Digital Marketing Do's and Don'ts: A Practical Guide for Businesses

• Digital Marketing
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There’s no faster way to waste your budget than trying to wing digital marketing without a real plan. Seriously, you wouldn’t give your car keys to a toddler, so why hand your business over to guesswork or outdated tactics? If you want to grab people’s attention online—without blowing your ad spend or wrecking your brand—you need to know the golden rules and the biggest pitfalls.

Most businesses, even big ones, mess up by either posting nonstop without thinking or just copying what they see everyone else doing. A local pizza shop near my place spent thousands on Google ads with zero tracking and had no idea if anyone even saw them. Spoiler: their phone didn’t ring more. The basics aren’t hard, but skipping them can leave you invisible.

Knowing what works and what flops is a game-changer. Digital marketing means more than liking a few posts and tossing money at ads. You need to get straight about your audience, your message, and your results. Let’s lay out the first steps that help your business get noticed for the right reasons—saving you headaches later.

• Nail the Basics: Know Your Audience
• Content is King, But Don’t Spam
• Use Data Without Getting Creepy
• Keep Up With Trends, But Don’t Chase Every Shiny Thing
• Engage, Don’t Just Broadcast

Nail the Basics: Know Your Audience

If you don’t really know who you’re talking to in your digital marketing, you’re just rolling the dice and hoping for the best. Getting clear about your audience makes every dollar count and stops you from shouting into the void.

Think bigger than “anyone who buys.” Figure out real details: what does your ideal customer do online, what annoys them, what problems can you solve for them? The more dialed-in you get, the easier your decisions become. Targeting ‘everyone’ means convincing no one.

• Check Google Analytics and Facebook Insights. These free tools break down your online visitors by age, location, even job titles.
• Read real reviews from your competitors. It’s like getting the other team’s playbook.
• Hang out in forums or Facebook groups where your crowd spends time. What are people asking? What are they mad about?

Here’s a real eye-opener: A 2023 HubSpot report showed that 63% of marketers said data-driven targeting was the top reason their ad campaigns worked. Guesswork just can’t keep up anymore.

Think about your own reactions online. If you see an ad that’s clearly not for you—like, say, beard oil when you don’t even have a beard—how fast do you scroll? That’s what happens when businesses skip audience research. Avoid that mistake from the start and your business will connect with people who actually care.

Content is King, But Don’t Spam

Content is the backbone of digital marketing. But here’s the catch: what you post actually matters way more than how much you post. If you flood people’s feeds with junk, you’re not getting famous—you’re getting ignored.

Let’s be real. Google won’t rank your website just because you shove out a hundred blog posts a month. Search engines look at quality: is your stuff helpful, original, and actually answering questions? HubSpot shows that companies that blog regularly get 55% more website visitors, but only if that content is useful and legit—not clickbait or keyword dumps.

There’s a difference between staying on people’s radar and being the digital version of a telemarketer. Here’s what works:

• Post with a purpose. Every blog post, video, or social update should help, educate, or solve a real problem for your audience.
• Mix it up. Use guides, how-tos, quick tips, infographics, and even conversation starters. You don’t need fancy gear—a good answer to a burning question will do.
• Avoid copy-paste traps. Don’t repost the same stuff everywhere. Google and social platforms pick up on this, and it hurts your ranking big time.
• Keep ads and promos to less than one out of every five posts. Instagram and Facebook users say they unfollow brands when all they post are offers.

Take a look at real results:

Bottom line: show up in people’s feeds to help, not just to sell. The right mix of business tips and honest answers builds trust. Spam just builds a wall between you and your future customers.

Use Data Without Getting Creepy

Everyone knows that digital marketing lives and dies by data. But there’s a fine line between being helpful and straight-up stalking your customers. Ever had an ad follow you around for days after a single click? It’s annoying, and honestly, it can push people away faster than a bad meal at a new restaurant.

Sticking to smart data use isn’t just about making people feel safe—it keeps you out of legal trouble. In the U.S., the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and Europe's GDPR both say customers have a say in what happens with their info. Just last year, Meta got hit with a $1.3 billion fine for breaking privacy rules about user data.

