Have you ever wondered what it takes to create a marketing strategy to grow your business?
And how to actually create that marketing strategy?
Well, in the next few blog posts and Breaking Free podcast episodes, I’m going to dive into this question that I am asked all the time.
What is a good marketing strategy to grow MY business?
So Many Marketing Tactics Available
The emphasis is on MY because, let’s face it, there are hundreds and hundreds of possible marketing tactics out there to support your marketing strategy such as:
- Website.
- Free giveaway.
- Newsletter.
- Email list.
- Ads.
- Social Media like Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, YouTube, Instagram and many, many others.
- Content marketing.
- Telesummits.
- JV/Affiliates.
- In-Person Networking.
- Tradeshows.
- Blog.
- Guest Blog.
- Forums.
- Groups.
- SEO.
- Speaking.
- Events (speaking, having a booth, networking).
- Podcast.
- Guest Podcast
- Emailing friends, professional associates, etc…
- Direct mail.
…. and the list goes on and on.
It’s enough to make most business owners want to pull their hair out feeling totally lost in the sea of infinite possibilities. As a result, many business owners just keep trying tactic after tactic hoping to land on ‘the one’ that will help their business growth take off.
And when that doesn’t happen, they end up feeling really overwhelmed and frustrated at all the time, money and effort they’ve put into ‘doing marketing’.
If that sounds like you, today I’m going to pull back the curtain a bit to let you in on a simple – yet very effective – way to create your own marketing strategy without the overwhelm.
What’s Bad Marketing?
Yep, there’s bad marketing out there… and you’re probably doing some without even realizing it!
I’m NOT talking about your marketing message, creative, brand colors, logo, marketing tactics or marketing approach.
Instead, I’m talking about any marketing tactics that you’re currently using that don’t actually support your sales process.
Often people will ask me for an opinion on a specific marketing tactic and if they should be using it. The question will often go something like this:
Hey Michelle, I’ve been hearing a lot about LinkedIn lately. What do you think? Should I be super focused on LinkedIn for my marketing strategy?
My answer is always the same:
Maybe, but I don’t know until we are crystal clear about what you’re trying to accomplish with that marketing tactic and how it fits into your overall marketing strategy.
What’s Good Marketing?
Good marketing isn’t about flashy graphics, the most up-to-date custom website, the perfect logo, ideal font or any of that.
Sure, those are important and have a place in your strategy, but they’re not the starting point (or even the most important pieces).
The most important place to begin when building your own marketing strategy is with a sale to your ideal client. Then work backwards all the way to their first contact with you.
It may sound weird, but stick with me and I’ll explain.
When you start at the end, it’s much easier to build an effective marketing strategy that:
- Is laser-focused on the most important business goal that will increase sales,
- Highlights your competitive advantage and
- Creates passionate fans who become lifelong clients and vocal promoters of your business.
How Do You Get Started?
When I’m working with my one-on-one clients, we create a client journey roadmap by reverse-engineering the journey using an actual client.
I’ve found it’s really important to use a real client because when you understand the journey your client goes on you have some powerful insights help you create a solid marketing strategy:
Thing 1: You understand WHO you’re trying to attract
Creating a marketing message tailored to one specific person will work so much better than trying to generically talk to everyone.
Try it – think about your favorite client or best success story. Who was that person? What made them such a success? Why did you enjoy them? What was the problem you helped them solve?
The answers to these questions will make your marketing strategy much easier to develop as you stop guessing about what people want/need/will respond to from your business and you start speaking to one person about their specific needs.
This leads to…
Thing 2: You understand WHAT you’re selling them and WHY they need/want it
Want to know a marketing secret? You’re not actually selling your product/service/program.
Stick with me here…
When you have a headache are you buying Aleve or are you buying a solution to stop your headache pain?
When you go on vacation, are you buying a plane ticket or are you buying an experience and a destination?
When you buy a new car, are you buying four tires, doors and a steering wheel or are you buying something more emotional like safety, luxury, comfort, practicality or ego?
Instead of focusing on the WHAT of what you’re selling, focus on that why.
But you can’t know that until you map out their journey.
Thing 3: You understand WHAT MARKETING needs to be in place to help them move on in your sales process which helps you build an effective marketing funnel.
Once you’ve mapped out your client’s journey from barely knowing about you to buying from you (and then becoming a raving fan), you can identify what marketing pieces need to be in place to help them move on through your sales process.
There are a few questions to ask at each of the steps in your client’s journey. I’ve found that it helps to actually print each marketing piece out and map them to your customer journey so you get a good visual of how everything fits together.
Start by asking yourself:
- What marketing am I doing at this step in the process?
- How does this marketing support my client moving on in the sales process?
- What are their big questions, hang ups and desires at this step to move on to the next step?
There is a lot more that goes into creating an effective marketing strategy which I’ll cover more in the next few blog posts and podcast episodes.
If you find that you need even more help creating your customized marketing strategy, let’s talk. You can Borrow My Brain, and we can get it done!
What about your funnels? Marketing funnels really can be your hustle-free way to a sold out business. When marketing funnels are done correctly they connect you with the best people, and takes those people on a transformational journey to how you can really be a big part of their life, their business.
Take this fast and free quiz to find out what kind of marketing funnel is right for you and your business.
