How to Get Excited About Marketing Again Despite Our Crisis

Wow… the past several weeks have been surreal.  So much has happened in our lives, so much emotion and uncertainty.  Even as we get used to the “new” normal, the uncertainty of the future still looms over us.

Admittedly, the first few weeks during the pandemic, I struggled emotionally and mentally on how to approach my business. People were dying at rapid rates, companies were furloughing and laying off employees, a worldwide financial destruction was looming. 

Who really cared about marketing, right?

Now that I’ve come out of my fog (slightly) … I am starting to see things differently. As I listen to news reports about the importance of small businesses to our economy and more phone calls from new clients begin to come in for marketing help, I realize that this was not the time to back down from marketing, but to ramp up marketing efforts. 

Below are a few lessons learned over the past several weeks:

1.) Digital Marketing – Every business should seek to have a digital presence.  Even if the presence is not perfect, it is important to be found and connected to your audience in various ways.  If you are relying on your audience primarily by events, networking lunches or dinners, you probably found yourself a little lost.  Digital marketing is more critical than ever. 

2.) E-Commerce – Creating something to sell online and extend your services and brand is important. Most of my clients sell or offer a service.  However, I do encourage all my clients to think of a product to add to their services.  This can be a book, candle, clothing, hair products… anything.  Having another option for selling is critical. 

3.) Social Media – When the world shuts down – everyone turned to social media for content and information. LinkedIn usage increased by 52% over the past month.  Many people who had a presence on social media, but was not actively using it, suddenly found themselves trying to figure it out. 

4.) Business goes on.  It truly does.  And it needs too. The economy is a powerful thing and affects everyone in varoius ways (financial, emotionally, physically, etc.) But even in the depths of a recession, there is continued investment and new spending.  We want to be a part of that spending, therefore NOW is the time to build your pipeline. 

Go visit and like my FB page this weekend.  I will share a video on tips to improve your marketing during a crisis.  There are may things we should consider doing. 

Oh.. and if you have time – check out my online time management course for working marketing into your business and life.  Lots of practical tips!  Click here to start your online course. 

If you need assistance with your marketing efforts, please reach out to me! I would love to chat with you. 

Podcast: Yes, Blogging is Still Effective!

I am often asked if blogging is still effective. The answer is YES. In this podcast, I provide 3 tips on how to make your blogs more effecitve. if you have any questions about blogging or need to develop a strategy for your content, feel free to contact me at [email protected] business-coffee-composition-computer-265667

 

Tips & Tricks to Facebook

Facebook. It is still around and still relevant, specifically for a specific age group or brands that have significant content.  This social media platform continues to be the standard.  However, like other social media platforms, the algorithms continue to change and throw us off.  If you have a brand, business page or fan page, knowing best practices of Facebook is critical.

Below are some tips and tricks on how to work with Facebook algorithms.

1.) Engage.  I know we have heard this many times, but it important.  Think of Facebook woman on facebooklike a person… you can’t expect them to “like” you or show your page, if you only come to talk about yourself and leave.  Set a timer and spend time liking and commenting on other posts.  Facebook is watching.

2.) Respond.  This is another one that seems obvious.. but when people comment on your posts (personal or business) respond back.  The longer a post stays “active” – the longer Facebook will keep it living on the feed.

3.) Good Content.  Most of us believe all our content is good – right?  But Facebook favors those posts that actually engage others and add value or education.  Posts that are simply selling product or services – with no real value – FB will not promote as much.  Their goal and mission is to create conversations among users.

4.) Live Video.  Seriously.  If you are a brand and not doing some sort of video (specifically live) you are missing out.  This is one of the best ways to generate engagement and work with Facebook’s algorithms.  It supports the essence of who they are… engagement.  So they will continue to keep video (lives) on the feed.

5.) Be careful with links.  So here’s the tricky think with Facebook… it wants you to keep people on their platform.  So when you do too many links encouraging people to go away from Facebook, it hurts engagement.  This is not for every post that includes a link – but if you review your business page and notice all your content is sending people away from FB, develop a new strategy.

So there we have it – five Facebook tips and tricks for you. The important thing to remember is to see Facebook as a friend; would your friend like you if you never said thank you when they said “nice outfit”?  Would you want a friend to come to your house for a party and then ask everyone to go somewhere else?  Remember the goals of FB and learn to work WITH the algorithms and not against them.

