The Top 7 Deadly Sins Of An Inbound Marketer

Inbound marketing can be a treacherous road if you don't know what you are doing. However, for some, it can be treacherous even if you do know what you are doing. You may be asking yourself "how is that possible?" Well, many inbound marketers know what they're doing; however, they are bypassing the basics. And as any good inbound marketing agency knows, the basics are what build a solid foundation for every great marketing campaign. Here are the top seven processes many inbound marketers are not doing consistently and therefore could be costing you big money.

1. Launch & Abandon

Your team has taken the time to thoroughly research and launch the perfect inbound marketing campaign. However, after the initial launch, no one is tracking the results or following up with potential customers. Therefore, what could have been a successful campaign that brings in new customers for years to come ultimately ends up long forgotten. And that is a huge waste of your time and marketing dollars.

2. Not Optimizing Your Website For Mobile Devices

Google uses an algorithm that rewards websites for being mobile ready. If your website is not mobile ready, you could lose your top page rankings, if you haven't already.

3. Testing But Not Implementing

Why bother split testing your marketing campaigns, if you're not going to change and implement the issues your testing has deemed unprofitable? It's hard to believe, but many inbound marketers fall into this trap and generally it's because of a lack of effective communication between team members or from not having solid implementation procedures in place.

4. Your Live Chat Is Lifeless

When building a website, many webmasters install a live chat feature. However, once the site goes live, the live chat is never activated and utilized. This will contribute to a loss of customers, because when customers have a question, they want an answer instantly and if they can't get their questions answered, they will likely go elsewhere.

5. Not Collecting Your Customers Contact Information

If you do not have a way to gather your customers contact information, you are leaving money on the table. Once you have a customer's contact information, you then have the opportunity to build a relationship with that customer. Additionally, your customers contact information will enable you to market your products and services to those same customers indefinitely, or until they unsubscribe. This could be considered the golden rule of inbound marketing

6. Developing Content Just For The Sake Of Having Content

Many marketers, in a rush to have something launched, throw together low-quality, generic content. This is the worst thing you can do. Effective content marketing requires research and strategic planning. You need to know who your target market is and your content needs to be relevant to your audiences likes and dislikes; otherwise, you are just wasting your time and damaging your reputation.

7. Not Monitoring Your Metrics And Goals

Every great marketing plan should have very specific goals and most digital marketers have set goals in place. However, if those goals and metrics aren't monitored, your team won't know what's working and what's not and therefore won't know how to proceed profitably.

The Bottom Line

Successful inbound marketing isn't a set it and forget it proposition. Your teams must be thoroughly trained to implement, monitor and follow through with each facet of every campaign. Having the proper monitoring systems in place, as well as holding each team member accountable for their responsibilities, will help you exceed your income goals and expectations, and bring a higher return on your investment.