Every year, marketers must tweak their overall approach to respond not only to their brands' changing needs, but also to the industrywide trends that alter online marketing's best practices.

The target for these practices is constantly in motion, so the risk of making digital marketing mistakes is even greater. Brands must react on the fly and adjust quickly to keep their strategies firing on all cylinders, but businesses are leery of making impulsive decisions. And when the prevailing ideology behind best practices isn't understood, it's even easier to misinterpret how a brand should act and react.

Some of the worst mistakes will come when brands fail to trust the established practices that cover today's world of online marketing. It's critical to know how to react in moments when a clear, comprehensive read on the information isn't always possible. Here are three simple mistakes to avoid throughout the year.

When you're looking to increase search-driven traffic, it's easy to focus on a single element of your marketing campaign in the hopes of honing your overall strategy. However, by using SEO, SEM and traditional media together, you can organically drive search results and boost traffic, both immediately and over the long term.

Using Traditional Media to Draw Consumers In

Traditional media offers marketers a great way to spark initial consumer interest, which can lead to increased search traffic. Advertising through TV and other traditional media affords marketers the opportunity to pique consumer interest in a way that encourages search activity later on through the use of specific, search-engine-friendly keywords. MediaPost highlights the adults aged 25–54 demographic as one that is particularly inclined to perform searches after seeing an ad on television that contains easily searchable phrases and keywords and cites local news broadcasts as an area where ads looking to drive search results have been very effective. Though you certainly don't want to create ambiguous ads that don't give consumers enough information to care, it's important to craft ads for radio, print and television that invite the consumer to search for additional information in such a way as to lead back to you through a strong SEO and SEM campaign.

Digital advertising is a powerful, actionable way to get your brand and message in front of your target audience. You can get started with a solid knowledge of your customer, a few choice keywords and a little know-how. Tools such as Google AdWords allow you to easily launch a campaign and let it run on autopilot, but letting your plan roll out automatically is just one of many ways you can create problems for yourself. Here are three other deadly digital advertising mistakes to avoid if you want to make your campaigns effective.

Mistake 1: Failure to Set Goals and Budgets

Before you set up any campaign, you need to define your goals and allocate an appropriate budget. With keyword bidding, pay-per-click and buy-ins, you could soon find yourself overspending — especially if you've automated your process and aren't tracking your metrics.

If your goal is building brand awareness, then success will be measured by exposure and traffic. But if you're looking to reach customers closer to the purchase decision, conversions matter — and quality matters more than quantity. Having clear goals will help you determine where to advertise and how to measure your return on investment (ROI), so you can focus on strategies that are meeting your targets.

Every year is marked by huge innovations and emerging trends that change the digital marketing landscape. With 2014 in the rearview mirror, it's easy to look back and see that many of the changes that altered best practices were forecast in 2013 and even earlier.

Although new trends have dramatic implications for how marketers do business, savvy professionals don't need to feel blindsided. The top digital marketing trends for 2015 have already taken root, and there's no good reason to be skeptical about their bright futures.

By accepting the changes yet to come and planning to attack these trends head-on, marketing departments can get a nice head start on their competition. Here's what to look for this coming year.

To be successful, banner ads must be designed to complement website copy, must feature related material and, most of all, should entice consumers to click on them. However, if you want a banner ad to get more than just clicks and actually lead to conversions, it must feature a clear call-to-action (CTA) that prompts the reader to do something. All without being too pushy.

Here are three essential elements to keep in mind as you create your perfect call-to-action.

1. Use Actionable Verbs That Are Related to Your Business

When looking at banner ads, consumers probably won't notice copy that simply restates sales copy or is solely image-focused. Similarly, CTAs that use familiar sales verbs ("buy now" or "click here," for example) will also be ignored. However, if you can craft a call-to-action with a verb that's unique to your business, consumers will be more interested. For instance, a flooring business that offers free estimates could use a CTA like "Estimate the cost for my new floor now," which is stronger and more effective than the similar "Request a quote now," as it deals directly with the service being sold and, therefore, is more likely to catch the eye of a reader who is thinking about replacing their flooring.

Google Maps has updated its mobile app for both the Android and iOS platforms. Though the first thing users will notice is likely to be the app's fresh new look — it incorporates material design, as Search Engine Journal notes — there are plenty of other new features under the hood, including a new live search results feature and instant one-touch reservations. Though these updates certainly make life more convenient for average users, local businesses can really benefit from these additions in some tangible ways.

Helping Users Find You With Up-to-Date Information

One of the best ways that the Google Maps app update helps to bring new customers to your business is discovery through simple browsing. Users looking at a planned route or trying to check out a local area will be able to browse local businesses and get instant information on any selected business with a single tap — no searching required! However, in order to get the most out of this feature, local businesses must ensure that their directory information is correct and easily available. Double-check that sites that list your business have your correct address, phone number and hours and a link to your official website. Also, ensure that your official website is updated with photos, business descriptions and social networking information.

Several years ago, Google launched its Premier SMB Partner program as an opportunity for small and medium sized businesses to gain better online resources through the search engine giant. Becoming a Premier SMB Partner is no easy feat: the company outlines a number of mandatory qualifications each business must meet in order to join the SMB Partner program. At the top of this list is greater transparency, which allows Google to vet each incoming partner and take an inside look at its operations.

Understandably, Google doesn't want to partner with companies that aren't well-run. The company also doesn't want to refer online consumers to businesses where they may have a bad experience. In order to create incentive for those businesses, Google has outlined a number of valuable services brands can enjoy by becoming a member. This reciprocal relationship is why Cox Media Group became a partner in the program back in 2012.

"The Google AdWords Premier SMB Partner program was created to help small- and medium-sized businesses who don't have the time or resources to manage their advertising campaigns," says Ben Wood, head of Google's Americas channel sales partnerships. "Our PSP partners like Cox Media Group offer expertise, experience, and end-to-end customer service so business owners can focus on running their businesses."

Creating a call-to-action (CTA) seems like a simple proposition. However, choosing the right verb is essential for increasing conversions. This list of 20 verbs is certainly not exhaustive, but marketers can use it as a starting place when crafting their perfect call-to-action.

Integrated marketing campaigns that combine traditional advertising methods like print and TV with online advertising outlets like social networking websites have become increasingly popular in recent years, reaching today's connected consumers in more ways than ever. If a marketing campaign in today's world is truly going to be successful, it will need to reach out to consumers in many different ways, including print, TV and online to be successful. Integrated marketing campaigns can be of different sizes and scopes, but there are two big advantages these types of marketing campaigns have over traditional or digital-only advertising.

With the way digital marketing has exploded online, it's pretty easy to find a professional that calls himself a digital marketing consultant. But in such a young, developing field, there's no question that many so-called consultants lack the background required to do a professional job for their customers. They may have some knowledge of digital strategy and content marketing, but they aren't as skillful at driving reliable returns — or at understanding the best strategy for a particular brand.

Businesses too often invest in the wrong digital consultant, and they come out hurting in the end, after their high-end spending delivers bargain-rate results. The key to avoiding a similar fate, Social Media Today notes, is knowing what to look for when you hire a consultant. Here are five things you should expect from any worthwhile consultant.