Every year, there's a new marketing tactic (or more) to add to the potential roster of how businesses market themselves. So, for a new business, where do you start?
There are two common paths that businesses take:
As part of my research for this article, I found an article titled "51 Marketing Tactics That Work (And How To Plan Them). Articles like this are pretty common in the space and feed the first path outlined above. Literally, the article lists a bunch of marketing THINGS you can do, and titles them "50 Marketing Tactics You Need to Succeed"; as if you need ALL of them to succeed.
WRONG.
And when it comes to what everyone else is doing in your industry, I'm all one for knowing what your competitors are doing, but if you want to BEAT them, why would you do the exact same things. I see this is SO many tech industries, and it's also common with marketing service providers like web designers. I'll tell you everything I do, tell you how much it costs, and then ask you if you need that.
UGH.
In these scenarios, companies are actually turning THEMSELVES into commodities. For expert work 😣 Please don't.
If you DON'T think you're doing this, but you're SEO-ing your site for all the same words as your competitors...you ARE.
OK, so if researching everything doesn't work, and copying our competitors doesn't work, what does work?
Starting at the beginning.
Start with Your Brand
Most companies treat their brand like it's the visual content they create. Logos. Colors. Maybe taglines. The types of pictures you use. SEO keywords.
But a brand is SO much more than that.
Your True Brand is the feeling you create for your customers. That lasting impression they take with them when you leave the room.
Each person on earth has it (what I would call a personal brand).
As does every company; it's the SUM of all the personal brand experiences your people create.
If you're just a founder on your own right now, your personal brand and your company brand is the SAME. But once you add additional people, it evolves.
So the best place to start is to learn about your people. What do they love to deliver? How do they like to deliver it? And how does all of that align into ONE brand experience you can all agree you can give?
Not in a "we all do things the same" kind of way, but more in a "we all help people <do what we do> in our own way" kind of way.
For example, maybe you're creating a new technology to support seniors as they age (if you are and we're not connected, please do). There might be a different way the Founder does that vs. the accountant vs. the client success squad. But we're all in it together - doing the same thing - and creating both in-person and digital experiences based on that.
The Difference Between Tactics & Channels
I want to interject briefly with an important distinction. The difference between marketing channels and marketing tactics.
🚗 Marketing Channel: the different tools or platforms you use to reach your target audience.
💰 Marketing Tactic: an action, carefully planned to achieve a specific end.
Having a website is NOT a marketing tactic, it's a channel. It only becomes a tactic when there is a specific intention created for it, such as, "the website's job is to get people to book a demo". The tactical piece of it is then measurable, and activities should be adjusted if they DON'T reach the goal 💡
Ok, back to it.
Shopping for Tactics
Once you have a solid connection to your True Brand, then you can go out and start shopping for a marketing tactic that fits you.
NOTE: notice how I say "A" marketing tactic that fits you. That's ONE. Not 50 😉 Probably not even 3.
Let me show you what that might look like with a few of the Top Marketing Channels outlined by Hubspot at the end of 2022:
OK, so imagine that each of those items above is a different kind of shirt. One is a T-shirt. One is a long-sleeve dress shirt. One is a Baseball Shirt. One is a Basketball Jersey. And one is Sweatshirt.
Now imagine all of those different types of shirts in the same size - Medium.
All of them COULD fit you. And they would all function like a shirt to help you get past the, "no shirt, no shoes, no service" sign 😉
But you can only wear one shirt at a time. So, let's go ahead and pick one.
Social Media's number one, so let's go with that. Let's make it the T-shirt.
Now, how many different types to T-shirts have you seen? There are baggy ones. Tighter fitting ones. Some have longer sleeves than others. They come in every color under the sun. And every material. And don't forget that you can snazzy them up as well, with designs, patterns, an inspiring phrase.
Whoa. All of a sudden, just choosing T-shirt doesn't really mean much. Until we get the customization that matches our brand.
And then, guess what?
A size Medium ACTUALLY fits differently depending on which T-shirt I choose.
So, I have to try them on.
Bringing this back to the actual channel, there are literally 8 billion different ways that you can "do" Social Media. There isn't ONE defined path.
So, the question becomes...how would YOU do social media?
And that's based in your desired experience.
Creating Channel Experiences
Let's keep going with the Social Media example for the time being.
So, you want to use Social Media to promote and sell your products or services.
OK, what could that look like?
It might look like starting a weekly LinkedIn Live series to answer common questions from your customers.
It might look like posting "something" on your Company LinkedIn page daily.
It might look like sharing your customer testimonials when you publish a new whitepaper.
It might look like collaborating with other creators in your industry to create a community of support.
It might look like inviting people to attend an upcoming webinar.
Recommended by LinkedIn
It might look like connecting with people who are like-minded and getting into virtual or in-person conversations with them.
It might look like challenging the status quo.
It might look like encouraging people to explore a new path.
It might look like sharing how people can become advocates of your cause.
It might look like promoting connections to get more people hired.
I could go on and on here, because, again, literally there is NO END to the way you COULD use social media.
So...what would YOU do?
And go try it.
Experiment & Evolve
Each time you go out and try something new, there's the opportunity for it to work, and there's the opportunity for it to fail. Such is life. And business.
So, let's say you heard that I use a weekly LinkedIn Live as my marketing tactic, and you think it sounds good to you, so you give it a try.
And you HATE it.
Just because it works for me, doesn't mean it's right for you. And it doesn't mean there's anything WRONG with you either (fake experts LOVE to tell you how you've done it wrong when their thing doesn't work for you).
If you hate it, or it feels really PAINFUL to do, it's not the right fit.
Just like that sequined T-shirt that scraped up the side of your arms when you tried it on.
Take it off, and try something else. Or try it in a different way.
Maybe you like just teaching in a live. Maybe you like have a deep-dive conversation. Maybe you like to share wins. Maybe you like to answer questions. Maybe you like to tell stories.
Do what YOU like, in THAT way.
And each time you discover something that DOESN'T feel right, the closer you're getting to finding what is 😊
Pivot, but don't run away
The longer you invest in a tactic, because you BELIEVE in it, the more likely it will be to work for you. Straight Up. Any channel. Any platform. Any budget. There are marketing efforts that work. But if you're not invested in MAKING them work for you, you'll flit through all the options on and off with NO results.
At some point, you have to commit to something. If you haven't found what that is within 12 months, you're not focusing on finding something that works.
Sure, it's scary to commit to something. It's scary to commit to starting a business. It's scary to commit to being a parent. At least your marketing tactic isn't permanent 😉
It's not about getting to the point where you have ALL the data to prove that it's going to work. It's about getting to the point where you've all COMMITTED to make it work. And not only does that feed your funnel, it feeds your team as well 💖
If you and your team are exploring new options when it comes to your future marketing efforts, let's chat! Having an expert in your corner can really focus the conversation ✨
