The 3 Most Common Digital Marketing Budget Disasters . . . and How to Avoid Them

We see these 3 most common budget disasters over and over — involving Lead Generation websites, Ecommerce websites, and PPC campaigns. Don’t let these happen to you . . .

Budget Disaster #1: Creating a New Website – without a Lead Generation Plan – to Solve a Lead Generation Problem

The tech company had a website that wasn’t generating leads. Their immediate solution was to create a new website. They first hired a web design firm who told the client the solution to their lead generation problem was “messaging.” So, the client brought in branding consultants. The consultants created a branding plan that talked a lot about messaging. But it never addressed a plan to actually drive leads. The new website was created – without any new Lead Generation Offers. Result: new website, same lack of leads, massive waste of time and budget.

Why not DIAGNOSE first: Why isn’t the website generating leads?

There aren’t any Lead Generation Offers on the Home page – or any of the Product/Service pages. You just have to know to look under “Resources.” There, you’ll find the only Offers are their product/service brochures – gated behind a form that prospects have to fill out.  (I don’t think anyone has gated their product/service brochures for maybe the past 20 years . . .)

If the objective of your website is Lead Generation, the site needs to focus on Lead Generation Offers. The Offer needs to be visible on Home, every Product/Service page, and every blog post.

To avoid this #1 digital marketing budget disaster, understand what drives leads – the Offer. If you have a leads problem, is your Lead Generation Offer visible throughout your website? If your Offer is visible and leads are still poor, then you have a problem with the Offer itself or the form asks too many questions. Test a new Offer, a new name for the Offer, new bullet points illustrating the benefits of the Offer – or simplify your form and ask only for the essential pieces of information.

Budget Disaster #2: Creating a New Ecommerce Website – without new Sales Copy – to Solve Slow Online Course Sales

The ecommerce company had a website that wasn’t generating sales. They concluded they needed a new website, but they were tight on cash. The company hired a web developer that advertised inexpensive website creation in a local magazine. The web developer was focused on building the ecommerce site, rather than building a site that improved sales (which was the whole reason the company was building a new website).

The new website used Sales Copy from the old website. Once the new website was launched, it didn’t improve sales at all.

Diagnosis: Why isn’t the current Sales Copy driving sales?

The company previously produced courses with paper textbooks. In many of the course descriptions, it referred to the “2014 edition” of the textbook. The site has over 100 products that stated “2014 edition,” yet no one from the company, and no one from the web developer, noticed.

The company had a unique bundle of benefits that should have differentiated them. But that unique bundle of benefits appeared only on the Home page – and far down on the page.

When SEO is done correctly, any page on an ecommerce website could be a landing page. Visitors may never see the “why should I buy yours” message if it only appears on Home.

To avoid the #2 Budget Disaster, be sure you discuss with any web developer exactly WHY you need a new website. And don’t proceed until you find a developer that has a plan to solve your particular problem. If your ecommerce website is selling products not sold visually (anything other than clothing, furniture, artwork, etc.), the Sales Copy is doing the selling. If you have a sales problem, you have a Sales Copy problem. Fix the Sales Copy first.

Be sure the answer to “why should I buy yours” appears on your Home page, every category page, and every product/service page.

Budget Disaster #3: Handing over your Pay-Per-Click budget to someone without discussing your specific business and how success will be measured

 The B2B ecommerce company had an agency who brought in a PPC consultant “who was recommended by several other agencies.”  The company’s agency didn’t understand PPC, and didn’t make it clear to the consultant that the client served only a single industry with a single flagship product. The result was a PPC Campaign that probably made every possible mistake with the client’s budget.

The ecommerce company operated in certain states, and their flagship product had slightly different features and pricing per state. The consultant created PPC Campaigns that weren’t each focused on a specific state. The keywords didn’t focus on the client’s only industry. And generic keywords were included that didn’t focus on the client’s flagship product.

There was no testing of ads – and no tracking of sales! (yet this PPC campaign was for an ecommerce website). The consultant ran Display ads that didn’t specifically promote the company’s flagship product. (Plus, the PPC consultant wouldn’t let the client see their own Google Ads account – because the client might have learned some of the PPC consultant’s “proprietary methods.”)

Stop Wasting Your Digital Marketing Budget