3 Common Digital Marketing Mistakes (and How to Avoid Them)

The best digital marketing professionals usually have years of experience backing them. They’re tuned into the latest trends and technology, and they're constantly expanding their knowledge by networking with other successful marketers. This helps them develop sophisticated marketing plans and build successful campaigns.

As a local business owner, your hands are full with managing your company and staff. You likely don’t have in-depth marketing experience or the time to educate yourself in the latest local marketing trends. This makes growing your business through marketing a challenge.

Some business owners solve this problem by working with a marketing firm that specializes in local businesses, like Locallogy. But if partnering with a marketing team isn’t an option, you can handle your own marketing—and be successful at it. You may stumble a bit while you're getting started and you'll probably make a few blunders. 

Familiarize yourself with some of the common mistakes self-marketers make so you can avoid them on your own marketing journey.

Identifying your target audience is really the first marketing exercise you should do. Failing to clearly define your audience will result in less effective marketing. In other words, targeting consumers who have no need for your product or service means you’ll be wasting time and money.

Instead, focus on the consumers that will benefit the most from your product or service and are more likely to respond to your marketing efforts.

Your target audience should be specific. “I want any customer I can get my hands on,” is not the answer here—that's not a target audience. “Everyone within a 50-mile radius” is still not specific enough.

Start with a list of your current clients. Examine the demographics, purchase patterns, and behaviors of this group of consumers. Your current clients can provide a wealth of information when it comes to building out your target audience.



Many local businesses discount the importance of their website, particularly if they’re in the service industry. They tend to think a website is little more than an online business card. But this can be a costly mistake.

Your website is a very important part of your brand. In many cases, it’s the consumer’s first impression of your company. And if your website’s design is outdated, slow, or hard to navigate, the consumer will be left with negative feelings toward your business. Considering a whopping 97% of consumers have used the internet to find a local business, it’s imperative your company’s brand, mission, and quality of work is conveyed through your site.

If you’re building your website on your own, take the time to research the best design aspects to use and educate yourself on what makes a website successful. And don’t forget to check out your competitors’ sites.

If you are considering hiring outside help for any part of the marketing process, web design is where your money will be best spent. Be sure you take the time to get to know the marketing or design team before committing. Talk with them about your business and goals. Some firms will offer you customized solutions based on your specific business vertical. Others may not.

Marketing is an investment of your time and your money. And, like most good investments, the results are rarely immediate.

When you don’t see an instant return on your marketing investment, your initial reaction may be to try a different target audience, switch your campaign strategy, or give up altogether. Don’t do this. At least not right away. Give your marketing efforts some time to work —don't make any knee-jerk decisions.

After a sufficient amount of time, evaluate your results. If you’re not getting the response you planned for, consider making some adjustments . But be sure you’ve allowed sufficient time to get a proper sense of your level of success.

Marketing isn’t always easy—if it was, everyone would be a pro! But successfully marketing your local business is possible.

If you can, make use of a professional marketing team who specializes in local businesses. If that’s not in the cards for your business right now, don’t worry. You can go it alone, just be sure to educate yourself with the many online resources available.

Don’t be afraid to try new things and get your company’s name out there in a positive way. Avoid the common mistakes that many business owners make when marketing their companies.