I made the grand mistake of posting business-related content on my personal Facebook page. And now, I am drowning in Facebook ads that say:
“Before you host another webinar, read this!”
“Click here to find your way to freedom”
“Fast track your way to more clients”
“Conversion sabotaging words to avoid at all costs”
And it really got me thinking…who the heck are these ads really targeting?
Because the majority of small business owners I know, aren’t hosting webinars. They’re not looking for a fast-track to the easy life (think plumbers, life coaches, physical therapists – people dedicated to a life of service). And they’re certainly not at a stage in their business where they’re worried about using the “wrong” word in their marketing.
Therefore, my only conclusion is this…marketers love to market to other marketers. Some days it feels like marketers make money only off each other and the handful of suckers that buy their courses on impulse.
Fine, right? What difference does it make? You’re not a sucker.
Here’s why I think marketers (or at least the loud minority) are doing such a disservice to the small business community:
It creates too much noise in the marketplaceAnd overwhelms business owners
My guess is, as a business owner, you take care of business first. And with the time that’s left, you carve out an hour or two to work on your marketing. But, what are you going to do with that hour? Search online for some marketing ideas?
All I can say is be careful. Because you’ll spend your whole hour reading about this marketing strategy “guaranteed to work” or that marketing strategy “guaranteed to work”. And you’ll never come to any solid conclusions about what you should really be doing.
Here is my advice: let the marketers market to each other. Let them fight over who has the best product or system. YOU don’t need that noise. What you need is to know what marketing efforts are going to pay off for you. And you can determine that by where your biggest opportunity lies.
Now, being too close to your business can sometimes prevent you from seeing those opportunities, so here is a list of questions that might help you find the “Big Win”.
Question 1: Are you following up with your prospects and customers?
If not, this is a great opportunity. Happy customers are the easiest people in the world to sell to. But you have to reach back out and sell them again. And prospects came to you for a reason, follow up with them until they get their answers and are ready to buy from you.
Assuming you’d like to start following up a little more regularly, these are some great places to start:
Reconnecting with customers (and prospects) and offering them a great deal if they make another purchase. Then, asking them for testimonials and referrals.
Connecting immediately with new customers to make sure they’re happy and not suffering buyer’s remorse.
Sending out educational content to help fence sitters realize why you’re so great.
Question 2: Are you getting the traffic to your website or business that you’d like?
If not, then spend the hour you’ve set aside doing some research. Try typing in the words “Where should I advertise my [TYPE OF INDUSTRY] business?” And then see what comes up. Work from there and you should be able to find some good places to advertise or market your business.
Question 3: Are you collecting new leads?
Once you have the traffic coming to your website that you wanted, take a careful look at your lead generation. Do you have an opt-in form on your homepage? If not, you’re wasting your traffic. You need to turn all those viewers into leads you can market to. Think of a lead generation piece your prospects are going to want from you and use it.
Question 4: Are you listening to your customers and prospects?
They’re going to tell you exactly what they want from you. If you’ll take the time to listen. Send out emails asking for feedback about what they’d like to see and what you can do for them. You are in business for them, after all. Find out what they really want.
You can spend all day trying to figure out which marketing “guru” to follow and never really come to any sound conclusions about your business. Stick with the marketing basics, ask yourself the questions and you’ll find ways to grow your business that make sense for you.
And it really got me thinking…who the heck are these ads really targeting?
Because the majority of small business owners I know, aren’t hosting webinars. They’re not looking for a fast-track to the easy life (think plumbers, life coaches, physical therapists – people dedicated to a life of service). And they’re certainly not at a stage in their business where they’re worried about using the “wrong” word in their marketing.
Therefore, my only conclusion is this…marketers love to market to other marketers. Some days it feels like marketers make money only off each other and the handful of suckers that buy their courses on impulse.
Fine, right? What difference does it make? You’re not a sucker.
Here’s why I think marketers (or at least the loud minority) are doing such a disservice to the small business community: