Facebook, Instagram, Stories, Reels, Linked In, You Tube, TikTok, Twitter…. And the list goes on.
How these social media channels now dominate our lives and our businesses.
With technology continually changing and new platforms landing every few months, its hard to stay up to speed.
You’re bombarded with people saying have you tried this platform? how are your reels going? Are you posting 6 x a day on twitter. You suddenly start believing it all and that your business has to be on all these channels for your Marketing to succeed.
Now I’m not going to say that you should not be on social media, but you need to cherry pick the 1 or 2 platforms that work for you. The starting point being who are your customers, where do they hang out on social and when are they using it.
It’s about going back to those foundations, knowing your customer and their needs and from that you’ll know which the priority platforms are to focus on.
Don’t be swept up by all the constant posts telling you need to be everywhere; life just does not have enough hours in the day to do it.
You’re also potentially missing a huge opportunity
What happens when Facebook goes down or people get socially overwhelmed and start switching off. How much cut through are we getting nowadays to get past the scroll. Ingenious apps, creative videos, sometimes it can just be a step too far for a business owner.
You need to consider other Marketing Channels to reach your customers
Now I’ve been around in Marketing for many years, yes even before the Internet was created. Feeling very old now but I also know that we still were able to reach customers using other channels.
Knowing your customer is key
Having a clear “avatar” of who they are, the pain points in their life, the missions they are on and how your products or services can help them with this should be at the core of your Marketing Strategy.
Set yourself clear objectives
Have you a new product or service that will help these customers and make their lives better? If so how.
What do you want to gain from this launch?
How will you judge its success ie measurements?
Remember SMART – Specific, Measurable, Actionable, Realistic and Timed
Build your Strategy
How are you going to reach your customers or clients to tell them and why would they choose you above the competition?
You’ll have identified all these strengths and USP as part of your Marketing Foundations.
Create your Marketing plan
This is when it gets interesting. Yes, a digital strategy will always be a huge part of your Marketing plan including ways to build your brand online, build that Know Trust and Like element and your community of followers but Don’t forget the offline world
- People buy from People so look for opportunities that takes you into a more direct approach.
- Word of mouth, recommendations, networking, all are powerful tools.
- Pop Up events, independent stores
- You could also consider some more traditional ways of promoting your business through print, direct mail if you can be targeted. Again, it all goes down to which channel is the most appropriate for your customers, will give you a cut through and is affordable.
There are so many jigsaw pieces to put together with Marketing, but we can help you put the picture together.
If you need help with this have a look at our small group workshop programmes and 121 discovery programmes to help you build the foundations, find the gaps, create the strategy and develop your plan.
