EASY WAYS TO “DO” MARKETING FOR YOUR BUSINESS.
The life of an entrepreneur is NOT the easiest – and marketing does not come easy to every entrepreneur. We are pulled in different directions, wearing all the hats (or clothes), making the decisions, when all we want is to just do the things we love to do.
Look, I can totally relate. I mean, I would love to just talk about content marketing all day, take photos, develop strategy…and even I have to write blogs (like this one) and manage my social media. It can be overwhelming and often times frustrating.
Here are some easy ways to “do” marketing for your business
Be consistent and committed.
Help build trust with your audience by following through, doing what you say you’re going to do and sticking with it. Yes, there are reasons us marketing people tell you to post often and that has to do with AI and bots and algorithms – and yet you can still make an impact by selecting a frequency you can stick to and just do it. Don’t feel like you can find the time to publish a blog once a week? It’s cool. Do it once a month. Can’t manage daily video content? Totally fine – start a YouTube channel and publish once a week, or spend 4 days a month creating batch content so you can publish daily. Whatever you choose, do it and stick to it.
Grow your network with new clients
So what does that look like? I know you’re thinking “but I meet people and give them my business card and tell them to go to my website,” or “doesn’t that just happen when people find me online?” The short answer is not really. You need to always be inviting to the next [fill in the blank] – your email list, webinar, YouTube channel, LinkedIn, etc etc etc. (We go way in depth about this in my Stories + Strategy course but for now I’ll share the Cliffs Notes version). If you meet someone and send them to your website, have a lead magnet and offering/freebie/etc to your email list. In your email campaigns, invite them to sign up for a free consultation or send them to a blog post full of helpful information they can use. On your blog, ask them to sign up for your next webinar. At the webinar, invite them to purchase a special “only available right now” product or service. This is a way to consistently grow your network, and your audience, and ultimately your client list.
Research market and generate plan
Time for some real talk (and a lot of love). Most of the time, as entrepreneurs, we are not actually our ideal clients. So what we think of will work in marketing plans for ourselves lots of times won’t work for our businesses because we’re not our own target audience. This just means we need to do some market research, looking at who buys what you’re selling and how you can effectively engage them.
Create a marketing budget
Once you have a plan generated, you can make the harder decisions about facebook vs google ads, investing in professional video content, starting a podcast, hiring social media marketers, DIY efforts, and any combinations of marketing tactics. There are a ton of options, and it can really be overwhelming to think about. You may also want to consider speaking with a marketing or brand strategist to help you go through your options and determine what’s going to be best for your business.
Market to the right audience
Once you know your target market/audience/ideal client, then you can formulate a marketing strategy to serve them. Go back to reviewing your market research and plan, and craft your messaging to support all your efforts in marketing your business. The right message going to the right audience makes all the difference in selling your product or service.
Are you a small business owner, sales professional or entrepreneur? Do you want to learn how to improve your marketing efforts? Schedule a no-obligation consultation
