Hey Guys! This week's episode is not a 'How To' Marketing class. It is just a few of the most commonly made mistakes that business owners make (including me!) It is a quick run-through of some basic Marketing things to do and what not to do.
Its so easy to get confused about how to market, but I hope this clarifies your messaging so you can get more customers.
Be sure to subscribe to the podcast, and share it with someone who could benefit from what you heard. Also, head over to https://theerinolson.com/links and sign up for the email list, and you can get all the downloadable PDFs and tools! News: We finally have a YouTube channel! Visit us HERE: https://youtube.com/@theerinolson?si=xPNSU1-C7Yt9zXgD
Hey Guys! This week's episode is not a 'How To' Marketing class. It is just a few of the most commonly made mistakes that business owners make (including me!) It is a quick run-through of some basic Marketing things to do and what not to do.
Its so easy to get confused about how to market, but I hope this clarifies your messaging so you can get more customers.
Be sure to subscribe to the podcast, and share it with someone who could benefit from what you heard. Also, head over to https://theerinolson.com/links and sign up for the email list, and you can get all the downloadable PDFs and tools! News: We finally have a YouTube channel! Visit us HERE: https://youtube.com/@theerinolson?si=xPNSU1-C7Yt9zXgD
See ya next week! Erin
Speaker 1:
Welcome to the Quality of Life podcast. I'm Erin Olson, a wife, a mother and a serial entrepreneur. After starting three successful businesses, I've learned some hard lessons regarding the ins and the outs of starting and running a small business. My intention is to share my knowledge that I've learned from the School of Hard Knocks so you don't have to learn it the hard way like I did. Each week, I hope, to guide you to the next level in your business or in the business that you're working in. So let's go. Hey guys, it's Erin Olson here to be your guide from business idea to big business.
Speaker 1:
Last week, we spent some time defining your demographic and creating your ideal customer avatar so that you could market to them specifically. And even though you are probably already doing some marketing for your business, I wanted to go over some dos and don'ts to help you be sure that your marketing dollars are well spent. First, I am not a marketing guru. I do things wrong all of the time, but I have learned a few lessons on things that you definitely don't want to do and some things that you definitely need to do. So here are some marketing dos. First, you want to make sure that your website and contact information is on everything, all marketing content. I know that this sounds like a no brainer, but I have seen many ads that have no logo, no accurate contact information, no way that a person knows how to get a hold of you other than a Google search. That is not okay. This info needs to be on every graphic and every piece of content that you create, because if your customer doesn't know how to get a hold of you, guess what they're not going to? And you need those customers to contact you so that they can actually buy your product or service. Duh right. Well, I have to put that out there because you know what? Sometimes you just forget that. Another marketing do that you need to know about is to create your own consistent branding. All of your content needs to look consistent. It needs to show your brand's voice, style and personality across all of your channels. This is easier than you think.
Speaker 1:
There is a great website that can offer you easy to personalize templates and you can even create your own brand kit to ensure consistency. It's called Canvacom C-A-N-V-Acom. With Canva, you can be your own basic graphic designer for a very reasonable fee. It's about $120 a year for the premium version, but their free version is very usable. It is super cheap and it is one of the best expenses that I have spent money on. It makes it so easy to create content for all of the different platforms. You can even take an Instagram post and change it so that it fits the format needed for Facebook. It is so, so user friendly. Basically, you just plug and play. I really urge you to go and check out Canvacom and I will link that in the show notes as well.
Speaker 1:
Another do in basic marketing is to have a website. Yes, I know that there are so many free avenues on social media to have a page and to have a spot where people can find you, but you need a website Period. Remember that outage of Meta. You know Instagram and Facebook back in October of 2021? Well, if you didn't, it was several, several hours where nobody could message any of their clients, their customers. Nobody could find you on Facebook or Instagram. You basically didn't exist if you didn't have a website.
Speaker 1:
And here's the funny thing it just happened the other day. It happened on March 5th for only a few hours. But these are red flags. If you don't have contact with all of your customers all of the time without social media, you are losing out on a big piece of information. These are the times when your customers could still be accessing you on your website, even though Facebook and Meta were down. Also, when all of your customer information is on Messenger and on social. What happens if you get hacked and locked out of your own pages? This has happened to several people that I know. Do not let this be you, because if that happens, you have to start all over. You can lose tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of customers that might have your information only on those platforms.
Speaker 1:
Also, even if you are a brick and mortar store or restaurant, you should have a website. It gives you instant clout and reassures your customers that you are actually a real business. Trust me and this brings me to another do in basic marketing Collecting your customers contact information and sending out occasional emails. This is a great way to keep your business in your customers' minds. There are lots of services available out there to help you send email newsletters. I personally use ConvertKit I think it's free or close to free, and you can schedule and automate emails. There is also MailChimp and Constant Contact, among others. This is a great way to let your customers know of any promotions that you might be running or to provide content that is informative or helpful to your customers. There are lots of things you can do with an email or actual address list, even if you want to send thank you cards after service, which is actually something that I've done in the past businesses, that has really shown my customers that I care.
