10 Online Marketing Mistakes That Can Kill Your Business

10 Online Marketing
Mistakes That Can Kill
Your Business
“If you want your business to grow,
avoid these 10 major gaffs.”

10 Online Marketing Mistakes That Can Kill Your Business
© Copyright 2012, Return On Now. All rights reserved.
Table Of ContentsTable Of ContentsTable Of ContentsTable Of Contents
Introduction.......................................................................................1
Online Marketing is not easy.................................................................................................1
Take a moment to level set....................................................................................................1
Mistake #1: Stroking Your Own Ego................................................... 2
Me-Focused Messaging.........................................................................................................2
The “What” vs. The “Why”....................................................................................................2
Ignoring Other Influences on the Customer........................................................................3
Mistake #2: Being Anti-Social............................................................ 4
Social Media: Everyone Is Doing It.......................................................................................4
How to Manage Social Media the Right Way.......................................................................4
Mistake #3: Ignoring Email Marketing .............................................. 5
Email Marketing is Crucial to Your Success .......................................................................5
Build Your List At All Stops ..................................................................................................6
Advanced Email Marketing: Marketing Automation ...........................................................6
Mistake #4: Using New Tools for the Same Old Marketing Campaigns7
Buying Advertising Support..................................................................................................7
Spamming Your Email List....................................................................................................7
Overdoing It on Social Media................................................................................................8
Inbound Marketing vs. Interruption Marketing....................................................................8
Mistake #5: Employing Black Hat SEO............................................... 8
Three Hats: Black, White, and Gray......................................................................................8
Why White Hat is the Only Reasonable Option...................................................................9
Mistake #6: Forgetting the Customer! ............................................... 9
Write for the Customer, Not Google / Bing........................................................................10
Stop the Madness! ...............................................................................................................10
Why Customer Experience Matters More Than SEO........................................................10
Mistake #7: Overlooking Conversion Optimization........................... 11
Which of These Scenarios Do You Prefer? .......................................................................11
How to Optimize for Conversion: The Basics ...................................................................12
....................................................................13
Testing and Iterations ..........................................................................................................14

Mistake #8: Failing to Measure Properly ..........................................14
Know What Source Drives Business Value.......................................................................14
Using Source to Drive Marketing Decisions......................................................................14
The Flipside: Setting Expectations Up Front ....................................................................15
Mistake #9: Focusing Only on Individual Tactics ..............................15
What is Integrated Marketing?............................................................................................15
Why Integrated Marketing Still Matters in a Digital Age...................................................15
Mistake #10: “The Superman Complex”............................................16
What is “The Superman Complex”?...................................................................................16
Avoiding Burnout by Bringing in Reinforcements ...........................................................16
BONUS: Overlooking the Social Connection between Personal and
Business .............................................................................................. 17
Social Media is Pervasive....................................................................................................17
Personal and Business Brands Intertwine ........................................................................17
Don’t Shoot Yourself in the Foot!.......................................................................................17
Conclusion ....................................................................................... 17

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IntroductionIntroductionIntroductionIntroduction
If you are reading this eBook, you are obviously serious about getting your online marketing right.
That’s the first step to success!
Whether you are managing online efforts for a large company, running all of marketing for a startup, or
going solo with an online business, this book can help you.
Online Marketing is not easy
Too many times, I meet with potential clients who have been trying to go it alone. Most of the time, they are
frustrated for one of many reasons.
Have you ever heard yourself utter one of the following remarks?
1. Online marketing is too much work
2. I can’t figure out how to make money with the web
3. Measurement is overly complicated and confusing
4. Pay-per-click (PPC) is a waste of money
5. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a dying channel so why would I bother?
6. Online advertising brings a lot of clicks but little / no business
7. What’s the big deal? Why can’t you just advertise on websites, blogs, and emails like we did in the
“good old days”?
Every one of these problems is true if you really don’t know what you are doing. I spend countless hours
each week honing my knowledge and skillset for online marketing. It evolves daily, so you cannot be
complacent.
But most of my customers are business owners first. Marketing is one of many responsibilities they are
trying to juggle. It is virtually impossible to know everything you need to know, to execute against it, and still get
everything else on your plate done.
Take a moment to level set
There comes a time to say enough, to call “uncle” if you will. With online marketing, that time often comes
sooner than you may think.
This eBook is meant to caution you about the biggest mistakes most marketers and entrepreneurs stumble
into. It covers what each mistake is in detail and why that is a problem.
While reading the eBook, take notes. Brainstorm. Think about whether you are making any of these
mistakes, and why. You will have a slew of new ideas. But your time will remain a challenge.
Most experienced marketers and entrepreneurs can correct the basic stuff (e.g. messaging) quickly on their
own. Some of the more advanced work will take more time and effort.
I’ve included a few ideas about how to deal with this situation in Mistake #10: “The Superman Complex”.
But don’t jump ahead – read the rest of the content first to set the stage.
I am glad you are taking the time to get serious about your online marketing. But enough of the intro; let’s
get right to the first mistake

