Digital advertising has become an excellent and almost essential way of marketing. There are, however, obvious errors that do often take place. Once advertisers are aware of these mistakes, they are not difficult to correct and this is when companies can begin to fully benefit from the endless world of digital possibilities. Here we discuss three major faults that take place with digital advertising.
Mistake #1: Lack of campaign tracking
While traditional advertising is limited with regards to monitoring and instantaneity, technology offers advertisers plenty of information on their campaigns and who it reaches. This means that campaigns can be tracked along with their successes or failures. The considerable advantage of this is that if it is not popular, it can be removed or changed and then re-launched. ‘Practical Marketing’ explains “Being in the digital arena you need to be on top of your research to avoid being left behind and this includes constantly checking what is available to you to improve your campaigns.”
Advertisers need to understand the power of information concerning tracking and use that to boost and evolve their campaigns. It’s not always a negative thing to remove a campaign completely if it is not working in their favour or adding value to the brand. There are few companies in the minority who are actually better off NOT using digital as it doesn’t serve as worthwhile or constructive initiative.
Mistake #2: Not testing
Due to the flexibility and convenience of digital advertising, it is smart to release a few test advertisements or campaigns and see how they are received. These responses will help to improve it before the final mass advertisement is released. Sometimes asking for feedback on these ‘pilot’ adverts or campaigns can give the advertisers priceless information as to whether or not they are on the correct path to success. The slightest variations can sometimes change the look or feel of a brand completely and therefore make or break it.
Not doing any testing can result in failed campaigns that not only have cost time and money but can also jeopardise a reputation. Measuring the click-through rate (CTR) is also vital in determining the popularity of the advert and this may help in deciding which tester advertisement should be used for the final release.
Mistake #3: Poor design
It is important to consider that different digital platforms will require changes in the layout or design features (although last week we discussed how this challenge is being combatted through Jivox). Not making sure that an advertisement is correctly relayed and neatly organised can do severe damage to a company, as professionalism will certainly be questioned. Simply advertising the brand or product is usually not enough to get one’s attention. People want to know the offer or benefit of what is being advertised, and the way to follow it up – should they be interested. This leads to another common design flaw which is the action that follows after a viewer has clicked on it. If the same information/deal/offer is not displayed on the immediate linked page, viewers feel frustrated confused and most importantly – their interest is lost. This error is easily avoidable if digital advertisers spend more effort vigorously checking that all the small things match up and are distributed properly the first time.
Being aware of these three points can contribute greatly to the success of digital advertising if avoided.
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