has ever been. In fact, the latest GetResponse statistic featured in our digital marketing ROI trends reveals that 45% of businesses across industries, and 50% of those who work on marketing/advertising agencies say SEO delivers good to excellent ROI.
Myth 7: More Is Better in Content Marketing
In order for your content marketing efforts to gain traction and produce quantifiable results, you need to create and publish content as much and as frequently as possible.
Reality:
Content marketing is often considered the core of any digital marketing strategy, which explains why many assume that producing more content in a short span of time will help them succeed in this area. You can actually bank on this notion, but only if the content you produce is of outstanding quality. If not, then the resources you used to create those pile of mediocre content will not only be wasted; it will also bury your company deep down further the content saturation trap hole.
Image from TrackMaven
Battling content saturation has become one of the pressing issues in digital marketing these days. With that, it should be clear by now that in order to truly succeed in this area, one must always prioritize quality over quantity. Unless you can produce stellar content that can cut it through the noise, creating low-quality content more frequently will do more harm than good – even if your website is ranking high in SERPs.
Myth 8: Digital Marketing is Easier than Traditional Marketing
Compared to traditional marketing, digital marketing follows a much more straightforward process; you just need to set up a website, write and publish content, do paid ads, and voila – you have successfully set up an effective digital marketing campaign!
Reality:
Digital marketing is not a magic bullet that can instantly make your business more competitive. Just like traditional marketing, this strategy requires a lot of work, which, in many instances, are extremely technical in nature.
But unlike old-school marketing strategies where almost everything tends to rely on advertising, digital marketing exists in an arena where connection, engagement, and conversation with the targeted audiences and brand followers matters more – feats which are harder to achieve compared to just hanging a bunch of tarpaulin ads and handing out photocopied pamphlets in the physical world.
A lot more misconceptions about digital marketing exist out there, so it’s essential to keep yourself updated and be knowledgeable with the latest news so as to avoid falling into these traps.
Take extra effort in studying digital marketing, and more importantly, only choose a digital marketing outsourcing agency that only executes proven strategies and can provide your clients with realistic expectations for your campaign.
Jomer B. Gregorio is a well-rounded expert when it comes digital marketing. Jomer is also known as a semantic SEO evangelist and practitioner. Check out our Digital Marketing Services today and let us help you in achieving positive and profitable results for your business.