Newbie Fail In Digital Marketing


Did you know that internet marketing is one of the many disciplines that do not require any kind of certification, entry point with the right experience or educational background? Some of you might even think that internet marketing ought to look comfortable.

When you have a great product, you have the power to make a fortune out of it with the help of social media medium and blogs, because that is where everyone is hanging nowadays.

However, this is not the case, digital marketing is just an umbrella term for almost all of the online promotion efforts. These businesses control digital channels such as social media, search engines, websites, emails, and also online marketing, for them to carry out their marketing goals of promoting and creating awareness of their product or services among the users.

The internet marketing strategies are bound to fulfil the marketing goals. But usually the new digital marketers tend to confuse the business promoting tactics with the plan and this ought to be the biggest reason that most of the strategy fails.

The failure rate of 90% among newbies in digital marketing is often attributed to several key factors. These challenges can range from inadequate planning and a lack of understanding of digital marketing principles to unrealistic expectations and poor execution. Here are some of the primary reasons why most beginners fail:

1. Lack of Strategy and Planning

  • Details: New digital marketers often overlook the importance of a well-researched strategy. They might launch campaigns without understanding their target audience, market position, or competitors, leading to unfocused efforts. A solid marketing plan involves understanding customer personas, mapping the customer journey, setting KPIs (Key Performance Indicators), and defining which tactics (e.g., social media, PPC, SEO) will achieve these goals​Google Trends.
  • Example: A beginner might start running ads on social media without researching the demographics and preferences of their audience. This can result in wasted ad spend with minimal engagement or conversion.

2. Unrealistic Expectations and Impatience

  • Details: Many newbies believe digital marketing provides instant success. They are attracted by success stories or case studies showing rapid growth and profitability but do not understand that these are exceptions. The reality is that building a brand’s presence and establishing authority online can take months or even years.
  • Example: SEO campaigns, which often promise organic traffic growth, require consistent content creation, technical SEO fixes, and link-building efforts. Beginners may abandon these efforts if they don’t see immediate traffic spikes within a few weeks.

3. Insufficient Knowledge and Skills

  • Details: Digital marketing is broad and requires skills across various domains like content creation, SEO, SEM, email marketing, and analytics. Beginners often have a basic understanding but lack in-depth knowledge, leading to poorly executed campaigns.
  • Common Issues:
    • Failing to optimize ads properly, leading to high costs per conversion.
    • Not knowing how to create engaging and optimized content for SEO purposes.
    • Struggling to interpret analytics, making it hard to improve campaigns​ MyBroadband.
  • Solution: Beginners should invest in learning through online courses, certifications (like Google Ads and Analytics), and hands-on practice. Mentorship from experienced marketers can also accelerate learning.

4. Poor Execution and Optimization

  • Details: Beginners may not have the skills to optimize campaigns or refine their strategies based on performance data. They might launch campaigns but fail to monitor metrics such as click-through rate (CTR), conversion rate, and customer acquisition cost (CAC). Without optimization, campaigns may drain resources without achieving significant ROI.
  • Common Mistakes:
    • Running the same ad creatives for extended periods without A/B testing.
    • Neglecting landing page optimization, resulting in high bounce rates​ Google Trends.

5. Inconsistent Effort and Focus

  • Details: Consistency is critical in digital marketing. Many beginners get excited at the start but fail to maintain their efforts. They might publish content irregularly or neglect social media engagement, leading to poor audience retention and minimal brand visibility​ MyBroadband.
  • Example: A new brand might launch with frequent social media posts, but as time goes on, they post less frequently, causing followers to lose interest and engagement to drop significantly.

6. Ignoring Audience Engagement and Feedback

  • Details: Interaction with the audience is a cornerstone of successful digital marketing. Beginners often treat marketing as a one-way street, focusing solely on pushing content or ads without responding to comments, messages, or reviews. This lack of engagement can make a brand appear unresponsive or untrustworthy​ MyBroadband.
  • Solution: Implement community management strategies that include regular interaction with followers, responding to feedback, and creating engaging content that invites participation (e.g., polls, Q&A sessions).

7. Over-Reliance on a Single Channel

  • Details: Many beginners fail because they place all their efforts into one marketing channel, such as relying solely on Facebook Ads or SEO. The problem is that these platforms frequently change algorithms, affecting reach and effectiveness.
  • Example: A business that relies only on organic Facebook reach might struggle if Facebook changes its algorithm to prioritize paid content. Diversifying efforts into multiple platforms, including Instagram, email marketing, and paid search, can mitigate these risks.

8. Budget Mismanagement

  • Details: Proper allocation of resources is critical, but many newbies either spend too much on paid ads without proper targeting or too little on essential tools like analytics software. They often do not track their ROI closely enough to adjust spending based on performance​ Google Trends.
  • Solution: Beginners should start with a modest budget and experiment with small-scale campaigns. As they gather data and refine their approach, they can gradually increase spending on effective strategies.