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MistakeMistakeMistakeMistake ####1:1:1:1: Stroking Your Own EgoStroking Your Own EgoStroking Your Own EgoStroking Your Own Ego
Me-Focused Messaging
Is your messaging ego-centric or customer-centric?
Marketing has undergone a rather massive transformation in the past 50
years. As consumers become savvier, digital information delivery becomes
pervasive, and the breadth of available products explodes, the old way of
messaging simply does not work anymore.
Today you can’t just focus on:
• Whom YOU are
• What YOU sell
• How privileged the customers are to be able to buy products or services from YOU.
You need to focus on the customer:
• Who are THEY?
• What problems are THEY struggling with?
• What might THEY want to buy?
• Why would THEY want to buy it from you?
Customers really don’t care about you and your awards very much. It does serve a purpose – to alleviate
objections – but only if you are truly better than your competitors. At the end of the day, it’s little more than a tie-
breaker.
First you need to convince them that you understand the problem they are trying to solve. And that you can
actually fix it.
So stop the chest beating and start talking your prospects and customers in their language!
And this isn’t just for online marketing. It crosses all of your messaging, particularly the press releases.
The “What” vs. the “Why”
Why “Old School” messaging fails today
There was a time back in the late 80s and early 90s where messaging was much easier. Many companies
had repurposed engineers doing the product marketing. The thought was, “If my customers are technical, my
messaging should be technical. “
There were also two schools of thought for this type of product:
• Technical audiences over analyze purchases, so sell hard to get them over their concerns about
buying
• Technical audiences are analytical and will buy if you give them all of the details in a non-pitchy
way. Just make great products and they will “get” it.
These approaches both worked for a while. But in today’s business climate, they both fail miserably.
Figure 1: Love Your
Customers More Than
Yourself

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The first option glosses the surface, giving enough information to get a “bite” that you can aggressively sell
to in person. Most audiences are leery about this approach. If they can’t better articulate what they offer on
the website, why would I give up my own limited time and energy to listen to the same tired pitch in person?
The second option often delves deeply into the goriest of details. It is often messaged using passive tense
– speaking around the customer rather than to him or her. And it also often comes across as haughty or even
ambivalent.
Start by communicating WHY a customer should care
What sort of messaging grabs your interest?
• We can fix your biggest problem and make your life better. We care about our customers and their
satisfaction.
• We offer the best “solution” in this space. Look at all the shiny bells and whistles it offers! Don’t you
need this? DON’T YOU?
Okay, so this is a rather dramatic depiction, but you get the point.
Messaging is not that difficult to map out properly. You just need to start with the end in mind. Think
about their desires and motivations, and talk to those needs in their language.
Here is the high level thought process to employ:
• Who is my target audience?
• What are their biggest problems, pains, and careabouts?
• Which of those can I or my company solve?
• What emotional benefit will that provide?
• What features serve as proof points for those benefits?
• Why am I the best solution to their needs?
Answer all of those questions properly and you will be moving toward customer-centric messaging. The
time is now to move away from chest-beating and start talking to customers with verbiage that they will respond
to.
Ignoring Other Influences on the Customer
Ego-driven businesses tend to operate with a great deal of hubris. After all, if you know all of the answers
already, that makes you an authority, doesn’t it?
If only it were that simple.
Ego-driven companies and executives overlook important forces that are impacting customer decision
making. They gloss over competitive analysis, happy to see that they offer a feature or two that no one else has
developed yet. They see inferior products or campaigns and assume that no improvement is coming. They get
so confident that complacence sets in.
That’s when it gets dangerous.
Customers are always searching for a better or more interesting option. If you are complacent, I can
guarantee that your competitors will not be the same. You also have to compete with a variety of other “voices”
for the customer’s ear – media outlets, vendors, agencies, independent consultants, alternative solution
providers.