Marketing Challenges for Entrepreneurs

As an entrepreneur, we can get pulled in so many different directions. There are challenges that will distract you on this entrepreneurial journey.  In this article, I will highlight just a few marketing challenges for entrepreneurs and new business owners.

  1. Not knowing your audience: So many people start businesses based on their watts marketing challengespassions and strengths.  This is excellent!  However, we often are so focused on starting the business that we forget to pay attention to who we are selling to, including their needs, desires and burdens.  We sometimes stop at just describing the demographics of our target audience.  However, there is more to knowing your audience than their age or demographics.  How do they purchase?  What keeps them up at night?  Where do they consume information? What do they follow and like on social media? It is critically important to know your audience.
  2. The wrong marketing platforms:  Many new businesses have the wrong marketing platforms.  They hear about so many social media platforms or new apps or programs and they want to start all of them.  There is not careful consideration of which platforms work for your business, target audience or which of them “speak” or sync with each other.  It is important to do an audit of your programs and make sure they work for your business and marketing strategy.
  3. Inconsistency & Lack of Clarity:  One of the keys to branding is creating a consistent story and selling that narrative to your audience.  This requires managing a lot of moving pieces and being able to stand back from your company and brand and decide on a consistent message.  This can be challenging. Often, this is the importance of having a marketing or branding consultant, to have an objective eye to look at your messaging and challenge you on your strategy.  Inconsistent messaging can cause distrust and ultimately hurt your brand and selling opportunities.
  4. Not Knowing Your USP:  Knowing your Unique Selling Proposition is key to marketing and branding.  You must know what value you bring to the table.  What is your differentiator?  Why should your clients and customers purchase from you? When businesses are unclear on this, they stumble through their messaging and how to sell and package their products and services for their clients.  Know your value.
  5. Underestimating Content Marketing:  Most small businesses don’t have the time or staff to work on content for their social media, blogs or website.  However, content marketing is key to establishing your brand and identity.  It is what will set you apart as a thought leader in your industry. No matter what you are selling, work on establishing yourself as an expert in your industry.

All these issues can be overwhelming, however, every business owner faces marketing challenges.  For assistance with any of these marketing challenges, feel free to contact me. 

 

 

To Thine Self Be True:  Niche Marketing

One of the foundations to any marketing and branding plan is to know your audience.  I cannot stress it enough.  Knowing your target audience is critical for many reasons, including knowing exactly how to speak and market to your audience.  Many people often fear that if that you get too specific or have too narrow of a target, they will miss out on potential business or clients.  But there is no way to speak to all people. Just like we don’t look for designer handbags at Walmart, nor do we look for buy 1 get 1 free deals at Niche MarketingBloomingdales.  Getting really specific in your marketing and brand position, helps you to build a marketing plan that is sure to work. It helps to create niche marketing, which can be helpful in branding yourself and growing your business.

 

What is Niche Marketing?

 

Niche marketing examines a segment of your clients or audience and identifies how this particular audience prefers to buy, purchase or engage. It will identify a niche in various ways; either through industry, skill set, age, interests, purchasing behavior, etc.  Once the niche is identified, the company will build a marketing plan around this industry.

 

One of the things I want to stress is that niche marketing does not mean that you will not focus on other areas of your business.  However, it is simply making a decision on how you are choosing to create a specific marketing strategy or campaign.

 

How Do I Develop My Niche?

 

A niche will not just fall into your lap.  You will need to create it, look for it, develop it, connect it.

 

1.) Know your USP – Be clear on your unique selling proposition.  What sets you apart?  What do you bring to the table that is different from others in your industry.  Examine your strengths and talents and how you present it to the world.

 

2.) Know Your Passion – In order for any branding or marketing plan to succeed, you must know your passion.  What is that you love to do or talk about?  What are you truly good at?  Take that and combine it with your USP.

 

3.)    Know Your Audience – If you combine what you are truly good at and passionate  about, with a specific audience or industry, you will learn all the factors, specifics of that audience and begin developing programs and services to assist with that.  Know their main concerns, not just in your industry, but truly get to understand how your audience thinks.

 

Once you know the three items above, then begin connecting the dots.  This is where you may need a coach to help you work through the process.

 

Test your niche.  Do something of low cost and not too much effort and evaluate the type of response you receive from your intended audience.

 

If you need any assistance with developing a niche marketing plan, feel free to contact me for more information.