Doing the right first thing first when it comes to Marketing
When it comes to Marketing, it can be hard to know what do or what to do first.
This is a real Marketing scenario for many busy business owners.
Questions I hear in consults all the time include:
- Where do I make an investment? (insert time, money or effort here)
- What will make the most impact?
- Where will I see the most ROI?
- Do I have to X, Y, or Z? Or all of it?
- What comes first?
There are more questions more often than not, but I’ll save you the time and just say this… Take a minute and think about your business. And now I get to ask the questions:
- What is the purpose of your business?
- What are you trying to do with your business?
- What are you, the business owner, good at?
- What do you need help with?
- Do you have the foundation in place in order to market your business?
Let’s focus on that last question a minute. The foundation. The core Marketing elements that need to be developed. This is what your foundation is made from. These can include; Brand story, target audience profiles, and a strategy. These can also include: website, business cards, and an elevator pitch. The thing is— you have to have the first three in order to make the next three have the most punch.
Quick tip: Take a few minutes and write down they key messages you are trying to communicate to your target audiences. Make sure you also take a few minutes and write down the qualities of your target audience (who are they?). Once you have these, take a minute or two and think about what you can accomplish yourself when it comes to communicating with them- an example: If you’re a superstar blogger, time to do some writing!
On that note…
Take a personal inventory of assets. Are you a strong writer? No? Then blogging is not going to be something you will attempt yourself. However, if you’re comfortable and confident on Social, time to build that strategy! You’ve got this. For the things you are not good at- consider an intern, a friend, or even a hired hand to get some of the content creation done. You have to consistently communicate with your tribe, so don’t let this slide.
Another quick tip: Don’t forget your in-person professional persona. In terms of “doing the right first thing first”, it’s important to build a strong and succinct message for networking purposes. This is your “elevator pitch”— it should be chock full of key messages that are tailored to the recipient of the message in a short period of time. So, make sure to build it and get ready to rock it. Need help? Check this blog post for more tips.
The bottom line
Everything… everything… comes back to building a brand-based strategy. Even making a few notes to plan out your next steps will help you feel good about getting things done AND help you get things done. Win win!
As always, I am here to help- for real! Reach out. Let’s talk and don’t let the unknown frighten you away from some effective Marketing.