So what should you actually do? Here’s what works (and what really doesn’t):

• Ask for permission—always. If you’re collecting emails, say why and what you’ll do with them. Skip the fine print tricks.
• Give people easy ways to opt out. Make those unsubscribe or privacy settings clear and quick.
• Only track what matters. If you sell running shoes, don’t chase info about what movies your customer watched. Stick to relevant business tips.
• Be upfront about cookies. Pop-ups are annoying but legally safer than sneaky tracking scripts.
• Clean up your records. Delete old or unused data. Holding onto stuff ‘just in case’ can backfire big time.

Here’s a quick look at how customers really feel about online privacy:

If you act like a good neighbor online—keep things clear, don’t pry, and respect boundaries—you’ll turn more clicks into loyal customers. Remember, building trust beats chasing every last stat. Want to crush it in digital marketing? Be smart about data, not creepy about it.

Keep Up With Trends, But Don’t Chase Every Shiny Thing

It’s easy to feel like you should jump on every new thing in digital marketing. TikTok goes viral, and instantly everyone thinks, “Should my business be on TikTok?” When ChatGPT dropped, half the internet added “AI-powered” to their websites. Sure, trends can be helpful. But hopping on every new bandwagon rarely works out, and it eats up time and money without real payoff.

Here’s the thing: not every trend matches your business or your customers. One example—live streaming can feel authentic, but if your main buyers are trade professionals who want clear info fast, they probably won’t watch an hour-long stream. Trends matter, but only if they fit your actual audience. A recent HubSpot survey showed that 61% of marketers say video gets the best return, but that means 39% don’t find it moves the needle. Context is everything.

So, how do you know what’s worth your focus? Here are a few ways to handle digital marketing trends without getting burnt:

• Watch, Don’t React: When a new trend pops up, give it a minute. Wait to see if it sticks around or if it’s just hype. If something gets huge and stays put (think Instagram Stories), then consider it.
• Test Small: If a trend looks promising, try it out on a small scale. Put a little budget behind a single campaign. Measure what happens—don’t just guess.
• Listen to Your Audience: Use polls, DMs, or quick surveys to ask your customers how they want to connect, learn, or buy. Their answers beat any trend article.
• Check ROI, Not FOMO: Don’t let fear of missing out guide your decisions. If a tool, channel, or trend isn’t improving results you care about, drop it.

Take the metaverse hype for example. Tons of brands ran in, but most small businesses saw zero real-world results. Meanwhile, updating Google Business listings and running smart local ads make a bigger difference for day-to-day online presence.

For extra clarity, let’s break down a few recent trend results:

The bottom line? Keep your finger on the pulse, but only bet your time and money where it makes sense for your goals. Trends fade, but smart moves never go out of style in digital marketing.

Engage, Don’t Just Broadcast

Lobbing generic posts into the void and hoping someone bites won’t cut it. People want actual engagement—and honestly, they can spot a business on autopilot from a mile away. If you only talk at your audience, you end up looking like a billboard nobody remembers. Want proof? Social media posts that spark a response, like comments or shares, see up to 3x more reach than those that don’t, according to Meta’s latest numbers.

Here’s the move: have actual conversations. Ask open questions. Reply as yourself, not a robot. If someone drops a comment, get in there and respond—bonus points for being specific or even throwing in a joke. Keira, my oldest, follows a skate shop she loves just because they gave her gear tips in the DMs after she commented on a video.

• Encourage feedback—run quick polls or ask for opinions in your posts.
• Share real behind-the-scenes moments; people dig the stuff that’s not perfectly polished.
• Jump into conversations on other pages relevant to your audience—show you’re paying attention outside your own bubble.
• Thank customers by name when they review or tag you (public shoutouts work wonders).

If you really want to measure how you’re doing, look at your engagement rate more than your raw follower count. Big numbers are cool and all, but if no one ever comments or clicks, what’s the point? Take a look at this quick breakdown for context:

Don’t get too hung up on perfection. People want real voices, not corporate announcements. If you can make someone feel heard or even laugh, that’s a win. So next time you post, imagine it’s a conversation, not an ad. That’s how you turn a follower into a fan—and a customer for life.