Your money-making marketing machine awaits…
The ultimate goal of marketing in your small business is to give your ideal clients and customers the information required to nurture them from first discovering you to handing over their payment details.
In this episode of the How I Do Content Podcast, I share how you can turn your marketing into a money-making machine.
In the online space, it’s very easy to get caught up in the shiny, sparkly aspects of marketing – creating the on-brand Canva graphics, updating your Instagram bio for the 100th time or searching for the perfect trending audio for your latest reel. But really, these should be the icing on your marketing cake – not the entire cake.
If that’s where you spend a big chunk of your marketing time currently – let me share some more effective ways to start generating a better return on time investment.
1. Identify your ideal client’s needs and desires
If you’re a long-time listener of the podcast this shouldn’t surprise you. It’s your job to deeply understand the people you’re in business to serve. There’s no point creating any kind of marketing if you’re just doing it to “tick a box” because it’s an essential part of business.
At the end of the day – you’re a business and you have people to serve so you don’t have time to waste creating marketing if it doesn’t actually help the people it’s meant to or attract the Beyonce-level clients you most want.
Tip: Get out a big piece of paper or create a new Google Doc and brainstorm the following about your ideal client:
- What’s their biggest challenge when it comes to [what you help them with]? (Where do they get stuck? What do they wish you knew for certain? What would they pay someone to teach them?)?
- Have they previously tried to solve this problem? Why / why not?
- What’s worked and what hasn’t worked when it comes to solving this problem
- What do they wish happened when it comes to [what you help them with]?
If you’re struggling to answer these questions in depth or you “don’t know” – this means you need to do some market research!
Market research is key
This can be done by simply having conversations with past clients or dream clients. You could also survey your community or by sharing polls and question boxes on Instagram stories.
Be specific
Please note, asking the question “What do you want my help with?” is the wrong question to ask. When coming up with your market research questions you need to first consider what information you most want to know and then craft questions that are specific AF and get you the information you need!
Use your market research to create content for your audience that works to:
- Make them aware of the problem they have and what’s possible instead
- Showcase how your offer solves their problem
- Highlight why YOU (and your offer) is the solution to their problems
You need to do this by speaking their language – explain it in a way they understand – not in a way they need a PhD to decipher how you help them.
Thorough market research leads to impactful messaging
The way you win clients is by knowing how to communicate your market research in your messaging in a way that activates people to move through your chosen customer journey to the point where they buy from you.
At each point along the journey, your ideal client will need messaging and marketing that speaks to their level of awareness so it moves them closer to you. They may get stuck along the way, so it’s up to you to give them what they need – which is why you need to be crystal clear on what they need and desire.
The businesses that understand their community the best – consistently win clients and customers on repeat.
2. Make data-driven decisions
Too often business owners make marketing decisions based solely on how they’re feeling. But feelings aren’t facts and if you’re letting how you feel drive every decision you make in your business – don’t be surprised if your marketing ROI is inconsistent.
Did your launch suck because it didn’t feel aligned and Mercury was in Gatorade…? Or did it suck because you only shared the same Canva graphics a handful of times and then ghosted everyone when no one signed up 5 seconds after you proclaimed “doors open”?
Does the Instagram algorithm hate you…? Or is your content not resonating with your community and their current needs and desires?
And look, I get it! It can be incredibly frustrating when you spend your time creating offers and content and they don’t get you the clients and income you crave. But you can either spend your time crying about it or you can look at the data and make changes to fix it!
Review your marketing data to discover:
- What are your best platforms for growth and revenue generation? Notice I said platforms not platform – are you only focusing on Instagram because that’s what the Instagram coaches tell you is enough? Spoiler alert – it’s not in this landscape. And if you’re already making consistent sales on Instagram – amazing, but what’s next?
- Which content leads to the most sales, most engagement and most community? What are the common themes and topics that you can create more of? And on the flipside which content doesn’t perform as well?
If you’re not growing your community and making consistent cash as a result of your marketing – this is a sign you need to go back to step one and get clear on your ideal client’s needs and desires.
And even if your marketing is already performing well – how can you improve and grow from here?
3. Refine your back-end marketing process
There’s no point spending all your time attracting ideal clients or customers into your community if you ignore them the moment they follow you or sign up to your email list.
Most people who come into your community won’t buy from you immediately – it’s on you to nurture them through your marketing funnel and build the important know, like and trust factor.
Perhaps you’ve heard of this – it’s one of the most fundamental (and important) aspects of marketing yet there’s a certain level of entitlement in the online space that one post or email is enough and anything more is “too much”. Which is absolute BS.
What it boils down to is building a relationship with your ideal clients or customers so they know they’re in the right place and you’re the right wizard to help them solve the problem or desire they have.
Client retention is more efficient than sourcing new clients
Another important part of back-end marketing is client retention. Instead of churn and burn marketing – focus on increasing the lifetime value of existing clients through your offer suite.
An example of back-end marketing for humans who are NEW to your world would be an automated nurture sequence after signing up to your lead magnet.
The humans who are already part of your community (i.e. the people who already know, like, and trust you) are usually closer to buying from you than someone who just discovered you today. So, you want to identify opportunities for repeat purchasing, upselling, and cross-selling to this subgroup of your audience.
Turning your marketing into a money-making machine means you gotta think big picture and stop hyper-focusing on just the new followers and new people coming into your community otherwise you’re ignoring a large segment of people you could support.
4. Consistency and repetition
If you want consistent money flowing into your business…you need to be consistent in your messaging and marketing.
Don’t show up only when:
- You feel aligned or in the right energy
- You’re in a launch
- People are buying
Stop jumping around from strategy to strategy without giving it time to sink in and make an impression on your community.
Yes, this might seem obvious and simple – but it’s usually one of the things that many business owners shy away from because it feels a little stretchy and uncomfortable. It also requires a whole lot of patience and self-belief to keep going when you’re not getting instant engagement and instant sales that a lot of people in the online space expect.
When you stay connected to your ideal clients and customers and what they need and desire, while also reviewing the data and making decisions backed by these two things – you will see a return on investment from your marketing.
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