In the past few years, online marketing has changed the game. Thanks to platforms like Google and Facebook, along with tools such as HubSpot and Marketo, marketing teams can gain deeper insights into customer behavior and tailor their campaigns to meet the needs of their audience. This approach has led to more effective marketing and higher conversion rates. When developing an online marketing plan for your website, it’s important to consider the following three mistakes and how you can avoid them.

1. Using Excessively High-Prices to Attract Customers

It’s important to remember that, in today’s world, the digital consumer is the buyer. Since pricing is entirely based on supply and demand, businesses that want to attract customers to their site must learn how to leverage the power of digital marketing to their advantage.

On one hand, expensive-looking products with flashy features can be appealing to customers. After all, who wouldn’t be tempted by a luxurious ride when the alternative is slogging through rush hour traffic?

On the other hand, businesses that want to stay in business need to realize that offering high-end products at high-end prices will only attract customers who can afford your product. This is especially relevant when seeking customers who are located outside your area of service. In these situations, the luxury of high prices can become a major turnoff.

When seeking customers, it is essential to consider the demographics of your audience and match your product/service to their interests. In the case of expensive products, the decision to purchase should not be a spontaneous one. Rather, after you’ve evaluated their interests, they should be presented with alternative options and the opportunity to consider what other products and/or services they might find more suitable.

2. Ignoring Online Reviews

In addition to avoiding the mistake of selling luxury goods at inflated prices, aspiring e-commerce entrepreneurs should also be sure to pay close attention to online reviews. These can be an invaluable tool in the quest to make a successful online store, as they help provide unbiased, trustworthy information about the products and services that are available.

While it’s tempting to simply sweep negative reviews under the rug, ignoring them can prove to be a costly mistake. Even if you don’t agree with the reviews, you can still utilize the information provided to inform your decision-making about purchasing the product in question. In the long-run, this could lead to greater sales and a more robust revenue stream. Moreover, online reviews provide a venue for customers to express their opinions and provide you with helpful tips on how to improve your offering.

3. Focusing Solely On Conversions

When seeking marketing advice for your website, it’s important to remember that marketing and sales are not the same. By focusing solely on conversions, you’re ignoring the power of other platforms, such as social media, to grow your customer base.

On one hand, you could experience an uplift in traffic thanks to a successful marketing campaign that drives a surge in conversions. However, more importantly, paying attention to the growth of your customer base on social media allows you to better understand the type of content your audience finds most valuable.

Depending on your product, you might see varying levels of success on social media. In the case of online marketing for a clothing store, for example, you’ll likely see a higher level of engagement on social media compared to a travel agency.

To determine how much effort you should devote to driving traffic to your site and how much you should focus on cultivating relationships on social media, you need to consider your overall strategy. Is your ultimate goal to purchase a product or is it to gain exposure and establish credibility?

The answer to this question will inform your choices about where to focus your efforts.

To learn more, we interviewed Josh Elman, marketing manager at Neopixel Digital. Here, he shares his thoughts on how to approach online marketing for your webshop.

The Three-Step Strategy

To develop an effective online marketing strategy, first you need to consider the major goals and objectives that you have for your online store. Second, you’ll want to identify the platforms that can help you reach your target audience. And last but not least, you’ll need to set a budget and determine how much you’re willing to invest in digital marketing to achieve your goals.

From there, you can develop a coherent strategy that will help you reach your audience on the platforms of today and tomorrow.

To get started, simply follow these three steps:

1. Identify your target audience

The first step in creating an effective online marketing strategy is to identify your target audience and understand the type of person or group of people that will benefit the most from your product or service. This includes understanding what they want, need, and why they’re engaged with certain content or platforms in the first place.

For example, if you’re a fashion brand seeking to attract a younger audience, you might decide to focus your online marketing on Instagram or YouTube. If you’re seeking to expand your reach to Asian audiences, you might consider testing out Facebook’s new Ads Manager feature or using a platform like Google AdWords to attract search engine users from China or Japan.

This step is a bit more complicated since you don’t yet have a product to sell. To find your target audience, you’ll need to look at demographics, psychographics, and digital behavior patterns. Only then can you develop effective marketing strategies that will help you gain traction and grow your business.

2. Identify the platforms that can help you reach your audience

Once you’ve got a clear idea of who you’re targeting and why you’re reaching out to them, you can begin to identify the platforms that will be the most useful in reaching your target audience. This includes everything from traditional website platforms to newer entrants such as Instagram and TikTok. As you might imagine, there are numerous platforms that you could use to connect with your audience. The choice is entirely up to you.

The advantage of using multiple platforms is that you can reach a more diverse audience. In the fashion industry, for example, it’s important to not only attract millennials on your website, but also other groups, such as Gen Z and older customers. These groups might visit your site, but they can also be found on TikTok, Instagram, and other platforms.

The disadvantage of having a wide net is that you might attract the wrong kind of audience. If you go overboard and try to connect with everyone, you might end up with a lot of people who are only interested in your product because it’s popular or because they assume it’s valuable.

To find the right audience and ensure that your marketing efforts are fruitful, you need to focus on the platforms where your target audience spends the most time. This can help you develop a more successful marketing strategy.

3. Set a budget and determine how much you’re willing to invest in digital marketing

The last step in crafting an effective online marketing strategy is to set a budget and determine how much you’re willing to invest in digital marketing to achieve your goals. This is similar to the previous step in that you need to consider both your short- and long-term goals. But now that you have a clear idea of how much you’re willing to spend, you can begin to allocate funds to the most important platforms.

In the case of fashion e-commerce, for example, you might decide to invest heavily in SEO to climb the rankings of search engines like Google. You might also decide to use pay-per-click ads on platforms like Google AdWords to gain instant visibility and attract potential customers to your site.

Once you have a clear idea of how much you have to spend and which platforms can help you reach your target audience, it’s time to set a budget and determine how much you’re willing to spend on digital marketing.