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If you have been running your business this way, step back for a moment and ask yourself “why”? You just
might come to the conclusion that you have been hindering your own progress along the way.
MistakeMistakeMistakeMistake ####2:2:2:2: Being AntiBeing AntiBeing AntiBeing Anti----SocialSocialSocialSocial
Social Media: Everyone Is Doing It
Social Media has been the buzz for years now. Look at these
astounding facts about social media and social networking
1
.
• As of September, 2011, Facebook had over 800 million
users
• Over 80% of Americans use some social network
• Nearly 23% of online time is spent on social networks
• Social Media users are more active and influential online
• The average visit to Facebook lasts 20 minutes or more
• 44% of SMB (Small and Medium Business) decision-makers use social media, and that number
is growing
• Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+ and YouTube are the most used social networks among
SMB decision-makers
• Over half of small business owners report gaining new customers from social media
interactions
I am a huge fan of it as a medium for communicating with customers and prospects. Some of the biggest
benefits of employing social media include:
• Ability to quickly test ideas with real people
• Engagement with your prospects and customers directly
• Content marketing vehicle for driving interest and web traffic
• The opportunity to insert yourself in a social-based conversation that has turned negative about
you or your brand (the conversation happens whether you get involved or not!)
• Accessibility to your company for outside parties
• A more personal approach online
This is in no way a fad. Social is here to stay, so get on board.
How to Manage Social Media the Right Way
Everyone talks about how social is “free”. Sure, you can sign up for all the major services and start
interacting at no cost. You can engage without a financial investment. But is it really free?
Simple answer: No.
1
Social Media statistics sourced from Social Media Examiner.

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Social media requires time, effort, and dedication to get right. You can’t just launch a blog and test it out
in a week or two. You have to commit for the long term. Anything less than six months is a waste of time.
Since social media is the product of the interactions, you have to be present and active to get value out of
it. What is an hour of your time worth? That’s the cost you invest to participate in social media.
Many small businesses want to ignore the channel altogether when they realize it is not actually free. But
that is the wrong answer. It is worth the investment, no matter how little you can commit. Vend it out if you
have to.
Top five tips for how to dip your toe into the social waters
• Start slowly. Get on one or two services and watch how others interact at first. Over extend it and
you will find yourself overwhelmed in short order. Baby steps.
• Do not hard-sell your followers! That’s the best way to get yourself permanently ignored. There
is a time and place for pitching. Casual social media relationships are not the right place to do it.
• Engage with likeminded professionals. Search out people in your industry and see how they use
social media. Make notes of what they are and are not doing right.
• Think like a customer. People are not on social media to be sold to. They want to come to you
when you say something that piques their interest. Keep this in mind in your interactions.
• Become a trusted source. People participate in social media for content and interactions. Position
yourself as knowledgeable in the space. Share your content and curate that of others. Be the
provider they will call when a problem arises – the person who proves his or her expertise when the
customer is not ready to buy!
MistakeMistakeMistakeMistake ####3:3:3:3: Ignoring Email MarketingIgnoring Email MarketingIgnoring Email MarketingIgnoring Email Marketing
Email Marketing is Crucial to Your Success
Allow me to let you in on a best kept secret that internet marketers live by:
It’s all about the email list.
A lot of pundits have prematurely dismissed email marketing as a dying touch point. They could not be
more wrong. There is no way that it will be completely replaced by SEO, social media, or any other medium.
Why is email such an important medium for marketing?
• Low cost relative to online advertising placements
• One of the most measureable tactics in our portfolio
• Easy to test, optimize, and profit with email campaigns
• Opportunity to communicate directly with prospects and customers
Bottom Line: You control it. You optimize it. You benefit from it.
Think about it. A prospect or customer has seen enough information that they are willing to join your list or
download your content. Enough information to trust that you will handle their email / contact information properly
Trust? That sounds like the beginning of a relationship to me!

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That’s exactly what it is. They trust you enough to allow you to market to them. They want to see what
interesting things you have to say. And many of them would be willing to buy what you are selling when the time
and situation is right. You just need to keep them interested and involved. Email is a great way to do that.
Build Your List At All Stops
If the list is the key to the kingdom, you need to be thinking about your list with everything that you do.
Always have a way to capture visitor information via a form or other means. When you launch a product,
roll out a new campaign, or even generate content for your website, how do you plan to convert readers to
subscribers?
The two most effective list building vehicles
1. Premium Content.
Customers love to access content about topics of interest. In B2B, they go for content that helps them
do their jobs better. So give it to them! Create a whitepaper, eBook, webinar, etc. and offer it across
your website. This is particularly helpful for finding prospects that may one day need your product or
service, but are not quite ready to buy.
2. Free Tools, Demos, or Software.
For prospects who are trying to fix an immediate problem, offer a tool that helps. That tool could be a
basic version of your product or service, an analytical tool to figure out the cause of a problem, or even
a fully functional version of a software product with a limited license (less functionality or 30-day
expiration). Give them a smart phone app that helps use your product or service. Get creative here!
Many times they will convert rather quickly to a paying customer, once they are comfortable that you
can provide the best solution to their problems.
Advanced Email Marketing: Marketing Automation
In recent years, email marketing has evolved. Many companies moved on to Marketing Automation
platforms. For growing companies with limited resources, it makes a lot of sense to automate.
Marketing Automation allows you to create multiple, email experiences that can be custom targeted to
users based on a variety of factors such as:
• Who they are
• What product they are interested in
• Where they are located
• Actions they take
• Anything they do that you can measure
Once you get your email marketing program up and running, it makes sense to evaluate whether Marketing
Automation is a fit for you.

