Covid-19 certainly threw us all one major curveball. In fact, it led to many more individuals entering the gig economy or launching a business out of their homes, and because of this there seem to be more complexities in marketing and growing a business today.
One thing is clear: To be successful, no matter your work-from-home situation, you need to sell. And, you sell through telling your compelling story clearly, concisely, and very well across every relevant marketing platform to get consumers to feel something.
Times have changed. Business owners need to be agile and flexible to make the shift into a new world. It feels like there is more clutter to cut through, and there is, but marketing has not changed all that much. It is simply continuing its path towards more authentic experiences.
Whether you’re an online tutor, a photographer, an online retail store owner, a creator of one-of-a-kind products for Etsy, a consultant, or a content creator, this year business owners are being compelled to really understand their businesses and how to build meaningful connections with customers in order to communicate, engage, and participate with them, and to drive sales.
What the future of marketing, looks like
Social distancing left people craving more meaningful connections and relationships with others who they felt cut off from, and the companies with which they do business. Technology built for companies began seeing increased use and demand from consumers as ways to fill in those voids. Video conferencing will become a fixture for doing business and selling — business with clients and prospects, clients with their vendors, and vendors with their clients. You are going to have to get comfortable with technology and presenting and selling yourself and the story of your business, product, or service on video calls.
After months of feeling disconnected, relationships are more important than ever before in marketing. And, while relationships always really been key, we are now able to have closer, more casual relationships, which means connecting needs to be authentic.
This happens through powerful storytelling and building an emotional connection to your business, product, or service. This has always been growing significantly in the past decade, and now we will see a real movement toward consumer spending choices having more meaning, which means that every business is going to be driven towards more meaningful marketing.
So how do you do this? The basics always hold true…and small business does it best.
Know your business and its audience, intimately
Believe it or not, I run into several business owners who think they know their businesses, but do not really know them, the industry, the trends, or the competition. And because of this, they seem unable to clearly define their audiences.
Doing research on your industry is marketing 101, and every business owner should do it right away. Without knowing your market or current trends (market and consumer desires), how do you know whether there is competition or how to differentiate and separate your business to stand out? How can you define your audience and know whether you will meet its needs?
You may learn, after some due diligence, that your customer base is much narrower (even a niche) than expected, or that it is much broader with several different approaches to communicate your business.
Either way, get to know your business and audience intimately. It will determine all your marketing and most importantly your story.
Define the “WHY” of your business
Today, people are looking for meaning when choosing where to put their money. That means that you need to tell them “why” they should spend it with you. How is it going to be a meaningful experience for them? Why is it meaningful to their audiences?
Take a moment and consider “why” you started your business. If you say you did it to make extra income or support your family, that’s really great and true for all people; however, your “why” must differentiate you to develop a powerful and compelling story that truly connects your customers with your business. While some products and business are differentiated by benefits and features, the real narrative lies in the problem you saw and the solution you created.
Define why your product or service is so different and better? Maybe this means defining why you are so unique, as the face of your service-based business. Why is your business going to change people’s lives, make lives easier and better, or even make the world a better place? Why are your customers going to care?
Defining the “why”, your story, is the #1 key to your marketing success. It should invoke emotion that resonates through words and graphics as you build community. Even if you are not an expert marketer, you can learn to tell your story in a way that resonates with people. And, in marketing, that is what matters most.
Be authentic in your message
Authenticity matters more today than ever before. Consumers have been surfing through Facebook for months. They can see through messages and marketing that feels wrong, like companies that used Covid-19 for their own purposes and gain, and we all saw it. #Fail
The benefit of being a small business is your ability to be real and genuine and not have to run messaging through corporate marketing or attorneys to approve. You can really be, just you. And, therefore so many small and home-based businesses thrive. It is because they are not so far away from their customers to know how to connect with them in an authentic way that really matters, building real loyalty. And, when you are authentic, you have an easier time building a community around your business.
Tell your authentic story and build a community
Social distancing has made a lot of consumers more aware of the community they crave. It is human nature to want to be part of a group and even part of something bigger, where we can build meaningful connections with others and even businesses.
Tools like Facebook Groups make it easy to share your story, test it, and even tweak it to see what people engage with and what they do not. It takes some time and diligence, but ultimately, the goal is to build a community of loyal followers who not only support and engage with you but act as ambassadors sharing your business with their network.
There are several tools out there to help you build a community with your audience. Facebook is not ideal for everyone. Accountants might find real opportunities on LinkedIn, whereas a photographer might prefer Instagram and personal trainer might favor YouTube or TikTok.
Small business will always have the upper hand in “connected marketing”. We are not big enough to lose touch on connecting one-on-one with customers. I believe the ones who do this, and learn to do this well, will come out on top.
Build a plan and work the plan with these quick tips
Not enough time in the day? You know what they say: Failing to plan is a plan to fail. I am a professional, and I create plans of execution for every client, so why wouldn’t you?
Make a list of all the tools available to reach your specific audience. Then, prioritize them. Write messaging for each — not every audience/demographic will respond positively to the same message. Not every marketing tool works with the same message. Do not stress. Chances are good your target demographic requires a message that will only work on the platform that matters to them most.
Dedicate days for marketing. For instance, “Marketing Monday”. Typically, people try to get back into the swing on Mondays and often have freedom to focus on marketing tactics for the week, such as scheduling social media posts or creating a campaign (a plan) for an upcoming promotion. Pick a day for writing blog posts.
Master your SEO. It is all about content — descriptive copy written authentically with search terms in mind. Then tie in your page and browser descriptions and never let your website content grow old. Make small tweaks to copy on your website each month and blog, at least once a month. This triggers search engines to say, “Hey, this is new,” which is its sole job — to bring people the most updated information on the information they seek.
Social media is FREE. Use it. Take time to learn one social tool at a time. Remember that these tools are “social”, so do not be the guy at the party who talks about himself all night. Invite others into the conversation and share videos, memes, etc. relevant to your business. It is 80% pull content from other sources and 20% pushing your own messages and authentic conversations. This is how you engage people.
Break out daily tactics to accomplish that are digestible and realistic to accomplish. Never put too much on yourself. Being optimistic is great but if you keep looking at a “To Do List” that is never done by the end of the week, you are left feeling disappointed and unproductive. You need a plan. Make the plan. Work the plan.