Speaker 1:
Another do for business marketing is to ensure that all marketing has these eight components. First, you need a clear intention. What is the outcome you want from this marketing content? Do you want more sales, more engagement? Do you want to entertain, inform, educate or do you want to persuade people? You have to know your intention before you send out any type of marketing. Two, you need to tailor this to your demographic. Use the same voice or tone or platforms that your demographic uses. If your demographic doesn't go on the internet, then maybe you need to send out actual snail mail, postcards who knows? You have to go where your customers are. Period Three a compelling headline or title.
Speaker 1:
You've got to grab attention and that is so hard to do these days, so you need to figure out something that's going to at least stop the scroll for just a second, otherwise you're just going to end up as another thing that goes by their feed. Four you need a visual element. Images, infographics and videos are all better to help grab attention than just a bunch of words. So any pictures or anything that can also help you grab that attention is very, very helpful. Five authenticity. I know it seems like everyone's over filtered and over polished these days and that gives you an advantage actually Be real, be vulnerable, but not too vulnerable, and don't be fake. This will help your people to trust you. This is going to give them a reason to keep coming back because they know that you're not going to just be blowing smoke.
Speaker 1:
Six you need a clear call to action, or CTA. You must actually tell the customer what the next step should be. A call now or a click here or buy or schedule now are very important buttons or links to have in all of your content. Make it easy for your customer to take the next step. Seven you must proofread and edit all of your content. If I am honest, anyone who uses incorrect spelling or grammar instantly loses my trust. I can't help it. It instantly makes me less interested in the rest of the story. I know I'm not the only one out there, right? Please, please, please, use spell check or have somebody read it through to make sure that what you're saying makes sense and doesn't have the wrong spelling.
Speaker 1:
Eight consistent branding. Like I said earlier, you must be consistent with your messaging and always have contact information in every post. Okay, the last do in marketing is to have a schedule. You should have a plan about what you're going to cover over the next year. I know that this seems like a lot, but if you are a seasonal company, this is essential to get people thinking about you before the season arrives. Also, your content might change depending upon the month or week of the year. If you just have a plan or focus for every month, it can really help your content be relevant. So what I would suggest doing here is just taking a blank piece of paper for every month of the year and writing out the idea of what you're going to cover that month, and then you can break it down into posts if you'd like to. But if you have an idea and a plan, then it's so much easier to actually post content that really matters and, as this is relevant to the day or the week, like posting Easter stuff around spring or harvest or fall time stuff in September and October. Think pumpkin spice, and just the mention of it gets us thinking of fall. So now that you know some of the do's, here are some of the don'ts to keep in mind.
Speaker 1:
First, don't pawn off your social media on your kid, or any kid for that matter. Just because they are on it doesn't mean they know how to post effectively. I know that social media can be the biggest time sucker, so keep it simple and do it yourself. It's better than paying somebody else to do it because they just don't have your voice and your intention. So take the time that it takes. Hiring a teenager to do your social media sounds like an easy fix, but it is not going to be what you need to grow your business. Ask them for help if you must, but I will tell you that there is more valuable time spent on YouTube watching actual tutorials from people who actually know social media. Spend some time studying and then just schedule time to create and post content. Then schedule it on Meta for Business or Hootsuite or another social media scheduling software. It makes it so much easier and it's your voice, because it is your business and you're the best person to sell it.
Speaker 1:
Another don't don't spam your customers emails or regular inboxes. If you are constantly sending out the same type of materials or useless information, you will become like the boy who cried wolf and most of your emails or content will be sent to the junk folder or just simply ignored. If you're going to say something, make it matter and make it meaningful. Here is a big don't for marketing. Don't constantly have sales or coupons. I know personally that this is a way to drum up sales and I have used it myself. Believe me, I know. But don't use it as a marketing strategy If you are constantly having sales or giving out coupon codes. It cheapens your value and it can actually train your customers to only buy when your product or service is on sale. Don't observe sales and closeouts and flash sales for only a few times a year or you're going to end up a discount brand, and no one wants to be a discount brand. The biggest don't that I can tell you about is don't forget your audience are real people with real problems and aspirations and real dreams, and by remembering that, you will be better at serving them. After all, that is what this is all about serving your customers, even those that haven't bought from you yet.
Speaker 1:
While this is not an exhaustive list of do's and don'ts as far as marketing is concerned, these should help keep you marketing to those who will listen and actually might convince them to use your product or service. Well, you guys, that's what I have for you this week. Next week, we will be covering a necessity in business that everybody needs, but no one likes to use it Insurance. But for this week, keep these marketing do's and don'ts in mind and get busy. The world needs your product or service. They just don't know it yet. I will see you next week on the Quality of Life podcast. See ya, thanks for listening to today's episode. Be sure to check us out on the Quality of Life podcast Facebook and Instagram pages and our website, thearenolsoncom, for downloads and more information. That is T-H-E-E-R-I-N-O-L-S-O-Ncom. Stay up to date by joining our email newsletter. Together, we can improve all of our quality of life.