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Guest post by: Rebecca Daneault Become an Author

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It's common sense that in order to succeed in business, particularly in the world of internet technology, you must be able to develop and execute a good online marketing plan. But it's not as easy as it may seem. In fact, countless businesses have failed at doing just that, often repeating the same mistakes as those before them without even realizing it.

Below are the ten most common online marketing mistakes to avoid if you want to maintain a successful campaign and see positive results.



Not staying current.

If your goal is to bring in traffic and capture their attention (not to mention their sales dollars), then be sure to keep your website up to date. A person who visits your site in July and sees stale information about your "upcoming" Memorial Day sale is not likely to spend much time, or come back again anytime soon so stay on top of it.

Not keeping it simple.

If you want visitors to register for your site or sign up to receive your newsletter, don't make the process too complicated. Having to click through a dozen pages to finish the process will only serve to annoy your viewers and probably drive them away before you ever had a chance to reel them in.

Not playing by the rules.

Be sure whatever methods you employ in your marketing plan are legitimate and ethical, particularly when it comes to email marketing. It may be tempting to buy a bunch of email addresses, but remember, once you're labeled a spammer it can be nearly impossible to ever launch an email campaign in the future. The bottom line is, nobody likes spam so don't do it.

Not using viral marketing.

When people think of marketing online, they often forget one of the most important techniques of offline marketing - word of mouth. Simple things like "Refer a Friend" and two-for-one promotions can do wonders for increasing exposure for your company.

Not customizing your campaign.

One-size-fits-all may work for a T-Shirt, but it doesn't work for marketing campaigns. Your audience is unique and has different needs than those of other businesses or industries, so what may work for someone else might be a waste of time and money for you. Taking the time to build a personalized marketing campaign will help ensure that you are effectively reaching your audience and getting results.

Not going after the ones that got away.

While increasing traffic is a huge part of online marketing, getting visitors to your site is only half the battle. The next step is getting those visitors to convert to customers. A truly successful marketer thinks outside the box and sees the whole picture - including the ones that got away. Consider marketing techniques like retargeting, which works by capturing information about your visitors and using it to display your ad to them as they surf the web. By remarketing to them again and again you can remind them to come back when they're ready to buy.

Not being flexible.

Anyone who uses the internet knows that things change faster than you can bat an eye. If you want to be a successful online marketer, it's critical that you are able to adapt to ongoing changes like frequent upgrades to software and the development of new and improved social media tools. Your marketing plan will need to evolve as well. If it doesn't, your campaign and your company will be left behind.

Not measuring and evaluating results.

If you've developed and employed an online marketing strategy but you're not doing anything to see how it's working, you've only done have the work. Using analytical tools help to determine exactly what's working, and what might be a waste of time and will help you continually adapt your plan to ensure maximum results.

Not understanding the difference between traffic and results.



This is why measuring the results of your campaign is so important. You may be getting thousands of visitors a day, but if they're all leaving without making a purchase, what's the point? Knowing what it takes to convert them is what matters, and that's where the results come in.

Not admitting when they're in over their heads.

Let's face it - online marketing can be complicated and confusing, and it's constantly changing. Time restraints or lack of technical knowledge can make it difficult to develop, launch and maintain a successful campaign so sometimes the best thing to do is to defer to the experts. That's why there are advertising and marketing firms that specialize in this sort of thing, and can help you build a customized marketing plan that will get the results you desire. It's always ok to say "I don't know" and ask for help.

Using the internet can do wonders for your business, but you must first be able to come up with a strategy of how you plan to use it to market to your customers. Doing your research, asking for help when needed and avoiding the mistakes listed above will help put you on the right path to being an online marketing success story.

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