June 17, 2025
Let’s face it.
There’s too much noise in digital marketing and everyone claims to have the secret formula which most of them don’t.
You keep posting online, trying SEO, boosting posts, running ads, and updating your website. But the results? Still zero.
The reason is simple. You’re probably building your strategy around bad advice.
In this blog post, we’re going to expose the lies. The ones that waste your time, burn your money, and keep your business stuck in the same place.
Once you know the truth, you’ll stop guessing and start making smarter decisions with your marketing.
Let’s break it down.
Here’s what most people think:
“If I can just get more people to visit my website, I’ll start making more money.”
It sounds logical. But it’s wrong.
You can get 5,000 website visits a month and still not get a single sale. Why? Because traffic means nothing without strategy.
The real question is: What kind of traffic are you getting?
If your site is attracting people who aren’t ready to buy, don’t need what you offer, or don’t understand what you do, then your traffic is just numbers.
We’ve seen this too many times. Someone invests in ads or SEO, traffic goes up, but leads stay flat. Then they blame the platform or say marketing doesn’t work.
But the issue is not traffic. It’s conversion.
Does your homepage speak to your ideal customer?
Is your message clear and specific?
Is there a clear next step for the visitor to take?
If your website doesn’t build trust fast, doesn’t guide the visitor to take action, or is slow and confusing, then more traffic just means more people clicking away.
Before you chase more clicks, fix your website’s ability to convert. Quality always beats quantity.
This lie is everywhere especially with website designers who say, “Don’t worry, we’ll do your SEO during the build.”
Sure, they might set up your title tags and add a few keywords. But that’s not real SEO. That’s surface-level.
Real SEO is ongoing. It’s like gardening. You don’t plant once and expect a harvest forever. You have to water it, prune it, protect it, and adjust with the seasons.
Google’s algorithm changes. Your competitors are improving. New content gets published every day.
If your site isn’t growing, updating, and adapting, it’s falling behind.
We’ve seen Cameroonian businesses rank well for a year, then drop because they stopped updating their blog, forgot about keyword research, or never got any backlinks.
SEO is not a one-time job. It’s a process.
Want to stay visible? Then treat SEO like a monthly investment not a checkbox.
Nope. Not even close.
Yes, creating a Facebook page is free. Posting a picture costs nothing. But if you want real results, visibility, engagement, leads; it costs you time, money, or both.
What they don’t tell you is that the organic reach of social media is shrinking fast. That means only a small percentage of your followers even see your posts.
Unless you already have a loyal audience or run paid campaigns, social media can become a silent graveyard. You keep posting. Nobody responds. You start to wonder if it’s even worth it.
This is where most business owners burn out. They try to manage Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, maybe even TikTok, all while running the actual business.
What you need is a plan. Who are you talking to? What do they care about? What platform are they active on?
Then focus your time or budget there. You don’t have to do everything. You have to do the right thing.
Social media works. But it’s not free. Respect the cost and use it wisely.
We hear this one a lot. Usually from people who never gave email a real chance.
Here’s the truth: Email marketing is not dead. What’s dead is lazy, boring, irrelevant emails.
You know the kind long, salesy newsletters with too much text, weird formatting, or offers that don’t even apply to you.
But when done right, email is one of the most powerful digital marketing tools available.
Think about it. What other platform lets you reach your customers directly in their inbox, without relying on algorithms?
Email builds trust over time. You’re not just chasing followers or likes. You’re nurturing real relationships.
We’ve helped clients grow their email lists and turn subscribers into paying clients with a simple formula: helpful content, short emails, clear calls to action, and consistency.
And here’s the kicker people still check their emails every day. It’s the first thing many of us look at when we wake up.
If you’re not using email marketing, you’re leaving money on the table.
Start building your list. Send helpful content. Stay consistent. It works.
No. Just no.
Stuffing your website with random keywords doesn’t help you rank. In fact, it can do the opposite. Google is not stupid. It can smell desperation.
We’ve seen websites where every sentence tries to cram in phrases like “best carpenter in Douala” or “cheap plumbing Buea fast.” That’s not SEO. That’s spam.
Real SEO is about relevance and intention.
The goal is not to use as many keywords as possible. The goal is to answer the questions people are actually typing into Google.
Let’s say you run a dental clinic in Yaoundé. You don’t need 50 pages repeating the words “Yaoundé dentist.”
What you need is content that answers real questions like:
“How much does a tooth extraction cost in Yaoundé?”
“Is teeth whitening safe?”
“What to do if your child has a broken tooth?”
That’s what Google wants. That’s what your future patients want.
More keywords won’t help if they’re scattered, meaningless, or forced. Write for real humans. Use natural language. Make your point clearly.
Focus on solving problems, not tricking the algorithm.
Wrong again.
Not every marketing channel will work for your business. And not every customer hangs out in the same place.
If you run a fashion brand targeting Gen Z, maybe TikTok makes sense. But if you sell heavy-duty industrial machines, your buyers are probably not scrolling through reels.
Here’s the painful truth:
Many businesses waste time and money on the wrong platforms just because “everyone is doing it.”
We’ve seen small business owners in Cameroon posting daily on Facebook, while their actual clients are searching Google.
Others pour money into Google Ads when they don’t even have a landing page that works on mobile.
There is no one-size-fits-all.
You need to know:
Who are your ideal customers?
Where do they spend their time online?
What kind of content do they trust?
