What’s in your marketing toolkit?

Marketing is not just posting on socials and writing the odd blog.  There’s so much more to it than that!

First you need to know who you’re trying to reach – and that will help you to choose what tools to use and where you need to be visible.

Then there are the tools – and there are a lot of them.

You can’t do everything – even with a full-time marketing person on your team, nor would you want to.  Even ‘social media’ isn’t a tool, it’s a collection and not everyone needs all the platforms.  If your audience isn’t on LinkedIn, investing time on it isn’t useful.  So, it’s worth exploring all the social platforms and the skills you’ll need to stand out on your chosen platforms. 

I don’t really like doing video, so I’m not on TikTok and don’t post many videos on other platforms.  If you’re doing your own social media, choosing to do something you hate, means creating your social content and posting will always be pushed down the to-do list – so your visibility will drop and subsequent engagement be at virtually nil.  Most platforms reward regular posting by showing your posts to more people.

Content generation

Are you writing content – and where are you publishing it?  On your blog, in thought-leader articles, as newsletters, in email campaigns, as a lead magnet with an automated value-led nurturing email campaign to convert ‘interested’ to ‘paying’.

Are you running a podcast that showcases your opinions and expertise?

Do you have a YouTube channel with regular content to influence people?

What do you send to your list to keep them engaged?

Remember, you don’t own your social media contacts – until they give you their email address!

Promotion and Publicising

Also referred to as PR.  A good PR agency will put together a plan to get you in front of your target market positioned as an authority.

If you’re not ready to pay a monthly fee for that, start by looking at what your target reads and see if they might be interested in an article sharing your expertise (typically called ‘thought-leader articles’).  If you deliver a good quality piece you may be asked to write for them regularly or even get a column of your own.

Are your potential clients positively influenced by awards?  If so, entering in relevant awards may be a useful strategy.  There is a cost and you will need to invest time in completing the entry, but even a short-listing can be something to boast about!

Listen to your local radio stations and contact either the presenter or producer to ask if they might be interested in you being a guest interviewee.  Remember that this is NOT free advertising, you’ll be expected to deliver value and will probably be briefed.  If you try to pitch your services live on air, you won’t get asked back.  However, the presenter will usually introduce you with your name and your company and may give you the opportunity to give a short overview of what you do.

This is just the tip of the iceberg, your website, networking activities, presentations, books, lead funnels and more are all part of the mix.  The secret is choosing the right ingredients for you and your business.

When is a blog not a blog?

A blog post is an article – ideally showcasing your knowledge and experience, showing off your expertise – but it is NOT a sales pitch.

I see blogs on people’s websites that are clearly written for SEO purposes, but there’s where their usefulness stops.

If I search for a specific service and the keywords I use link to a blog that is clearly a sales pitch, with no real value for me, what do you think is going on in my head?

Annoyance?  Because I searched for a service or product and got a lot of keyword-stuffed copy that doesn’t tell me what I need to know.

Frustration?  Because this isn’t the information I was looking for really and I feel I’ve wasted my time.

Boredom?  Because I didn’t need to be told how wonderful your company is, I just want to know if you’ve got what I’m actually looking for.

Disappointment?  Because the copy sounds like it was written by a robot and doesn’t answer the question I needed answered.

Is it likely that I’ll be thinking ‘Whoopee, I needed to be told how wonderful this company is with a lot of clunky copy that isn’t really easy to read?’

And, if someone arrives on your website and goes to your blog for something of value and they get this kind of post, they’ll be gone, never to return.

The other side of the coin

Having said that, a blog post offers valuable opportunities to both the company and the reader.

For the writer it’s an opportunity to share your wisdom and show how well you know your stuff.  This delivers value and is much more likely to grab the reader’s attention and keep them engaged.

For the reader it offers value, knowledge and experience that creates a feeling of getting something of value for nothing.

What a content-rich blog does is provide potential clients with evidence that you are an expert in your field and gives the decision to use your services a boost.  That SEO content isn’t meant to be for human beings and is likely to counter-productive when it comes to attracting potential clients.

And a good blog has a long life

Writing a blog post is only the first use of that content. 

Take some soundbites from your blog post and turn them into social posts – linking back to the blog.  Now more people will discover what a star you are in your industry!

Post the article on LinkedIn as a newsletter – and watch your subscriptions grow.

Post it on Substack as an article and use those social posts as notes to attract subscribers.  Now every time you post a new article all those people will get it in their inbox.

You can also use it as a newsletter that you email out to your list (accompanied by your latest offer or promotion), which means that all those people, who may never otherwise visit your website, get exposure to your expertise.

A blog is never just a blog!

The foundation for your business

Most new businesses emerge from someone’s skill and a belief that they can help other people doing what they love and are expert in.  But, to grow a successful business you need more than passion and dedication.  You need a strong foundation.

Your bank manager will tell you need a business plan – and they want to see numbers.  The kind of business plan a bank wants is only part of an actual business plan.  It’s all very well working out how many sales you need to make to cover the business overheads and pay yourself a salary you can actually survive on, but who are these people who will pay you for your services?

A comprehensive business plan is built on some essential cornerstones.

1: Your ideal client

Who is this person who needs your help?  What are their current problems that you can help them with?  What is it costing them not to fix them?

2: Your offer

How will what you do address their problem?  What changes will they see when you’ve helped them?  What impacts will this have on the bottom line?

3: Connections

How will you find these ideal clients?  Where do they hang out – online and offline?  What do they read/watch/listen to?

4: Systems

Random action results in feast and famine – not a comfortable lifestyle!  What do you have in place to reach out to your ideal clients, get their attention, get to know them and present your solution to their problem?

This might include networking meetings, social media (and you’ll need a workable strategy for that), content generation, PR and a whole range of other activities that bring you into the awareness of people who will either engage your services or become an advocate for you to others.

None of these things are about your core skill – that’s a given, but without these foundation blocks, your business will wobble and be in danger of collapsing.

They’re all part of marketing – and without a good marketing strategy, you don’t have a business!  Marketing encompasses everything from research and development, market research, produce/service creation, customer service, promotion and sales – in fact, it underpins everything your business does.