It is really tough to cover up a mistake on the Internet. Once you've posted something, it's out there. You can delete it, but that doesn't mean it's gone.
It's been cached. Shared. Downloaded.
It is - Sex Tape. (Ok, I haven't seen it. It might not be so bad.)
It is important to avoid common mishaps in your marketing. Here are 4 common internet marketing practices that can get you into trouble, and how to avoid them.
4 Internet Marketing Blunders
1. Using the wrong images.
An image is worth a thousand words. Do you want to use a thousand wrong words? Of course not. Images are great at getting attention and are the most-shared content online. But using the wrong image can hurt your marketing efforts, and can even damage your reputation.
2. Not considering the source.
Remember when you were little and that mean kid told you your hair was frizzy? (Ok, so maybe that was just me. I didn't discover hair product until the seventh grade.) And your parents said "consider the source" to make you feel better? That advice may have been more than just a quick-fix for your hurt feelings -- it is a lifelong lesson.
It is important to consider where you are getting your information from.
Maybe you read a tweet about a cool article that you wanted to share with your followers, but didn't have time to check out yourself. So you retweeted it. That article might be less-than-useful, or even worse, it might be a spam link.
Saw an interesting statistic on Facebook that you could use in your pitch, but didn't have time to read the article? That article might be from 2008 and the statistic is outdated. Or worse, the information is false. Make sure you know and trust the source of your information.
Don't risk the trust of your followers, colleagues, and potential customers. Only share content you have read or viewed yourself.
3. No filter.
I don't mean an Instagram filter. I'm talking about good, old-fashioned TMI. Being transparent and sharing personal feelings and information is great in creating a persona online. In fact,
personal branding is essential for company leaders and small businesses.
But there is too much of a good thing. Oversharing can make people uncomfortable, make them less-likely to relate to you, and could sound like bragging. If you are building a personal brand in connection to your company or managing a company account, be sure to think twice about every post before hitting SHARE. Heck, even if you are just managing your personal social accounts, you should probably have some kind of filter. Even your mom doesn't want to know EVERYTHING.
4. Irrelevancy.
There is nothing more annoying than joining a mailing list to get only XYZ and ending up with the entire alphabet in your inbox. And then they start sending you stuff about cats. You can't hit the unsubscribe button fast enough at that point, right?
Nothing hurts your marketing efforts like content that isn't related to your business. People sign up for your emails, follow you on social sites, and come to your blog or web pages because they expect to see content about your business and industry. Make sure you are fulfilling their expectations. If you promise a weekly cat fact, don't start sending promotions for face cream. That's the industry four letter word. It's ugly. It's spam.
Stay consistent with the content you post. Give your audience the content they want and expect and they will keep coming back for more. Staying true to your brand's message will also help to build your brand.
Do you have digital marketing mistakes to share?
