{"id":14421,"date":"2021-10-27T10:48:08","date_gmt":"2021-10-27T09:48:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thinkzap.co.uk\/?p=14421"},"modified":"2021-10-27T10:48:08","modified_gmt":"2021-10-27T09:48:08","slug":"zappy-halloween-7-deadly-sins-of-marketing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thinkzap.co.uk\/zappy-halloween-7-deadly-sins-of-marketing\/","title":{"rendered":"Zappy Halloween: 7 Deadly Sins Of Marketing"},"content":{"rendered":"
Marketing done right doesn\u2019t just sell to customers. It informs, engages and helps to grow your business. However, bad marketing can have a negative impact on your business\u2019s performance, such as attracting low-quality leads and poor conversion rates, losing customers to competitors, collecting bad reviews and dissatisfied customers. This Halloween, we will be exploring the 7 Deadly Sins of Marketing\u2026 Zappy Halloween!<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Kicking things off with a nod to last year\u2019s Halloween post, a badly designed website<\/a> is at the top of our list of \u201csins\u201d as a digital agency.<\/strong><\/p>\n From slow-loading and non-responsive designs, to clashing colours and poor content\u2026 There\u2019s a lot of mistakes that can lead to a bad website, and that\u2019s why it\u2019s important to invest in a good one<\/a>!<\/p>\n While web design and digital marketing are arguably their own fields, we wanted to include bad websites within our marketing sins because websites are where most marketing campaigns direct customers. Especially for online businesses. Some marketing strategies – like a promotional landing page or pop-ups – run directly on a website.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Remarketing is reaching out to people who have previously visited a business’s website, providing another chance to convert them into customers.<\/strong><\/p>\n Research shows that 49% of consumers visit a website 2 – 4 times before making a purchase<\/a>. This means that businesses who aren\u2019t using strategies to retarget consumers are missing out on a chunk of revenue\u2026 And are losing out to competitors who do have a solid remarketing system in place!<\/p>\n Remarketing is also important for customer retention<\/a>. It\u2019s less time-consuming and costly to persuade existing customers to return than it is to market to completely cold leads.<\/p>\n Common remarketing strategies include loyalty programs, discounts and special offers, email marketing, Facebook Ads and Google Remarketing campaigns.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n For businesses which rely on customers discovering their products and services by search engines, Black Hat SEO can seem like a quick and easy solution.<\/strong><\/p>\n Black Hat SEO goes against search engine guidelines. Using techniques such as keyword stuffing, cloaking and sly redirects, paid links and link farms<\/a>, Black Hat SEO aims to manipulate search engines algorithms to help businesses gain higher rankings. It\u2019s risky and can get a website banned from search engines, leaving a business in a worse position than when they started.<\/p>\n White Hat SEO, on the other hand, helps businesses to improve rankings without breaking the rules. This involves offering quality content and service, building links organically, a fast-loading and mobile-friendly website, using descriptive and keyword-focused meta tags, as well as ensuring the site is easy to navigate.<\/p>\n There\u2019s a middle ground between White Hat and Black Hat SEO. This is known as Grey Hat SEO. It uses strategies which aren\u2019t technically against the rules, but it may change in the future as search engines become smarter at evaluating content.<\/p>\n For example, paying for positive reviews, submitting a website to directories, duplicating and automating content are some examples of Grey Hat SEO. If you plan on using any of these tactics or similar, be sure to keep up to date with search engine marketing trends as they may result in penalties later down the line.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Spam is always unsolicited\u2026 It\u2019s annoying, it\u2019s usually promotional content and delivered in bulk.<\/strong><\/p>\n Since the 1990s, email spam has steadily increased. A report released in 2014 estimated that spam accounts for 90% of total email traffic<\/a>. But spam isn\u2019t just limited to email channels either. There\u2019s SEO spam, social networking spam, mobile spam and messaging spam<\/a>.<\/p>\n To help keep spam out of people\u2019s inboxes, marketing emails are subjected to strict rules and recipients must be given an opportunity to opt-out of communications<\/a>. Apple\u2019s recent iOS update has made it easy for users to hide their email<\/a>, making it difficult for spammers to obtain these addresses.<\/p>\n Not only has it become harder to spam people, it\u2019s honestly not worth the hassle! Businesses who send marketing messages only to customers and people who have signed up to their newsletter see a much better return on investment with their email marketing channels.<\/p>\n Businesses that do best in this area of marketing let subscribers know how often they\u2019ll be in touch and stick to a regular schedule. They also regularly review and clean their list so that only active accounts who engage with their content remain on it.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n It\u2019s no secret that social media marketing is a must for businesses these days.<\/strong><\/p>\n Recent statistics show that 66% of marketers generate leads from social media after spending only six hours per week on social marketing<\/a>. But what happens when a tone deaf tweet spirals out of control and a business starts attracting negative attention?<\/p>\n Of course, mistakes can happen. Knowing how to avoid social media blunders<\/a>, as well as having a system in place to manage them when they happen on social media platforms, is how many businesses are able to maintain a positive reputation on social networks.<\/p>\n The businesses who excel on social media are those who understand how to turn content and customer interactions into opportunities for publicity<\/a>. They also know how to make the most out of a post which goes viral<\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Cold calling involves contacting a potential customer who has had no previous contact with the business.<\/strong><\/p>\n It\u2019s one of the oldest methods of selling, but works for very few businesses nowadays. A study by LinkedIn found that less than 2% of cold calls resulted in a meeting<\/a>. Decision-makers are busier than ever, and thanks to mobile technology and remote working possibilities, they aren\u2019t always at their desks.<\/p>\nBad Website.<\/h3>\n
Don\u2019t scare your customers away with a badly designed website!<\/h5>\n
Forgetting To Remarket.<\/h3>\n
Black Hat SEO.<\/h3>\n
Don\u2019t be tempted by the dark arts of Black Hat SEO!<\/h5>\n
Spam! Spam! Spam!<\/h3>\n
Social Media Fails.<\/h3>\n
Don\u2019t develop a monstrous reputation on social media!<\/h5>\n
Cold Calling.<\/h3>\n