Stop Making These 5 Mistakes in 2026

As you plan your digital marketing strategy for 2026, you are likely exploring potential platforms and techniques, budgets, and focuses for the new year. What you should also be considering is the bad, outdated, or less efficient practices that have been part of your digital marketing strategy up until now. With competition only increasing and search engines changing significantly, it's important, now more than ever, to invest your time, money, and resources into strategies and optimizations that are designed to support your success in the current online environment, and say goodbye to what's not accelerating your growth. At Xi Digital, our team helps businesses of all sizes reach their goals with tailored marketing strategies that evolve with the search engines and market. Whether you're investing in PPC marketing, search engine optimization (SEO), or social media marketing, make marketing decisions with intention and direction. 

Here are 5 common digital marketing mistakes you should leave in 2025. 

Not Marketing Online

This sounds obvious, but it's still a problem. If your business is not actively marketing online, you're leaving serious opportunities on the table. Billions of searches happen every single day, and thousands of them could be from people looking for exactly what you offer. Whether you're a local service provider or an e-commerce store, showing up online matters. If you're not running Google Ads, managing your Google Business Profile, optimizing for SEO, or building any sort of digital presence, you're invisible to a large portion of your market.

Maximizing your ability to be findable by your target audience involves online marketing and strategically choosing platforms that make sense for your brand and ideal customers. There are many ways in which you can advertise online, whether that's search engine optimization (SEO) , pay-per-click advertising (PPC), social media marketing, email marketing, and more. If you haven't dabbled in digital marketing yet or haven't seen the success you expected, book a consultation with the Xi Digital team. Located in Toronto, Canada, Xi Digital is a leading digital marketing agency experienced with businesses of all sizes, in various industries across the globe.

Not Managing Reviews 

Your reviews play a direct role in your online visibility on both organic and paid platforms. They influence everything from SEO performance to Google Local Services ranking to consumer trust. Getting consistent, authentic reviews on platforms like Google, Facebook, Yelp, BBB, RateMDs, Trustpilot, and other high-visibility websites helps solidify your reputation while amplifying your marketing efforts.

Reputation management doesn't have to be complicated. You can build automated email or SMS follow-ups to request reviews, or work with an agency to streamline the process. The bottom line is, if you're not managing reviews in 2026, you're working against your own marketing. To explore reputation management tools and strategies, talk to the Xi Digital team.  

Not Hiring an Ads Manager

Whether it's Meta, Microsoft (Bing) or Google, ad platforms are available to everybody, but using them, from account and set up to campaign optimization, is not quite straightforward. PPC marketing is a complex science that requires industry knowledge and training. It is not uncommon for business owners or in-house marketers to attempt their Google advertising on their own, but this can often lead to wasted spend or unoptimized campaigns. Working with a certified ads manager from a leading digital marketing agency like Xi Digital means data-informed optimizations, smart set-ups, and results-based metrics that are meaningful to your business. 

Our team understands the importance of profitability and return on investment, putting the health of your business at the forefront of every decision we make. 

Not Recording Video 

If you haven't started creating video content, you're not yet giving your audience just what they're looking for. Video content for ads, on your website and on your social media builds trust, increases time and traffic on your website, boosts conversions, and performs better on virtually every social platform and website. You don't need a whole studio to start. Even quick, clear, and authentic videos taken with a phone can outperform graphics.

In 2026, video is not just a recommendation; it's an accessible and practical addition that most online users expect. Whether it's testimonials, product walkthroughs, service explainers, or meet-the-team clips, start filming.

Not Using Your Merchant Center

If you sell products online, Google Merchant Center can significantly improve your online visibility. Google now has a shopping tab and featured elements on search engine results pages that highlight e-commerce products and in-store inventory. Loading your product selection into the merchant center and optimizing it allows you to sell products in Google Shopping results, performance max campaigns, and dynamic remarketing.

The merchant center is not just for massive e-commerce brands. Even local retailers and service-based businesses with flat-rate offerings can benefit. Getting your feed set up and optimized should be a core part of your 2026 strategy.

Refine Your Digital Marketing and Win More Business 

Digital marketing doesn't need to be overwhelming, but it does need to be thoughtful. By cutting out the habits that are holding you back and investing in what actually works, you set yourself up for stronger growth in 2026. Xi Digital is here to accelerate your growth, bottom line, and brand reputation — contact our team to learn how to move forward with confidence.