But there are a few landmines you must navigate. One is that there are too many marketing channels, which makes it hard to focus on the right ones. Another is that you can waste a lot of time learning about different tactics instead of implementing them. And there are many other challenges.

animekida here are a few tips to help you prioritize your online marketing efforts.

Narrow Your Channel Focus

If you're going to be building a social media presence, don't try to maintain activity on a dozen sites. Focus on one or two and get really good at them.

Facebook and Twitter tend to be among the most used and most effective for your business. It's worth doing your research and some experimentation to see if you can find your niche audience elsewhere, but remain focused on the two or three that really matter.

The same can be said for any marketing method or channel you choose to use - advertising, print, blogging, and so on. Less is more.

Document A Strategy

Your strategy also needs to be a living, breathing thing. Don't just keep doing things because you've "always done it that way." Observe what's working and what isn't. Then, cut off the losers and keep the winners.

Many businesses do not have a documented strategy, and just by putting together your own and putting it in writing, you will greatly increase your chances to finding your footing compared to many companies.

A documented strategy also leads to consistency and regularity - two factors that are particularly important to marketing in the digital age.

Find Your Content Marketing Balance

A content marketing initiative is a great way to build awareness for your business. But there are a lot of misunderstandings about content marketing. Here are but a few:

• You can just publish content and people will find you. There's a reason why it's called content marketing. You have to market your content!
• Content marketing is cheaper than other methods. Per Joe Pulizzi at Content Marketing Institute, this is not universally true.
• Content marketing is a campaign. It requires a commitment to ongoing publishing.

With every content piece you generate, you must think about where to publish it. In the beginning, no one knows you - it's better to publish off-site than on-site.