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MistakeMistakeMistakeMistake ####4:4:4:4: Using New ToolsUsing New ToolsUsing New ToolsUsing New Tools forforforfor the Same Oldthe Same Oldthe Same Oldthe Same Old MarketingMarketingMarketingMarketing CampaignsCampaignsCampaignsCampaigns
I mentioned earlier that it is naïve to think you can attempt the same old marketing tactics via new media.
Digital and online media are completely new communications vehicles, and they require a different level of
discipline as compared to the old mass media assortment. Let’s look at a few ways that the landscape has
changed.
Buying Advertising Support
In the old days, you could buy advertising much more easily. The goals were brand recognition and
frequency of exposure, so you simply needed to sign up with publications and media outlets that had large
followings.
Today it’s a different game. Everything is measureable. Executives want to understand what they will
get in return for every dollar spent (ROI, a.k.a. Return on Investment).
Gone are the days when it makes sense to pay for impressions only. Today, the most successful online
advertising model is focused on pay-per click search engine marketing. Sure, a lot of businesses do it. You
can still make money that way. But you have to invest a good deal of money up front to test whether it even
works for you. Sell that to a CMO in today’s frugal business climate!
Now, we must measure much more deeply into the sales funnel. We pay for placement in some
manner. Next we want to know things like:
• How many clicks did this ad drive?
• What was the click-thru rate (CTR, defined as percent of ad views that clicked through to the
website)
• What is the cost per click (CPC)? Is it reasonable?
• How many of those clicks converted to subscribers or actual purchase transactions?
• What was the ROI?
• What is the expected life time value (LTV) of the contacts who engaged with us through this
effort?
Essentially, online marketing requires a whole new vocabulary of terms. Because it’s a whole new set of
touch points at our disposal, via media that can be measured with unprecedented accuracy.
Spamming Your Email List
We all know what email SPAM is. Surely you have junk mail and spam filters on your email account
already.
How do you feel about the companies that sent you the unsolicited email? Most email users feel a lack of
trust, or even offense, at Spamming.
There are even laws in pretty much every developed country that provide guidelines and levy penalties for
non-compliance. Have you ever heard of the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003? If you send emails to a list, you need to
understand all of the rules of CAN-SPAM before sending your next campaign out.
Trust me. This is both an issue of credibility as well as legal risk. And it’s just bad form, so pull back on the
volume and build rapport with your subscriber list. I already mentioned that it is the most important
communication medium for your success, so don’t cut corners.

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Overdoing It on Social Media
We already covered how important social media is to modern business marketing. But there’s a downside
to social media.
You cannot use it just to push a business agenda. It should be used to build a community. What does that
mean?
• Social Media is not a PR distribution channel. When I see companies opening a Twitter account
just to SPAM it with press releases and self-serving content, I unfollow without pause.
• Lighten up on the sales pitch before approaching your social networks. We are there to build
relationships, not to twist arms.
• Avoid high risk topics like politics and religion. This is pretty straightforward. For every person
who steadfastly agrees with your stance, there is another one or more who disagree and may take
offense. The only exception is if you work for a church, political campaign, or similar.
• Be nice! You may think the internet is a safe, anonymous environment where you can freely speak
your mind. Think again! Nothing is secret on the web. Everything you write becomes history. Don’t
put your personal or business brand at risk because you can’t filter what you say when frustrated.
Inbound Marketing vs. Interruption Marketing
One of the biggest developments over the past decade involves customer choice. At one time, it was okay
to push marketing messages at customers any chance you could. After being spammed incessantly for over a
decade now, most customers want to control the marketing contact they have with companies.
We have evolved to a new type of marketing. If you want to be a leader and do it right, this is important.
• Interruption Marketing (The old way) involves pushing messages and sales pitches in front of as
many people as possible. Things like web interstitial ads, 30-second video ads embedded in
YouTube videos, and any kind of pop up banner advertising are all examples of using
interruption marketing on new media. Ask any consumer who uses the web, and you’ll learn that
these tactics are not looked upon favorably.
• Inbound Marketing (The new way) involves letting the customer choose whether to be
contacted by you. It also includes how frequently, via what media, and on what subjects. Put
yourself out there as a thought leader, and the leads will come to you. This is the whole premise
that Hubspot has built their current business on. And it just plain works!
MistakeMistakeMistakeMistake ####5:5:5:5: EmployingEmployingEmployingEmploying Black Hat SEOBlack Hat SEOBlack Hat SEOBlack Hat SEO
Three Hats: Black, White, and Gray
You have likely heard the term “Black Hat SEO” in the past. Some SEOs will recommend that you employ
it, but it is not the only way to optimize your site and drive traffic.

