A successful SME Marketer shares some observations of common mistakes small businesses make in their digital marketing activities.

Having worked with a large number of SMEs throughout Australia, I've come to realise a few things about the common mistakes and misconceptions businesses can make when conducting their marketing activities. All businesses get it wrong at some point, and so it's all about the learning process.

1. Over-investing in Adwords

A mistake which a great deal of SMEs do, especially when starting out, is the over-investment of money in Adwords, and the lack of investment in engaging audiences online. It may take a lot more time and effort, but if you are using you social media and blogging effectively, people will respond.

By putting in the effort, your audiences will not only see your personality, values and mission, it allows you to position yourself as an expert. This is really something you can’t buy with Adwords. This is not to say that online advertising is ineffective, but being engaging reaps so many deeper rewards. Consumers buy into relationships and businesses they share values with, be that solution for your audience.

2. WIX websites don’t always work

WIX websites, and others like it, are deceptive in that they’re accessible, easy to use and free. In reality, these websites will not be able to get you the results you’re looking for in SEO. These free website templates are there for you to have an online presence, but when it comes to being found on search engines, it’s just not built for that. Investing in a good website from the get-go, is one of the imperatives to modern day business. Get it wrong with your online presence and you risk falling far behind of your competitors.

3. “Good enough” sometimes isn’t good enough

When you’re a start-up, it might be really tempting to look for the cheap options when it comes to creating your online presence and you brand. At this stage, you might just be looking to start ASAP and just hit the ground running. However, what really happens is that when start-ups begin their business journey with a website or branding that was just “good enough”, 99 times out of 100, all of this will have to be scraped and changed in the future. Not only is this a time consuming exercise, but it could also be quite a costly one.

As a start-up, you need to ask yourself if you’re ready to commit to things like your website, branding, packaging, etc. for the next five or 10 years, if not, well than it just isn’t good enough. Don’t just have a very basic logo for the sake of having one.

From the very beginning, take some time, engage the right people, and ensure that when you start your business, you have the infrastructure and image which will make your audiences take notice.