Debunking 7 Most Common Digital Marketing Myths

Debunking Digital Marketing Myths: The Root Cause of All Your Business Problems

We should not judge a book by its cover. Neither should we believe in myths.

But more often than not, we end up doing both (unintentionally, obviously) until someone comes along and lights up a candle to dispel the web of false assumptions and misconceptions, giving us the ability to discern the truth from lies.

And today, as your self-designated candle-bearer, we’ll shed some much-needed light on some very popular digital marketing myths that have been hindering the growth of your business in many ways.

And by doing so, we want to accomplish two things-

• i) we want you to understand how these digital marketing myths influence all your crucial marketing decisions that can make or break your business.
• ii) after reading this article, we want you to be able to formulate a successful digital marketing strategy for your business with sound decision-making skills armed with factual knowledge.

Now, we know this topic might not sound as interesting or tempting as “15 Proven Methods To Get Quality Backlinks For Free in 30 days,” but we promise not to bore you to death.

So, before we jump to the myth-busting of some very popular digital marketing myths, let’s take a brief dive into ‘where do all these myths come from?”

It started with Digital Marketing being ‘The Cool Kid.’

It’s 2022, and the whole world seems to be about digital marketing. Well, it’s not so much the world but all the businesses that have made it all the rage. And for the right reasons too. Because investing in the right digital marketing strategy can bring immense growth opportunities for your business (that’s an irrefutable fact right there!).

But even with its evident success all around the world, there remain some who are still skeptical about the effectiveness of these “digital marketing strategies,” and the underlying cause of their wariness is largely due to being duped after trusting the wrong ‘experts’ and misinformation which have only managed to give more voice to these digital marketing myths.

This brings us to,

The Post-Pandemic Struggle: Our main catalyst

Although digital marketing had its fair share of popularity among the business crowd in the pre-pandemic years, the number of businesses that crossed over to the digital world after the pandemic is still significantly huge in comparison.

As a result, digital marketing has now become a crucial marketing tool for most businesses as they struggle to find their footing in the virtual world. And with the myriad of challenges, whether it’s finding the right mix of paid and organic strategies or navigating social networks and e-commerce platforms, it has become an open market for fake claims and false promises to make easy money. Which in turn has paved the road for all these creative digital marketing myths.

Add being new to digital marketing with click-bait headlines, fake news, and endless SEO claims, and it’s bound to be hard for one to know what’s true and what’s not with all the information overload.

Hence, many startups and business owners often end up misled by these digital marketing myths set by the ‘self-proclaimed’ experts with a laptop and internet connection having a multitude of personal opinions on any topic, mostly negative and largely incorrect at that.

So It’s no wonder that it has become a cause for confusion for newbies as well as seasoned marketers, making it hard to figure out what will work for your business leading to inefficient efforts and wasted resources.

That’s why, as your newly appointed candle, today we’re going to help you navigate the complexities of modern marketing. So get ready as we demystify some of the most popular digital marketing myths so that you can make better, smarter, and wiser decisions for your business based on facts, not myths.

Demystifying Some of the Most Popular Digital Marketing Myths

# I’ll get instant results.

This is the first on our list of digital marketing myths due to its unrealistic claim. Getting instant results from your marketing efforts is as much of an unrealistic expectation as expecting Maggi to be cooked within its promised advertised time of ‘2-minutes’.

But our human nature loves instant gratification due to which this myth is one of the most popular among the rest for hindering the growth of many businesses. Because when we don’t see instant results, we often get discouraged and tend to stop.

So whether you’re a marketer or a business owner, you need to understand that digital marketing isn’t an easy side shortcut that you take for fast growth & instant results; instead, it’s a complete spectrum of unlimited amazing opportunities for your business growth which would take time to reflect results once implemented.

So, instead of putting all of your focus and energy on getting instantaneous results, make sure that all your strategies are backed by thorough research, are well thought out and planned, and have been put in the right place, whether it’s your social, email, content, or any other digital marketing strategy. And once you do that, you’ll gradually be able to grow and will see the desired results as well.

#Social media is not meant for B2B marketers

There are certain digital marketing myths that hold back the growth of B2B marketing. One such myth is based on the belief that social media marketing only works for consumer brands but not for B2B companies.

Due to the lack of awareness and misleading information, B2B marketers feel hesitant to use social media because they have been led to believe that the only way to reach B2B customers is with traditional websites and investing efforts in social media is just a waste of time, money and resources. That social media platforms are places for bored individuals who care less about your business than they do about their dinner plans.

But, in reality, social media is a powerful marketing tool for B2B businesses. Nowadays, social media channels such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn have become increasingly popular among B2B marketers as they offer you a platform to promote, engage and connect about your business with like-minded people (niche audience).

As a result, It helps you to establish yourself as a trusted brand, boosts your brand awareness and recognition among your potential customers, and gives your business a personal touch for people to connect better with your brand. Ultimately leading to better reach and growth.

So, contrary to popular belief, you are not supposed to just randomly post anything. Instead, just like any other marketing tool, to get the results that matter, you need to put the time and effort into finding out what platforms are frequented by your target audience, and what type of content they prefer to consume, and then you need to work on a robust social media marketing strategy that meets the needs of your brand.

#You don’t need a content strategy

If there was an award for the most unbelievable digital marketing myth, It would be this.