9. Failure to Adapt to Changes

  • Details: The digital landscape is constantly evolving, with frequent changes in social media algorithms, search engine updates, and emerging marketing tools (e.g., AI for automated campaigns). New marketers who do not keep up with these changes and adapt their strategies often find their campaigns becoming less effective over time​ MyBroadband.
  • Solution: Stay updated through industry news sources, webinars, and professional communities. Testing new platforms and marketing tools can provide an edge and keep campaigns relevant.

10. Neglecting Data and Analytics

  • Details: Data-driven decision-making is crucial in digital marketing. Beginners may rely on instincts or guesswork rather than analyzing metrics like customer behavior, acquisition costs, and conversion rates. Failing to use data effectively results in missed opportunities for optimization and growth.
  • Example: A marketer might continue spending on a low-performing ad campaign without analyzing why it's failing. Properly examining data would reveal the need for adjustments, such as changing the target audience, creative elements, or call-to-action.
  • Solution: Newbies should familiarize themselves with analytics tools like Google Analytics, Facebook Insights, and other platform-specific tools. Learning to interpret and act on data can significantly improve campaign performance​ MyBroadband.


Do you know what social media marketing constitutes? 

Digital Marketing
Digital Marketing
Below are the 6 layers that define social marketing strategies.
  • Objects/Goals: Increased traffic/Increased Sales/More Reach.
  • Devices: Smart Devices. E.g. Android-powered devices, Apple Powered Devices etc.
  • Purpose: To Create Brand Awareness/Increase in Sales.
  • Customer Profiling: The customer’s demographics.
  • Location: City/Country/Continent.
When the time frame is too long for a positive return on investment, most of the time, the sole reason such internet marketing strategies fail is that they fail to foresee and set a timeline for the return on investment. To be honest, social media marketing is like sowing a seed in the ground; you have to invest a lot of time before you can reap the benefits.

So, before we start to point down the main reasons for the failure of such social media marketing strategies, as I have mentioned earlier, new marketers ought to confuse the marketing strategies with marketing tactics. Well, what’s the difference you may ask?
  • Marketing Strategies: It is like a long road, marketer usually takes this road to achieve their goals.
  • Marketing Tactic: The tactics are the steps that are taken to carry out the strategies.
To make it even simpler for you “Strategies are the route that businesses to achieve their goals, whereas the tactics are the shoes that they wear”.

Why Do These Marketing Strategies Fail?

No Goals Or More Than One Goal Social media marketers need to plan their strategies keeping a single goal in mind, which ought to be fulfilled. The truth is that a unique marketing approach is not enough to increase sales and reach simultaneously.

That is why it is recommended that new internet marketers keep a single goal in mind and focus on tactics that ought to compel users.

Marketing strategies are bound to fail once the marketer tries to fulfil every business need at once. Remember to take baby steps and do not overcomplicate things.

No Pull Communication With Excessive Push Effort 

Most desperate marketers tend to forget the importance of pull communication. You may be wondering what a push and pull effort is. Well, pull effort communication is planned so that consumers, with their own consent, fulfil the marketing needs and goals of the marketers.
Whereas, in the push communication effort, the marketer insists the user/consumer fulfil their goals.

It is not always bad to be using push and pull communication efforts. But yes, try to keep a balance of both.
Lack Of Research Both offline and online marketing strategies are focused on consumers. The organisation should be well aware of its target audience and the consumer's needs, wants, and luxuries.

Excessive Push Effort
Figure - freepik.com

In short, the strategies ought to give consumers what they need. Just like the SEO and content marketing needs to focus more on the keywords and the content. Whereas, for social media marketing and email marketing, the strategies should emphasise more on user trends and their engagements.

Less Focus On The Customer 

Newbies marketer usually tend to focus more on their products and less on the needs and wants of their customer's psyche.

Not Following The Current Trend 

Do you know what rules the digital world? Yes, you got that right, "The Trend". If you are familiar with using current trends for your own business gains, trust me, you'd be the king of the digital world.


Current Trend
Figure - freepik.com

Most of the internet marketers fail to realize the importance of ongoing trends while they plan their digital marketing strategies. This is also one of the reasons that most newbie marketing strategies fail.

Inflexible

The environment of digital business is more unique than the typical business environment. Inflexible techniques with settled strategies don't ordinarily work in the digital condition.

When objectives are set, procedures and strategies are should have been adjusted now and again dependent on the client patterns, web index patterns, and other computerized components.

Sales And Marketing Terms Not Being Aligned 

What is the condition of communication between your marketing and sales departments? If they do not communicate legitimately, they presumably lack comprehension of one another's responsibilities and activities.
Sales And Marketing Terms

Is there a gap between sales and marketing that might be because you are not centred around a similar shared objective inside your business. This is the place "S-marketing" comes into the image. The procedure of "S-marketing" adjusts deals and showcasing groups around shared objectives with an emphasis on enhancing income.

By finishing our suggestions, you will before long observe a turnaround in your advanced showcasing efforts. These measures and proposals help to set you up for computerized advertising achievement instead of disappointment with top to bottom research, explicit objectives and measurements, and custom fitted substance that addresses your intended interest group.