In the spirit of Halloween, we’ve decided to dig up some of the spookiest tales from the world of digital marketing.
NB: This is an article from three&six, one of our Expert Partners
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While these stories may not involve haunted houses or lurking shadows, they can still send a chill down any marketer’s spine. From poorly named audience segments to invisible tracking errors, these nightmares are all too real and can cost businesses time, money, and even reputation.
Let’s dive into these terrifying tales and learn how to avoid them, so your campaigns stay ghost-free.
1. The Horrifying Audience Naming Convention
Picture this: You’ve worked hard to segment your contact list for a targeted email campaign. However, someone labeled a segment “bad customers,” for non-converting website visitors. When the email goes out, that label sneaks into the UTM parameters. Now, the unsuspecting recipient clicks the email and sees “bad_customers” in the URL. Talk about a PR disaster! Not only does this slip-up tarnish your brand’s reputation, but it also exposes sloppy internal practices that your audience should never see.
How to avoid this horror: Implement a standard and professional naming convention for all audience segments and internal parameters. Make sure to regularly review UTM tags and test links before any campaign goes live.
2. The Curse of Auto-Applied Suggestions
Many digital platforms, like Google and Facebook, offer auto-applied suggestions for ad copy, keywords, and targeting. While these may seem like helpful features, they can quickly become your worst nightmare. Not only do misalignments confuse your audience, but they dilute your brand’s message, leading to wasted ad spend and loss of credibility.
How to avoid this horror: Always review auto-suggestions carefully and turn off automatic features unless you can monitor them closely. Your brand’s voice and strategy should stay aligned with your campaign objectives.
3. The Terror of No Negative Keywords
You launch a new paid search campaign with great expectations, only to find that your ads are showing up alongside embarrassing or irrelevant search terms. Without a well-crafted negative keyword list, your ads could be served under similar business names, alongside bad reviews, or even inappropriate content. Not only does this waste the budget, but it also damages the perception of your brand.
How to avoid this horror: Conduct thorough keyword research, paying extra attention to negative keywords that could lead to brand confusion or irrelevance. Regularly audit your keyword performance and update your negative keyword list to keep your campaigns on track.
4. The Masked Digital Marketer
Nothing is more unsettling than feeling like the person managing your marketing budget is a ghost in the system. This can happen when you’re working with agencies that communicate solely through account managers who lack deep knowledge of the day-to-day management of your campaigns.
Ask yourself: has the person presenting your reports even stepped inside your campaigns? Without direct involvement and open communication, your marketing efforts can become as unpredictable as a haunted house.
How to avoid this horror: Schedule regular check-ins with your digital marketer, or request that they join performance meetings alongside your account manager. Before partnering with a third-party vendor, ask about their processes to ensure you’ll have direct access to the people driving your campaigns. Transparency and collaboration are key—your digital marketer should be a trusted partner, not a mysterious presence lurking in the background.
