Top Challenges and Some Solutions in Digital Marketing Now

Online marketing can help you win – or lose – if you do not manage its new and persistent challenges and issues. A Chicago digital marketing agency helps you overcome these matters with a strategic, resilient plan.

But as a business owner, it pays to be aware. This article lists three digital marketing problems to watch out for:

• Smaller marketing budget that limits growth
• Privacy concerns and regulations that impact advertising strategies
• Content saturation makes competing difficult

Learn the solutions to these pressing dilemmas by reading the post below. Let’s go!

Are you looking for a full-service digital marketing agency? See the DAP difference below!

1. Smaller Marketing Budget That Limits Growth

While overall digital ad spending has slowed, it will increase by 10.5% year over year in 2023. From that point, it will post a two-digit increase. 

You need money – lots of it – if you want to compete. Yet, over 90% of companies in the United States are small-based. Of this group, research showed that less than 9% earn $1 million, while around 16% generate less than $10,000 annually. 

Taking 5% of your total budget for marketing might mean cutting a percentage from critical line items, such as innovation. 

So, how do you manage a limited resource without compromising competency and/or business goals? Consider these three solutions:

• Outsource digital marketing needs. This tip might sound counterproductive, but it benefits you in many ways. You can tap into specialized expertise, reducing costly errors, and easily scale your team according to your needs. It also decreases investments in technology and overhead. 
• Follow the Kaizen approach. “Kaizen” is a Japanese word that means “continuous improvement,” a principle that has guided some of the world’s biggest brands, such as Toyota and Nestle. Through incremental changes, it prevents wastefulness and optimizes processes and strategies.
• Maximize new technologies. Artificial intelligence (AI) is a great SEO partner because it automates several routine tasks. These include keyword research, content outlines, and technical audits. 
• Perform technical audits and analytics. These two strategies answer almost everything you want to know about your campaigns. Which ones are doing well? Which are draining your cash reserves? How are you faring against your competition? Are you under or overspending? 
• Take advantage of your existing customers. Transform your clients into advocates. Inspire them to create user-generated content (UGC). Add social media buttons in your newsletters.  

2. Privacy Concerns and Regulations That Impact Advertising Strategies

With the massive growth of disinformation and privacy concerns, many countries and industries are stepping forward to impose privacy rules. Several of them can directly impact how you market your products online. 

For example: 

• The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) prevents you from collecting personal information from children below 13. 
• Google has specific policies for advertising regulated products, such as prescription drugs. 
• Healthcare brands are subject to HIPAA marketing rules. 
• Businesses that promote products and services in the European Union may be bound by General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

The best approach to one of the biggest problems in digital marketing today is compliance.

• Stay updated with privacy regulations. Subscribe to newsletters, join industry organizations, and read the news. A new policy (or a change to an old one) usually involves data collection, advertising claims, and users.
• Collect zero-party data. Encourage your leads to willingly provide their personal information to you, usually by giving incentives. For example, give a free e-book when they sign up for the mailing list. 
• Practice transparency. Create and update your privacy policy. Explain how you gather information, the types of data you collect, and how you plan to use them.
• Work with compliant partners. Find a Chicago digital marketing agency that follows the industry’s best practices. They must also possess the certifications necessary to do the job, especially in Google PPC advertising.
• Avoid third-party data. As much as possible, do not use or buy lead lists. Many are not vetted or, worse, collected illegally. 
• Keep their data secure. Invest in an SSL certificate to run your site as an HTTPS. Enforce security measures in your business, such as two-factor authentication and zero trust.

3. Content Saturation That Makes Competing Difficult

The sheer volume of new articles indexed by search engines is mind-blowing. We are talking about millions! 

It is unsurprising to wonder, “What else can I talk about?” or struggle to reach the top position (or even the first page) with your chosen keywords. 

This digital marketing issue might even delay seeing positive results from your efforts. It could mean waiting longer to hit your desired revenues, conversion rates, or returns. 

Deal with these by using the following three tips:

• Create topic clusters. Clustering helps you rank for several keywords, pass the “link juice” to less-performing pages, and enhance user experience with better site navigation and structure. Most of all, it lets you showcase your expertise, encouraging users to trust you.
• Repurpose old content. Do you have content with good-enough traffic and ranking? All it needs is a little push to compete. Refine keyword research and know commonly asked questions from Answer the Public. Freshen the page with new visuals, include new data, and remove old ones.
• Focus on quality, not quantity. Search engines prefer one or a few helpful articles over thousands of copies with rehashed content. Follow Google’s E-E-A-T guidelines, and you are more likely to receive a higher ranking than your peers.
• Break down your target market into segments. Instead of writing for moms, create content that might appeal to stay-at-home mothers, single parents, or busy caregivers of toddlers.

Summing Up

Creativity, innovation, and compliance with the best practices and regulations are your best weapons for overcoming some of the toughest problems in digital marketing today. This article outlines some of the tried-and-tested ones, so you can readily take steps to win in search results.

However, you can fare significantly better when you have professional support. Digital Authority Partners (DAP) is a Chicago-based digital marketing agency, specializing in solving these problems with sound approaches and a solid plan. Contact us today to learn more.