“Quiet quitting” may be the trending phrase, but most people are already familiar with the concept of employee disengagement. What it shows us is that when faced with overwhelming tasks, many employees choose the path of least resistance — whether that’s spending as little time as possible having to deal with them, or flat out avoiding them. When it comes to your digital marketing efforts, what tasks would your team members prefer to quietly quit? We can think of a few — and offer some solutions on how to overcome them.
Prospecting
We think it’s fair to generalize that nobody likes prospecting. It’s the most time-consuming part of lead generation, it involves the most negative (and sometimes vulgar) responses from people you’ve never met, and it can be very difficult to measure the results — especially when you’re trying to improve. If there’s one task that your employees would consider for quiet quitting, it’s probably this one. Who wants to get told no most of their day?
As much as you’d like to avoid prospecting, you can’t (at least, not if you want to maintain a business). You still have to go out and find leads who are potentially interested in your products and services, and slowly nurture them toward your normal sales cycle. And the secret to getting them there?
Efficiency.
CNBC notes that quiet quitting isn’t a long-term solution, but that finding ways to be efficient can be. So rather than get overwhelmed by what isn’t working with prospecting, find ways to work around it.
For instance, stick to email rather than cold calling. We’ve seen how leads tend to screen calls, but are much more receptive to digital outreach.
Second, incorporate prospecting automation. Allow this software to verify the email addresses of the leads you want to target, along with sending automated emails to those leads on your behalf. Those who show the most engagement are then passed over to you for review, allowing you to focus on your most promising new business.
Prospecting certainly isn’t the only part of digital marketing that’s difficult. Here are some other complaints that might end up on your “quiet quitting” list.
Digital Marketing Complaints
Content development, search engine optimization (SEO), and website design can each come with their own baggage. They’re especially challenging if your team has trouble:
- Agreeing on content or getting it approved.
- Knowing how (or if) the length of that content really matters.
- Knowing what keywords are relevant to use.
- Engaging in keyword stuffing.
- Relying too much on PPC without planning for SEO.
- Using your website to prompt visitors to take action.
All of these are valid concerns. Let’s discuss how to manage each of them.
Content Solutions for Digital Marketing
Digital marketing content is best developed by a small, dedicated team. The fewer approvals are needed, the easier it is to keep a consistent schedule of material to post. Ideally, your team should also include reps from Sales, as they can offer valuable insight into the language they see resonate with the real faces behind those email opens and clicks.
Content length has been an argument ever since keywords became a thing. Some advocates say that you need to ensure a specific word count on every blog you post and every page you develop. Others argue that the quality of the content is the only part that matters when getting ranked by search engines. In our experience, it’s better to aim for the happy medium: use keyword analysis tools like Semrush that will crawl websites based on the keywords you want to use, and suggest an average word count you’ll need to have in order to compete — as well as suggestions on what keywords you should consider. Keep in mind that this word count is likely to change as competitors post their own marketing, so your team would do well to write above the recommended amount.
Search Engine Optimization Solutions for Digital Marketing
You’ll also want to include long-tail keywords to improve your website ranking and lead conversions. Developing these may require a little more trial and error, depending on whether you’d prefer to use free or paid services. HubSpot offers tips and tools for establishing yours, from performing Google search queries, to leveraging services like AnswerThePublic and Semrush.
Just make sure that your team avoids keyword stuffing, or the act of intentionally overusing a keyword for the purpose of being ranked. It may not be as bad as clickbait, but it can be similarly misleading, and make your writing look disingenuous. You’re better off writing content that’s natural, informative, and accurate.
If you decide to include pay-per-click (PPC) as part of your digital marketing, make sure that you don’t neglect your SEO. These services are not the same thing, although both can be beneficial to your inbound marketing. SEO is about getting your name at the top of search engine results. PPC puts your company info in the ad space above those results, or within specific advertising slots on social media. While PPC has the ability to generate traffic quickly, you still want the long-term relevance of SEO to support your brand. Why? You may decide to discontinue PPC due to the cost, which means your company will immediately disappear from that ad space, and only show up on a search engine if it ranks high enough through SEO.
Website Design Solutions for Digital Marketing
When it comes to having an effective website, the main thing to remember is this: how well does yours prompt visitors to take some sort of action? That action might be scheduling a discovery call to learn more about their needs, asking them to place an order, or offering them a lead magnet to download in exchange for their contact data. Regardless of what the action is, the point is that there needs to be one, and that it needs to be understandable to your leads as they navigate your various web pages. Make sure the action is easy to see and clearly defined, whether it’s a link or button to fill out a form, find contact information, or schedule an appointment.
For instance…
Instead of “quiet quitting,” would your team like some help overcoming these common complaints for prospecting and inbound lead generation? We want to hear from you! Click the link below to schedule a free digital marketing consultation.
