The magic answer to marketing

Are you slightly frustrated with marketing? Overwhelmed? Discouraged? Is it the black-hole that won't stop taking money?   There's a  magic answer, and it's easier than you think.

Should you be doing social media?  Paid advertising?  Emailing customers?  Public Relations?   

The answer is you should be doing everything! And that's where the magic happens, and it applies to every industry, and every product.  Marketing is about walking through a prospective buyer through the phases of awareness, consideration, and decision making.   The buyer needs to become aware of your brand, and reminded that you exist. Then they need to be educated and informed about your solution as they build trust with your organization, and view you as the guide along the way to solving whatever problem THEY may have.   You may already have realized that customers buy because of what THEY want, not what YOU want.   

So here's the magic approach: think of marketing as a funnel that moves your prospects through gently.  A good funnel will do two things: it will qualify and prepare your customers to be ready to buy, but it will also disqualify those to whom you can't add value.   Marketing shouldn't be about convincing everyone to buy your product or solution, it should be about getting in front of your ideal customer, at the right time.

The reality is that every funnel, for every company, should be unique and customized.  While it's good to get inspiration from other brands, it's really about determining what your value proposition is, and then using social media, email, paid ads, and content to nurture prospects that you can help, and turn away those you can't.

Here's some practical tips to think about each layer of the funnel:

Awareness:

• This is all about letting the prospect know that a solution exists for the problem they're trying to solve (oh, and that you exist too: but remember, it's not about you, it's about them!)
• Lead with insight: in this phase, trade out small amounts of easy-to-digest, free insight.   If you sell lawn mowers, offer a solution to a common problem your ideal prospects have (tip: this would help segment out commercial from residential customers, for example, if you only focus on one).    If you offer book-keeping services for roofing companies, here's your chance to offer a solution for a common accounting problem roofers have (I.e. cash-basis or accrual?
• Social media, ads, and blogs are great in-roads for the awareness phase, and if they support your SEO strategy, you're golden!

Consideration:

• At this point, the prospect knows that there's a solution for X.  They know you exist. Hopefully, they've read, listened or watched some really practical insight from your company.  Now it's time to educate them further about how to solve that problem.
• Pick 3-5 buyer personas and think about what the persona would be trying to solve for.  Don't get caught up in putting a face and name to the persona, rather, use it as a chance to think about "if I were in their shoes, I'd be looking for ____".      For a great, free persona tool, check out Make My Persona

Decision-making:

• At this point in the funnel, the prospect is in the decision making phase and you can talk more about how YOU would be the guide to help them solve their problem.
• It's still about them, not you, so no need to share how long you've been in business or how awesome your street sign is (don't worry, they'll figure it out!), but rather, share case studies and stories about you have helped other customers solve similar problems.
• Then, have a more compelling Call To Action (CTA) that offers a consult or something of value if they act.

It's easy to mix up the phases, and put your "free consultation" front and center, or accidentally sneak in lots of great stuff about how many awards you've won, but if you follow this path, the magic happens.

And here's some extra magic:  Consistency.   Most brands are doing SOME of EVERYTHING, but the most successful ones do it consistently.  Don't start Instagram and then stop. Don't run Facebook ads for 1 week and stop.   And certainly, don't expect results from a blog or SEO for 6-9 months.  But when you do everything, a little bit at a time, consistently, the real magic happens - it will compound together. 

Finally, if you need help, just ask!   That's what we're here for.