Then focus your marketing there.
Not everywhere just where it counts.
Pick one or two channels and go deep. You’ll get better results than trying to be visible on 10 platforms and mastering none.
This is the burnout formula.
Trying to be on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Threads all at once? That’s a trap.
Unless you have a big team or unlimited money, this is not just unrealistic. It’s harmful.
We’ve seen solopreneurs burn out fast trying to post daily content across multiple platforms while also running their business, replying to customers, and trying to learn editing apps.
You don’t need to be everywhere.
You just need to show up in the right place consistently, with purpose.
If your ideal customer is on WhatsApp and Facebook, master those first. Build real engagement. Drive conversations. Create offers they care about.
Trying to do too much spreads you thin.
Doing less, but doing it well that’s where the power is.
Nope.
Blogging is only one type of content. But content marketing is so much more.
Content includes videos, social posts, infographics, email newsletters, podcasts, product guides, even WhatsApp messages with value.
It’s not about writing articles for the sake of it.
Real content marketing means creating helpful, interesting stuff that builds trust with your audience and makes them want to buy from you later.
Here’s the problem:
Too many people write blogs no one reads.
No strategy. No research. No clear offer.
It’s just content for the sake of content.
We’ve helped clients create simple 5-minute guides that perform better than blogs with 1,500 words. Why? Because the content was focused. It solved a real problem. It was written for the right person.
Content marketing is not about being a writer. It’s about being useful.
If your content doesn’t educate, entertain, or inspire action, then it’s just noise.
Let’s get real. Paid ads can be expensive if you don’t know what you’re doing.
But saying “PPC is too expensive” without testing or tracking is like saying cars are useless because you’ve never driven one.
We’ve seen businesses in Cameroon try Facebook Ads or Google Ads once, get no results, and then swear off ads forever.
Here’s what usually happens:
They throw money at an ad, link it to a weak homepage, write a vague offer, don’t track anything and then complain it didn’t work.
Paid advertising only works if you have three things locked in:
A strong, clear offer
A landing page that converts
A strategy for tracking results and adjusting
Without these, yes, ads will waste your money.
But with the right setup, even xaf10,000 per month can bring in solid leads.
The real lie is thinking ads are the enemy.
The truth? Ads amplify what’s already working. So if your offer sucks or your page is unclear, paid ads will just show more people the mess.
Fix the foundation. Then scale with ads.
You wrote a blog. You posted a video. You finally updated your website.
Now you sit back and wait, right?
Wrong.
Content doesn’t go viral by magic. It doesn’t “sell itself.”
No matter how good your content is, if no one sees it, it dies.
The internet is full of amazing, useful content that no one ever finds. Why? Because there’s no promotion. No distribution. No visibility plan.
Here’s the harsh truth: Creating content is step one. Promoting it is step two.
You need to push it out.
Share it in your WhatsApp status
Email it to your list
Post it across your social platforms
Ask partners to share
Repurpose it into videos, tweets, stories
Don’t be afraid to repost the same thing five times. Most people didn’t see it the first time anyway.
Content works when people actually see it. Don’t just publish and pray. Publish and promote.
It’s not impossible. It’s just uncomfortable.
Too many business owners hide behind this lie because they don’t want to see the real numbers.
They don’t track leads.
They don’t ask customers where they came from.
They don’t set up conversion tracking.
Then they say, “We don’t really know what’s working.”
Well, of course you don’t because you’re not measuring.
You wouldn’t run a physical shop without knowing what products sell. Why treat your marketing like a guessing game?
Digital marketing is actually one of the most measurable things you can do if you take the time to track.
Use basic tools like:
Google Analytics (tracks website visitors)
Meta Ads Manager (shows ad performance)
UTM links (track where traffic comes from)
Simple Google Forms or WhatsApp questions (“How did you find us?”)
Don’t rely on feelings. Rely on data.
You’re either getting closer to your goals, or you’re not. But you’ll never know unless you check the numbers.
This is a costly assumption.
Just because someone buys from you once doesn’t mean they’ll come back. In fact, most people forget you within days unless you stay in touch.
Loyalty doesn’t happen by accident. It’s built through follow-up, reminders, and a great customer experience.
If you don’t stay top of mind, your competitor will.
We’ve worked with businesses who do amazing work, but never follow up. No thank-you message. No email. No offer to come back. No loyalty reward.
Then they wonder why their customers disappear.
Here’s what to do instead:
Send a thank-you message after purchase
Follow up with tips, reminders, or guides
Offer something extra to repeat buyers
Ask for reviews to keep engagement going
Loyalty is earned — not automatic. Keep showing up for your customers after the sale.
Not really.
Influencer marketing can work but only if you pick the right person, with the right audience, and a real connection to your brand.
Too often, businesses in Cameroon partner with influencers based on follower count alone.
“Ah! She has 100K followers let’s use her.”
But then no one clicks. No one buys. Why?
Because her audience doesn’t care about your product. Or worse, her followers aren’t even real.
We’ve seen this mistake too often. Businesses spend big on a shout-out, get 10 likes and zero sales, and feel betrayed.
Here’s the fix:
Work with people who have real influence not just numbers. Look at:
Engagement rate (how many people actually interact?)
Audience match (are her followers your ideal buyers?)
Credibility (does she use and trust your product?)
Influencer marketing is not magic. It’s just another tool. If used right, it can be powerful. If used wrong, it’s a waste.