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Four marketing tactics to stop using today

What if I told you there’s a good chance that you’re tossing more than half of your marketing dollars down the drain? A little scary, right? According to research from Proxima, approximately 40 to 60 percent of digital marketing dollars are spent ineffectively.

Want to increase your odds? Start by retiring these four outdated marketing tactics.

1) Don’t invest in national PPC campaign

 Unless you are running a national eCommerce site, casting your PPC net too wide can cost you. You pay every time someone clicks on your ad. If a customer who lives across the country clicks, chances are they won’t buy from you and the money you paid for their click is money down the drain. Instead, focus your advertisements on a drive-in radius to capture active shoppers in your local area.

2) Spend WAY less time on organic social media

According to Hubspot, the average reach of an organic (unpaid) Facebook post is less than 6 percent of page followers. So, if you’ve got 1000 followers, all the work you spend building social content will only get seen by about 60 people. My recommendation is to limit social media time to about 15 minutes per day, focusing on interactions and managing your reviews. Facebook has become a pay-to-play platform and if you want to see a social ROI, now is the time to invest in Facebook advertising.

3) Remove any black hat SEO tactics from your website

If your site is stuffed full of unnecessary keywords, features invisible keyword test, is loaded up with landing pages that don’t serve the customers but are designed to catch the attention of search engines or if you’ve bought into a link farm, it’s time to clean up your act! Search engines have gotten far smarter over the last few years, and these dated techniques which served to increase your keyword count just don’t work anymore. Instead, today your main SEO focus should be on optimizing your entire online presence for local search. The first step is to make sure you’ve claimed your Google My Business page. The great news is that if you’re working with a reputable website provider, they will have taken care of this one for you. Not sure if you’re using black hat SEO? Just ask your provider!

4) Move away from outdated platforms if you can’t measure your ROI

Paying for or relying on outdated and ineffective platforms like the YellowPages, newspaper ads or direct mail just because you’ve always done it can really cost you. Instead consider shifting some of your traditional marketing budget over to Facebook and Google AdWords. Not only are these digital advertising platforms flexible enough to allow you to target exactly the type of shoppers you want to target, they give you the power to measure conversions and see if they’re working!

Marketing is never a one and done proposition. Make sure that you’re refining your marketing game plan every year to ensure you aren’t throwing your hard earned money out the window!

Colleen Malloy is ARI’s director of marketing. Malloy has more than a decade of experience in the powersports industry and previously served as the editor of Motorcycle & Powersports News. ARI creates award-winning software solutions that help equipment manufacturers, distributors and dealers Sell More Stuff! — online and in-store. ARI removes the complexity of selling and servicing new and used inventory, parts, garments and accessories for customers in automotive tire and wheel, powersports, outdoor power equipment, marine, RV and white goods industries. More than 22,000 equipment dealers, 195 distributors and 140 manufacturers worldwide leverage ARI’s website and eCatalog platforms to Sell More Stuff!

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Email: colleen.malloy@arinet.com

Phone: 414/973-4323

Website: arinet.com

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2 Comments

  1. Great information Colleen. Not sure I agree with dropping direct mail, though, unless you are referring to a random mass mailing. A sweet discount offer in the mail to existing customers at the right time can still get them to come in, and the ones that do are nearly 100% closeable. It is also traceable if they must bring in the coupon to get the discount.

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