With all the advice on the internet about digital marketing it can become difficult to truly understand what works and what doesn’t. Sometimes it takes trial and error to really see what will work for your digital marketing strategy and what won’t.
In this article we will debunk some of the most common myths about digital marketing which you may have heard being tossed around online by marketers who think they know what they are talking about.
Digital Marketing Myth #1: SEO is Dead
If you ever hear someone saying that SEO is dead, chances are they are either trying to sell you something or they just plain don’t know how SEO works. The truth is, even though SEO has gotten extremely competitive, it still works in 2020.
SEO has evolved over the years in order to prioritize high-quality and relevant content. The 2010 days of spamming websites with blackhat backlinks in order to rank your content high in search results are over.
The new standard in SEO works, but it is time consuming and requires plenty of hard work and effort in order to rank high in search results. As such, in order to be competitive from an SEO standpoint, you need to ensure you’re putting out high quality content which puts user experience first.
Digital Marketing Myth #2: Mobile Traffic Doesn’t Convert Well
This myth can actually hold true IF your website and it’s related lead pages are not properly optimized for mobile. There is no question that the user experience between mobile and desktop is completely different.
As a result, if you are selling products or services, you need to ensure that the pages you are targeting for mobile devices are structured in a way that are more simplistic for the user.
If you have certain leads pages which are meant for desktop users and they convert high, it doesn’t mean that they will convert the same way on mobile. It’s important to ensure that your action pages on your website are simple, fun and engaging enough so your users want to fill out the information.
With people’s attention getting pulled in a plethora of different directions online it’s important you can stand from the crowd and grab their attention on mobile.
Digital Marketing Myth #3: More Traffic Equals More Conversions
A common misconception that we constantly see splattered online by newbies is the more traffic you have coming to your website the better. From a basic approach this can hold true. However there are many different questions to consider.
- Where is the traffic coming from?
- How much is the traffic costing us?
- Is the traffic targeted?
- How long are users staying on the pages?
- Are we seeing any ROI?
If your website or lead pages have a flurry of traffic coming in to them daily, but your conversions are low or non-existent, does it really matter if you have high traffic. You can have very low amounts of traffic coming to your website, but it could be converting extremely high.
It’s also important to measure how long users are staying on your website, if they are engaging with other pieces of your content and what kind of engagements they have with your website. In order to truly understand your traffic, you have to measure it.
So, just because your website gets a ton of traffic it doesn’t necessarily equate to more conversions.
Digital Marketing Myth #4: Email Marketing is Dead
This is a common myth slurred around the internet and it mostly comes from people who are too lazy to make email marketing part of their marketing strategy and people who have never even tried email marketing.
They are under the assumption that it’s an outdated form of marketing which no longer holds the same value it did in the past. This couldn’t be further from the truth and the statistics are there to prove it.
Recommended Reading: Is Email Marketing Dead? – Here’s What the Statistics Show
Number of Sent and Received Emails Per Day WorldWide 2017-2024 (billions)
The data suggest that the use of email marketing is only going to increase in the near future. As a result it’s important you have it as a part of your digital marketing strategy in order to reap it’s long term benefits.
Digital Marketing Myth #5: Content is King
This is one of our favorite myths because it’s perhaps one of the most overused cliches in digital marketing. Anyone who’s ever written a blog post about digital marketing has probably written this once or twice in their regurgitated content.
Content matters, but audience engagement and content relevancy is truly what matters. Even if you have great content and lots of it, it doesn’t necessarily mean that your audience will engage with it. It has to be presented in a way that is relevant to what they are looking for.
With all the competition online, it also has to be very engaging. You have to know how to write compelling copy, use eye catching graphics and be able to take the reader through a story quickly and effectively.
Digital Marketing Myth #6: Blogging is Pointless
We still can’t believe we see people saying things like “blogging is pointless”. If you are a digital marketer and are preaching this to your subscribers who follow you, you should be ashamed. The backbone of digital marketing is blogging and content creation.
Blogging has evolved over the years, but it certainly isn’t pointless. If someone is searching for something specific online, chances are they will read about it through some sort of blog or article.
As a result, if you’re a website owner it’s essential to have a section of your website dedicated to creating consistent blog posts in order to help your audience discover you and so you can provide value.
Digital Marketing Myth #7:The More Social Media Platforms You Are on The Better
This myth can cause digital marketers to lose a ton of time posting between different platforms and trying to manage them all.
Before you put your website or business on any social media platform you should check out some of the common platforms that are utilized by your competitors.
Recommended Reading: Growth Hacking Facebook Strategies to Grow Your Website
See what kind of engagements they are getting on different platforms before you decide which platform may be the best fit for your website or business.
Just because someone is screaming from the rooftop that you should have a presence on Instagram, it doesn’t mean that it will be the right fit for your business. Carefully access which platform will be the right fit for your digital marketing strategy. We recommend limiting your social media presence to a maximum of 4 platforms.
Digital Marketing Myth #8: All You Need is A Website
There is a difference between having a website and having web presence. Just because you have a website it doesn’t mean that you actually have anything. You need more than that.
You need a way for people to find you, interact with the content you’re putting out and build an audience which comes back to you on a weekly basis.
A website is just the starting point to digital marketing. It functions simply as a house address, but if you want your neighbors and people around you to notice you and interact with you, you have to be friendly.
Digital Marketing Myth #9: Online Reviews Don’t Really Matter
Consumers are becoming smarter and smarter and also less loyal to brands because there are so many choices online. Before people make any purchasing decisions online one of the most important things they take a look at besides the price is the customer reviews.
It’s one of the best ways to gain insight into the product or service you will be buying before you actually buy it. It serves as a vote of trust for buyers and it can heavily influence their purchasing decisions.
Think about it.
Would you ever go eat at a restaurant which has only 1 star reviews?
I hope not.
Digital Marketing Myth #10: Digital Marketing Has to Be Outsourced to be Successful
With the rise of digital marketing agencies and SEO agencies online many people are under the assumption that digital marketing should be left to the pros.
If you have the necessary budget in place, outsourcing your digital marketing can save you a ton of time and resources, but chances are you don’t have thousands of dollars to shell out every month for content and SEO.
Your digital marketing can still be successful without outsourcing it to third party companies. It will however require some effort on your end to learn the necessary digital marketing strategies which can grow your website and business.
Recommended Reading: Marketing Courses
Conclusion
We hope that after reading some of the most common myths about digital marketing you feel more at ease about creating a marketing strategy that will fit the needs of your business. As digital marketing continues to evolve, so will the myths.
Take time to really think about them before you decide what you consider as myths.