Under the compulsion of this myth, many businesses think that having a content marketing strategy is just not worth making an investment in. Many don’t even have proper clarity about what content marketing is and what it entails.

What they don’t understand is that consumers don’t just rely on advertisements and pricing anymore; nowadays they prefer to do online research and find as much information as they can get about the products or services and the brands before making a purchase.

That’s why brands that consistently share good quality content and helpful information with their audience are the ones that are being preferred by consumers.

So, make sure that you have a well-planned content strategy in place because, in reality, content marketing is a great and affordable way to promote your business, improve your sales and engagement, educate your audience, attract leads, and increase your visibility across both search engines as well as social media. All of which help you build lasting relationships with your customers.

#Paid marketing doesn’t have the same impact as organic

We get it why this has made it to the list of digital marketing myths. Money is the most important and valuable resource for any business, and to part with it without being one hundred percent sure that it won’t tank is not a risk anyone would want to take.

So, there is a lot of misconception attached when it comes to investing in paid marketing. This is mainly because many self-proclaimed experts out there having no real experience or knowledge have duped a lot of businesses and have made them incur losses without good results.

And that has led to business owners with little to no expertise in this field feeling more cautious than ever. But the reality is that paid marketing is a tool that, if leveraged right, can bring outstanding results no matter the scale of your business. As paid marketing lets you reach the right target audiences without geographical limitations or the need for physical presence.

Therefore, even though organic marketing has its own share of benefits, when it comes to getting better and faster results in terms of lead generation and sales conversions, nothing works better than a solid paid marketing campaign.

#If your product/service is great, it will sell itself

It won’t if no one knows about it. And that is why it is on our list of digital marketing myths.

Nowadays, just having a perfect product or service isn’t enough. To make it sell, you must inform your customers and communicate its value to them. In today’s time, you cannot accomplish that without opting for digital marketing services.

As we all know, this is the digital era, where everyone is online, whether it’s your audience or your competitors. Everyone you know has some kind of an online presence. To make a dent, you have to be on their turf and talk in the terms they understand, using platforms they frequently use.

Because nowadays, people make decisions after thoroughly consuming all the online information. Whether it’s about your brand, products/services, brand mission, or values. Everything contributes to your customer’s final decision before they go for your brand.

Therefore, even with a great product/service, you must invest time and effort into creating proper marketing strategies. Not just to keep yourself ahead of the competition but also to let your audience know what exceptional value you can provide through your product or service to help them make better-informed decisions.

#Marketing and advertising are the same things

Let’s start with the main point. It’s not.

In reality, marketing and advertising are pretty different. Still, they keep getting used as interchangeable terms by people who lack clarity and expertise. This is the origin of this rather unfortunate myth, the culprit behind the lack of growth for many companies.

This, in turn, has limited the potential of many businesses. Due to this myth, these two terms keep getting coined together. This leads to bad decision-making and missing opportunities hindering them from becoming successful brands.

So, to begin with, first, we need to understand that marketing and advertising are two separate fields. Where one is an all-encompassing field including various aspects, platforms, and types of marketing helping businesses to understand their customers. It also helps them analyze their preferences and provide value, resulting in better sales, customer reach, and lasting relationships.

Whereas the other is an extended branch or type of marketing where companies promote their products/services via paid channels. So, before deciding whether to invest or not, make sure that you do thorough research. Analyze the benefits and limitations of all the services and go for the ones your business needs the most.

#Digital marketing is only for big companies

Contrary to popular belief, this digital marketing myth that online marketing is more beneficial for big companies is not true. Because digital marketing is budget-friendly and doesn’t require a large number of resources to be successful. It can also help you keep up with the competition by applying the strategies that the big brands are implementing.

Let’s talk a bit further about the pros of digital marketing. The list continues; brand reputation, a brand identity, better awareness of your products/services, nurturing customer relationships, and brand loyalty. All of which you need to grow as a successful business and can get with the right digital marketing strategy.

You can even outrank your competition in online searches if you plan and implement a robust strategy. And, of course, follow it consistently. Digital marketing is a blessing in disguise for small businesses. It helps you drive traffic, sell better, get recognition in the market, and allows you to stand among the competition.

Conclusion

With this, we pronounce some of the most popular digital marketing myths of all time debunked. We hope that after this you feel more confident and aware of the various aspects of digital marketing. And that now you will be able to make better-informed decisions for your business moving forward.

Because overall, there are no black-and-white facts regarding the intricacies of digital marketing and its various applications. There is an overwhelming quantity of information available nowadays on every matter concerning digital marketing. Which makes it hard to find the truth in all of it.

So, It’s easy to get sucked in by all these digital marketing myths. So many false claims and misconceptions have built quite a reputation for themselves over time. This makes it extremely challenging to keep up.

But despite all of this, there are always some reliable sources and experts out there that can help you succeed. While looking for a partner, ensure that you’re with an agency that cares about your business and your goals. The one willing to listen and collaborate with you to take your business to the heights you have envisioned.

Happy Reading!

About The Author

Avitanshi Srivastava

A delicate balance of calm and chaos, she's a curious soul with a dramatic heart! With writing as her first love, she's a Proud parent of a Birb and can be found talking to curtains or apologizing to walls!