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First let’s set the table with some quick definitions:
• Black Hat SEO: Driving rankings and traffic for a website using any means necessary, particularly
via methods that are questionable in ethics or that directly violate Google’s SEO guidelines via
loopholes or oversights in the algorithm. Also includes driving backlinks to content based on
trickery or scalable technological shortcuts.
• White Hat SEO: Building a quality website with continually generated quality content, and driving
natural backlinks to that content based on merit. The focus is on the customer rather than driving
increases in traffic.
• Gray Hat SEO: For items that are not blatantly Black Hat SEO, but clearly not 100% White Hat, the
industry has coined the term Gray Hat SEO. Essentially, it designates tactics that may be ethically
questionable but that are technically in compliance with Google’s overall guidelines.
Why White Hat is the Only Reasonable Option
At the end of the day, if you are doing anything other than White Hat SEO, you are putting your website
and your business at risk.
Sure, you might be able to drive some awesome quick hits or bursts of traffic. They may all turn into paying
customers or brand advocates. The trickery and automation may actually work for months or years with a lot of
success.
But one thing is certain: Google will figure it out. They always do.
Surely you have heard of the big penalties and algorithm updates that Google has rolled out in the past few
years. Many a website was devastated when Panda hit, and they were delisted or dropped down the rankings
significantly. Panda went after low quality websites, duplicate content, and several other questionable web
strategies. And many websites paid dearly.
Then there came Penguin, the first algorithm update that penalized websites for actions beyond their
control. Essentially, Penguin slapped sites that pay for backlinks or have links from questionable domains. As
you can imagine, a ton of successful websites and businesses suffered greatly.
Do it right the first time. Follow the rules. Trust me. You can’t survive on trickery alone, so avoid Black
and Gray Hat SEO techniques at all costs.
MistakeMistakeMistakeMistake ####6:6:6:6: ForgetForgetForgetForgetting the Customer!ting the Customer!ting the Customer!ting the Customer!
It may seem logical to remember the customer, but you’d be surprised how many companies approach me
with all the wrong questions.
• How can I write content that will rank #1 for [insert random keyword term here]?
• What sort of information do people like to share on social media?
• Can you help me present this information in a way that will make people accidentally share it or
sign up for my list?
• Why do I have to worry about user experience? Don’t I already have it covered when they arrive on
my website?

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Write for the Customer, Not Google / Bing
First and foremost, if your sole intent of writing content is to rank on
Google, Bing, or whatever search engine you prefer, think again.
Yes, you want your content to rank. You do need to think about
keywords and potential traffic. But at the end of the day, if the content is
poorly written, keyword stuffed, or hardly relevant to the terms you have
optimized for, it won’t work!
When you write for search engines instead of the customer, you are
executing on the modern day equivalent of “bait and switch”. Remember
the old days, where a company would advertise a special, only to upsell you
as soon as you walked in the door? No trickery; focus on quality content
that will appeal to real people, not bots.
Stop the Madness!
There are so many types of trickery out there that this list could go on for pages. But I won’t put you
through that. Here are some of the top tactics I’ve seen that you should avoid at all costs.
• Keyword stuffing / writing for ranking with no substance
• Auto-translated versions to target multiple countries
• “Spun” content, where you use a piece of software to use alternate verbiage and “rewrite” the
content to appear unique.
• Bait pages, where there is a very shallow piece of vague content meant to rank, and the rest of the
page overrun with a bunch of cross-sell and banner ads to your other content.
• Automation of badly planned out page content, such as caching search results pages on-site
and serving them up to Google for ranking on the search term.
These are only five examples, but I have literally heard of hundreds of “clever” ways to manipulate the
traffic and rankings.
Would you trust a company who does any of this? I would not.
Why Customer Experience Matters More Than SEO
Customer Experience is one of the most important things to focus on for web marketing. SEO is only one
source of traffic, so I argue that customer experience is exponentially more important.
That may sound odd coming from someone who brands myself as an SEO thought leader. If you start with
the customer first, the rest of it can work itself out.
How can you manage the customer experience? Aside from avoiding trickery as I’ve mentioned above, be
sure to button down the following for your website.
• Design
• Navigation
• Content
• Tone
Figure 2: Good Content
Leads to Happy Customers

