Successful digital marketing requires constant review of your SEO, PPC campaigns, and website UX, which can lead to a FOMO-like feeling for marketers looking to achieve the best ROMI (Return on Marketing Investment) possible.
Bespoke’s Phil Turner explains how to assess whether your marketing is working and how to strike a balance between keeping your digital marketing at the forefront and confusing your customers with over-customization.
In 2023, digital advertising spending in the UK is expected to surpass the mark 30 billion pounds. But research from Tailor-made shows that an estimated 31% of this is wasted. That’s £9.3 billion spent every year on digital tactics that generate little or no return on investment.
We conducted our research by analyzing the results of our investigations Digital strategy workshops conducted over a five-year period with businesses across the North West and South East of England, two of the UK’s overall digital marketing hotspots.
The workshops are aimed at internal digital marketers and begin with a comprehensive review of current spend across all areas of digital marketing. After analyzing results over a five-year period, we were amazed at how much digital marketing is currently wasted on average. According to our findings, the main culprits are:
Spend PPC on platforms that simply don’t work for this industry
PPC is not like playing the lottery. It’s not about being there to win. To avoid wasting money, PPC campaigns must be tailored to the purchasing behavior of this industry. If you have a niche product that consumers are searching for, Google is the natural choice. If it’s a consumer product that revolutionizes the market in some way, Facebook is a good option. When it comes to B2B companies, LinkedIn is probably your best bet. But rarely will you get good returns from all three. Yes, there can be a case of trial and error. However, if it’s a common mistake, the best step companies can take to improve these digital tactics is to simply turn them off. The money saved can be put into sensible investments like UX that actually help convert more customers who came to the website through relevant clicks.
Paid ads are still running
Once a PPC plan has been put in place and it turns out to be working, companies sometimes just let it run. This “if it ain’t broke” attitude can lead to huge losses on campaigns that can actually be improved with ongoing management, maintenance and development. In the worst case scenario, we’ve seen far more companies than you can imagine that simply set up campaigns and then forgot about them. In the meantime, they have updated their products and services, making those old ads meaningless and every click they get is simply a waste of money.
The same applies here: review your campaigns regularly and strive for continuous improvements. If they don’t work, turn them off or change them.
Jump too early
The third most common way digital ad spend is simply wasted is when companies start spending before they get the basics right. If you have not carefully worked out the positioning of your product or service in the market before you start spending on advertising, you are bound to waste a large part of your budget.
The lesson is simple: look before you leap. If you take the time before you start spending your money to tailor your digital strategy to the unique selling points of your products in the context of the market you are entering, you can achieve huge budget savings in the long run.
Businesses can avoid waste by investing money and time in the right digital strategy before giving their money to Google or social media platforms.
Being aware of the potential areas of digital waste can mean the difference between glorious success or utter failure as an online marketer.
strategy
A simple question: Does your web strategy differentiate your company from the competition in your industry? A well-researched strategy is fundamental to successful online lead generation. To perform well, websites and campaigns should be based on a well-researched strategy. For example, one that includes detailed profiling of your ideal customer, consistent marketing messages that are proven to delight your customer, and an understanding of the expected return on investment across all digital channels available to you.
website
Do you have a high-performing website with a great conversion rate? Many companies persist with an old or underperforming website for too long. A performance website is designed based on data and built with advanced lead magnets. For example, a performance website might convert 1 in 20 visitors into leads, while a regular website might only convert 1 in 200 visitors.
A brand refresh and website redesign by experienced professionals who specialize in your industry typically improves performance overnight (on average we see an immediate 15% increase in performance when we relaunch a website — which in some cases means new business worth £100,000).
marketing
Are your campaigns getting more high-quality leads than the competition? If a business has a good strategy and website, it makes sense to invest in online marketing campaigns to drive targeted prospects to your lead magnets.
Yet we often see budget wasted on campaigns that are poorly targeted or whose core messages fail to excite the target customer. When it comes to marketing campaigns, there is competition across all digital channels to get traffic with the best value for money. Therefore, it’s worth making sure your campaigns are in the best possible shape.
When these three essential elements are fully developed and in harmony, a business receives the best possible flow of quality leads through its website and other online marketing. But if one of the three points is not quite as it should be, the performance of the entire marketing operation will be inadequate. A weakness in one also weakens the others.
