7 Design and Marketing Mistakes That Make You Look Totally Out of Touch

Marketers have a lot on their plates, plain and simple.

Hey, it happens.

However, that’s no excuse to be careless when it comes to your online presence.

In fact, that are a number of mistakes that designers and marketers make which are total deal-breakers for potential clients and customers. If you want to make sure you aren’t accidentally sending would-be business running away, keep the following snafus in mind.

Even if you have the perfect product on paper, it’s hard to win over customers if you don’t "look the part,” so to speak.

This rule applies to everything from your company logo and business cards to which theme you choose for your business’ website. There’s a good chance that you’ve scoffed at a business’ site because they had a wonky font or color scheme that was a total assault on your sense, right?

Don’t assume that your design decisions are little more than fluff and that people will buy from you "just because.”

Even something as seemingly small as an amateur-looking logo can damage your brand. As noted by Flashmarks: "Logos give a ‘face’ to brands and help customers make buying decisions.”

In short, appearing "cheap” will only work against how people perceive your brand at large.

On a related note, over-reliance on freebies is another mistake that makes business’ online presence feel a bit like something out of the bargain bin.

Sure, there are some stunning stock photos out there and tons of places to pull them from.

But if every other business on the block is relying on the same creatives, wouldn’t you want to stand apart from the pack? While stock photos might be fair game for content, think twice before plastering them all over your site. Also consider how creatives such as stylized quotes, .gifs and screenshots can likewise be used to supplement your content over stock images.

If your social feed is little more than you talking about yourself or your services, you’re going to have a problem.

Reality check: people are willing to follow brands via social, but only if they’re saying something compelling. A crucial piece of social promotion is sharing the content of others. In addition, it also pays to have a creative angle for your social channels (think: humor, eye-popping content) rather than just pushing out link after link.

Whether through serial "liking,” commenting or reposting, make a point to show others in your industry some love on a regular basis.

While such numbers might be seen by some as vanity metrics, it is a bit concerning to see a business that doesn’t seem to score much interaction from others.

Interactions on your company blog or social feed don’t happen by accident, though. Engagement from the blogosphere often requires you to make the first move in terms of a comment or share. Never assume that your content or presence is poised to "go viral.” Instead, take a proactive approach by participating in your industry’s conversation.

There’s nothing inherently wrong with taking a DIY approach to your SEO. That said, incredibly common SEO mistakessuch as keyword stuffing and bloated meta descriptions not only look bad to readers, but could also hurt your overall ranking in the SERPs. As such, don’t sacrifice the readability or usability of your site in the name of SEO.

Whether your company blog is gathering cobwebs or you’re publishing facts and statistics from 2010 on your website, conducting a sort of audit of your information on a regular basis is a smart move. This also ensures that your most important links such as contact forms or emails are directing to the right places and not inadvertently turning people away.

More and more people are taking to social media to ask questions and leave feedback about the businesses they support. Likewise, how you respond to those questions and potential criticism is always on display.

Being confrontational or hostile is a bad look for your business. Responding to negative reviews on Facebook or any other social channel may require you to bite your tongue a bit, but responding with grace definitely beats being an antagonist.

There’s not much worse than looking out of touch with potential clients and customers. Unfortunately, many business owners don’t realize the bad habits and careless decisions that can tarnish their brand until it’s too late.

By being mindful of these mishaps, you’re more likely to look like an authoritative voice in your industry rather than someone who’s lost the plot.