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• Layout / Template
• Interaction Tools (e.g. demos, gamification, or similar)
• Registration, Login, and Subscription Forms
Everything the customer sees or interacts with on your website affects customer experience. Spend the
time and money it takes to make them happy with your site. It is worth the investment.
MistakeMistakeMistakeMistake ####7:7:7:7: Overlooking Conversion OOverlooking Conversion OOverlooking Conversion OOverlooking Conversion Optimizationptimizationptimizationptimization
Which of These Scenarios Do You Prefer?
There are many ways to improve lead volume and business results. Oftentimes, business owners think
that the answer is to throw money at advertising. If you are already advertising and the volume is too low,
money may not be the right answer.
Scenario #1: Increase Budget
Let’s start with a scenario where you spend $10K per month on SEM/PPC, at a cost of $20 per click, to
acquire B2B (business-to-business) clients. That would result in 500 clicks through to visit your website.
Assuming a conversion rate of 2%, you would get 10 leads per month.
If you really need 15-20 leads per month to keep your business going, the following table shows the
potential upside if budget is the only lever available to pull:
$10K $15K $20K
SPEND $10,000 $15,000 $20,000
Cost / Click (CPC) $20 $20 $20
Total Clicks 500 750 1,000
Conversion rate 2% 2% 2%
LEADS GENERATED 10 15 20
Cost / Lead $1,000 $1,000 $1,000
As you can see above, your cost per lead remains static at $1,000, but you are able to add five
incremental leads for each $5K you spend. Not too shabby if you can absorb $1,000 in cost for every single
lead.
Most businesses would rather spend less for each lead to improve business productivity as a whole. Let’s
look at a couple of other scenarios where we might be able to impact cost metrics in addition to lead volumes.
Scenario #2: Optimize Click Cost
Let’s switch up now and make the assumption that you do need more leads, but you have no additional
funding to throw at the problem. Cost per click (CPC) is another variable you can improve.
There are a variety of ways to improve your click cost. Some of the ways to do so are to use different
keywords, add negative match keywords to reduce irrelevant clicks, or improve our Quality Score
(Google’s measure of the “quality” of a user’s experience when your ad shows up and they click).
The following table illustrates some possible scenarios that would result if you were to reduce the CPC for
your SEM/PPC account:

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$20 CPC $15 CPC $10 CPC
SPEND $10,000 $10,000 $10,000
Total Clicks 500 667 1,000
Cost / Lead $1,000 $750 $500
In this analysis, the only variable we changed was CPC.
By improving the cost per click alone, you can quickly reduce the cost per lead while making progress
toward your lead volume goals. The numbers are possible because you are getting many more clicks for the
same budget outlay.
Scenario #3: Optimize Conversion Rate
Conversion Rate is the highest leverage variable you can use to improve your long-term results. A small
advancement in conversion rate provides more value than nearly anything else you can do.
Let’s look at the scenarios comparing the 2% conversion rate with 5% and 10%.
2% Conv 5% Conv 10% Conv
SPEND $10,000 $10,000 $10,000
Total Clicks 500 500 500
Cost / Lead $1,000 $400 $200
With the same budget, CPC, and number of clicks, conversion optimization greatly improves total number
of leads as well as cost per lead. Conversion optimization results in immediate return on investment
improvement and overall business value.
It is the single most important lever at your disposal. See why it makes no sense to blindly increase budget
without looking at other metrics first?
How to Optimize for Conversion: The Basics
Conversion optimization might sound like a complicated undertaking, but it is not. There are only a few
actions that need to be taken to start making improvements.
Conversion is directly correlated to the quality of the user experience on your website. The better the site
communicates the value proposition, the more likely the visitor is to join your mailing list or complete your
primary conversion goals.
Because of this, conversion optimization is about testing what works better out of all of the elements and
content items that appear on the page.

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The following are some of the most important variables to review when looking to optimize conversion
metrics:
1. Offer: Be sure that you are offering something suitable to your target audience, something that
they will value enough to surrender contact information and possibly purchase your product or
service. Keep in mind that B2C and B2B react to different types of offers. Examples include
discounts, contests, free content (whitepapers, videos, trainings, webinars), and special benefits.
2. Creative: The look and feel of your website, including both usability and graphic design, plays a
huge role in establishing credibility and trust. Without both of those qualities, your site will struggle
to convert consistently. This is especially true for B2B.
3. Content / Messaging: The content you present should be very clear and understandable to your
target audience. Speak in the vocabulary they use. Be direct, include benefits, and let them know
what’s in it for them when they convert.
4. Landing Pages: Landing pages are crucial for conversion improvement. Essentially, these pages
need to tell enough of the story to get a conversion. For some audiences and touch points, these
pages need to tell the whole story including product info, benefits, testimonials, credibility building
snippets, and conversion all on a single page. The quality of a landing page directly influences its
ability to convert, so do not take shortcuts. If you are unfamiliar with landing page design, bring in a
professional to help.
5. Forms: Forms can help or hinder your ability to convert prospects on your website. The “rule of
thumb” is to use the fewest fields possible to get a conversion. While this true overall, you should
still ask enough to help manage lead quality. Aim to ask for 5-7 fields on initial conversion to
balance volume with quality. You can always collect more data on subsequent interactions.
6. Buttons: Buttons, believe it or not, can play a major role in conversion rate. You will find
differences in conversion based on button color, call-to-action (on-button text), size, and location on
the form or page.
Figure 3: Button Color is Important to Conversion

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Testing and Iterations
After reading this list of items to optimize, you may feel a bit overwhelmed. This is a lot of work, but it
cannot all be done at one time.
The key is to take an iterative approach. Change one variable and test it. Once you see if it works or not,
make the decision to change or revert it to the original version. Then move on to the next test.
Keep in mind that testing is not a short-term project. It should be part of your ongoing marketing
optimization efforts.
This is why we offer conversion optimization and testing services. Most clients would prefer to offload
testing due to the time and technical knowhow required to get it right.
MistakeMistakeMistakeMistake ####8:8:8:8: Failing to Measure ProperlyFailing to Measure ProperlyFailing to Measure ProperlyFailing to Measure Properly
Know What Source Drives Business Value
It is great to improve conversion, but you will find that all sources are not created equal. Some will convert
very well, while others will fail to convert at all. Some sources will be great for list-building. Other sources will
provide you hot leads.
At the end of the day, you absolutely MUST figure out which sources
are driving your business success. This is important for budget setting as
well as strategy.
Simply put, you want to spend your hard earned marketing dollars on
sources that will drive results. The only way to figure out where to spend
more or less is to measure everything.
Using Source to Drive Marketing Decisions
The source of your traffic and conversions is more than just a budgetary
question. It should also advise what you do with the leads.
Some examples of using source-level data for real business benefit
include:
• Managing budget, spend, and programs
• Using to help score leads for sales prioritization and follow up
• Identifying what content to show on subsequent visits or in
newsletters
• Determining exactly what the visitor is interested in learning,
seeing, doing, or buying
• Understanding how engaged a visitor or contact is to your brand
This is just a brief sampling, but there are countless ways to build
actionable insights by understanding what touch points / sources are most
influencing your success online.
Figure 4: Are You Tracking
Leads by Source?

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The Flipside: Setting Expectations Up Front
Typically, when we start talking about ROI, measurement, and similar topics, executives get excited. After
all, if you can measure something, how can you know if it works?
Search marketing comes with one small complication: it takes time to produce results. Patience is
required.
Since we depend heavily on search engines for SEO or PPC success, we are operating on their timelines.
This is especially true for SEO.
You might be able accelerate the process for some items if you can capitalize on social or other channels,
but SEO operates on a 30-90 day window. When you launch new content, Google does not immediately rank
you for that content the same way they did in the past. You have to prove that you will stick with the topic and
keyword, and eventually they will reward you with traffic and rankings.
Always take the time to set expectations in advance. It does no good to micromanage the reporting or
ROI merely days after making a strategic SEO improvement. Make sure that is understood and bought into from
the start.
If you are running your own business, try to be as patient as possible. Focus your energy on other areas
for quicker hits – advertising, social media, and other areas that are separate from the whims of the search
engines.
Over time, this will help you set up a well-rounded online marketing assortment of offerings so you do not
depend 100% on Google or Bing to drive your business. Considering the speed of change in SEO Google’s
constant tinkering with their algorithm, you cannot leave your business completely exposed in case your domain
is slapped or delisted unexpectedly.
MistakeMistakeMistakeMistake ####9:9:9:9: FocusingFocusingFocusingFocusing OnlyOnlyOnlyOnly on Individual Tacticson Individual Tacticson Individual Tacticson Individual Tactics
What is Integrated Marketing?
Integrated Marketing is a fairly simple concept – when you are planning out your marketing execution, take
the time to integrate your marketing strategies across the wide variety of vehicles you will use to
communicate with your prospects and customers.
At the end of the day, you are marketing a single entity; a company. Prospects and customers see your
brand, creative, messaging, and overall presence from an external lens. They need to see a coherent business
at all stops if you want to avoid confusion, loss of credibility, and loss of interest.
Integrated marketing was especially impactful for bringing together the various traditional marketing tactics
such as marketing literature, advertising, direct marketing, and events. For the first time in history, businesses
were properly advertising offers, messages, and activities across the full mix of (then) available media.
Why Integrated Marketing Still Matters in a Digital Age
In the past couple of decades, we have gone through integrated marketing, branding, and now online
marketing revolutions. The pace of change has accelerated greatly.

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Today, customers are even more selective and critical about whom they choose to build a relationship with.
You can no longer manage campaigns in isolation, and that goes for digital as well as traditional media.
Every experience a prospect or customer has with your brand matters. Online and offline absolutely
MUST be managed in tandem. Potential customers what to engage with you how they want, when they want,
and where they want (i.e. the medium or platform).
This includes in-person interactions, public relations, email, point of sale, your website, online and offline
advertisements, and on social media. You should be content marketing, cross promoting offers, and using
consistent branding and messaging.
To make matters even more challenging, mobile has become a significant variable to manage through all of
this. Tools like QR Codes were created specifically to bridge the gap between mobile browsing and other ways
to access your content.
Integrated marketing may be seen as a thing of the past by many. But they are dead wrong. If anything, it
has become even MORE important to properly integrate your marketing efforts than in the past.
Now go forth and integrate! But first, I have one more mistake to help you avoid
MistakeMistakeMistakeMistake ####10:10:10:10: “The Superman Complex”“The Superman Complex”“The Superman Complex”“The Superman Complex”
What is “The Superman Complex”?
Many of you are like me. You pulled yourself up from your bootstraps and started a business. You funded it
yourself, promoted it yourself, ran operations yourself, balanced the books the list goes on.
If that is how it has always been, it is a major adjustment to accept the fact that you have to delegate,
to let go of some of the work.
Many of us struggle to do so. This is called the Superman Complex.
You need to know when your work has outgrown your execution capacity. Sometimes it is sheer
volume, but sometimes, it is a lack of skillset or means to complete a task. You simply cannot push yourself as
the business grows, or you will risk burning out completely. That would be simply devastating to your business.
Avoiding Burnout by Bringing in Reinforcements
When you start to hit the wall, take a step back to evaluate which parts of your marketing mix can be easily
outsourced. You will find that many of the more tactical items are easy to farm out. Those can be easily
handled by interns, general service marketing and advertising agencies, or even temps in many cases (e.g.
trade show paperwork).
For more strategic items, such as SEO, online marketing, and the services we offer at Return On Now,
many clients choose to offload the whole responsibility to a consulting or services firm.
Build out a virtual support team in marketing and other areas where professional services are available. It is
the only way to max out your potential without maxing out the limits of your health and sanity.
That way, you can focus on being a true superhero with your primary area of expertise – the business itself.

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BONUS: Overlooking the Social ConnectionBONUS: Overlooking the Social ConnectionBONUS: Overlooking the Social ConnectionBONUS: Overlooking the Social Connection betweenbetweenbetweenbetween Personal andPersonal andPersonal andPersonal and
BusinessBusinessBusinessBusiness
Social Media is Pervasive
Social media has become commonplace today. You would be hard pressed to find a marketing
professional without a social presence.
As accepted communication mediums for both personal and business purposes, social media, social
networking, and social bookmarking are now integrated into the way we operate on a daily basis.
Basically, social media is now as much a part of the game as the telephone and email. As one thought
leader put it, “you are what you tweet.”
Personal and Business Brands Intertwine
Here is where it gets a bit hairy. People want to interact with and buy from other real people, especially
when social is part of the mix. Word of mouth becomes a major factor in decision making.
And where does word of mouth originate? With real people. You and me. The guy who owns the mattress
store down the street. The sweet old lady who lives next door. Your college classmates. Your coworkers.
What was missing from there? Businesses. Word of mouth is about people. If you are active in the social
space, your personal brand is attached to your opinions, product preferences, recommendations, and even your
job. The two are inseparable today.
Don’t Shoot Yourself in the Foot!
What you say is who you are. Do you filter your social commentary? Do you keep your business in mind
when doing so? It is up to all of us to put force our best face when interacting socially, whether in person or
online. What you say and do WILL impact opinions of you and the brands you represent. So speak wisely, my
friend.
ConclusionConclusionConclusionConclusion
So there you have it, 10 online marketing mistakes that could prove fatal to your business, plus one
bonus tip that you simply cannot overlook.
You never want to find yourself having to manage a situation caused by one of these errors. Start building
plans today for how you will adjust if needed.
Most of these are time-consuming to manage properly. I understand that you are already likely stretched
just keeping up with the daily requirements of running your business.
If you need help with any or all of these areas, please contact Return On Now today. We can help you
manage through it.

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Online Marketing: SEO, Social Media, PPC/SEM, Email Marketing
Avoid the 10 Mistakes
Contact us today for a free, no-obligation quote.
www.returnonnow.com

10 Online Marketing Mistakes That Can Kill Your Business

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