Choosing marketing tactics based on what works (even when you don't like it)
All too often I speak to clients about various tactics in marketing and they scrunch up their faces (giving me a clue that they're not on board) and then share their feelings about said tactic(s).
I'm not one to push anyone to do something they're really against doing. In fact, I often talk about the importance of finding alignment in your marketing, pricing, and values.
Your business is yours to own and operate and make decisions about. One of the perks of starting your own company is just that – having the authority and power to make decisions about how you will and won’t show up online.
But, the objections I hear from clients are often about personal dislike of something, which is a whole different conversation.
The two most common areas this comes up are with social media and email marketing.
I'm not a fan of either of these things myself and yet I still use them for my business because they work.
While you can always make business and marketing decisions based on your personal thoughts and feelings, in doing so you are missing out on the opportunity to create a well-rounded marketing strategy.
Your marketing strategy needs to extend beyond yourself
If you’ve ever tried to sustain a practice or habit in your life based on motivation alone, you know how frustrating and short-lived that endeavour can often be.
You start an overly ambitious fitness routine one day because you have a burst of motivation to change your life but a week later you’re back to your old ways.
You begin a business because you have an idea and vision you believe in, but a few months or years in you start to wonder if it’d just be easier to go back to your 9-5.
In order to see long-term success, discipline is required. Discipline keeps you moving toward your goal after the novelty of the idea or spark of inspiration has begun to fade.
In a similar way, we can’t rely solely on our own interests and motivations when choosing the marketing tactics we use for our business.
One day you might feel inspired to create an Instagram video, the next you feel like writing a blog post, and the following day you want to delete both your IG account and your blog and just focus on email marketing.
We’re constantly bombarded with ideas of what we should be doing to market our business.
New platforms and marketing tactics are released that we feel pressured to show up on.
Our individual energy levels fluctuate from day-to-day.
All this to say, it’s not always effective to rely on ourselves when it comes to marketing.
Instead, our marketing should be strategic, built around:
Aligning our efforts with our goals and business objectives
Creating content based on what our target audience is asking for/what resonates with our ideal clients
Capitalizing on emerging trends that make sense for our unique business
Your own thoughts and feelings can play a part in this strategy, but they shouldn’t dictate it. As much as you need to be able to tap into your own intuition, you also need to be able to make objective business decisions – separating yourself from your work in order to look at things with a more critical eye.
So, how do you decide whether something you don't like doing is actually a good fit for your business?
Start by answering these three questions.
1) Will the marketing tactic help you reach your goals?
If the answer is no, the tactic isn’t going to support you in reaching your goals, bail!
Maybe it's just the wrong time, but it's not worth spending time on something that isn't going to produce results for your business.
Establishing your business and marketing goals (and regularly reviewing them) allows you to build a company that’s aligned with you and your vision.
Once you have these goals outlined, you can work backwards to create a clear path towards success.
Along the way, it’s much more impactful to focus your marketing efforts on a couple of key tactics that are going to assist you in moving your goals forward, rather than splitting your energy and resources in ten or twenty different directions.
Look at the data you have available. What’s working? What isn’t?
If you’re the type to feel a sudden burst of energy to start a YouTube channel one day, a blog the next, and a Pinterest account the day after that, I’m here to encourage you to slow down, pause, reflect, and step back to see the full picture.
On the other hand, if you don’t feel inclined to show up anywhere online, but you know that showing up on certain platforms is creating valuable income or leads for you (or could create those if you showed up more consistently), then it’s time to reframe how you think of and approach these platforms.
What would help you feel more inspired to create content here?
What balance can you strike between showing up consistently to move towards your goals, while also taking into account your energy or inspiration levels?
Can you delegate or outsource parts of the marketing process to reduce some of the friction you feel?
Either way, keep in mind that results take time.
If you don’t have the evidence that certain platforms will or won’t bring you clients or income (i.e. you don’t have enough historical data to look back on), look to others in your industry.
What’s working for them? Use this information to make informed decisions about how to approach your marketing.
2) Will you be able to connect with your audience?
Your audience has to be where you're going.
If you're trying to reach teenagers on Facebook, you're going to struggle. But if you're planning to use TikTok, it’s likely a good call (assuming the content is what teens are going to be interested in).
Again, you need to look at the data.
Review your personal platform analytics as well as general platform demographics to make informed decisions about where to show up.
If you love posting on LinkedIn but your audience isn’t there, you’ve never received a client through the platform, and your content isn’t resonating with people, it probably isn’t the best use of your time, energy, and resources.
Alternatively if you hate Instagram but it’s the preferred platform of your ideal clients, it’s likely worth spending time to come up with a strategic approach for how you and your business can show up effectively and consistently on the platform.
What content could you see yourself enjoying creating?
Can you get support (through hiring, AI, or delegating) on some of the elements of the process that you don’t enjoy?
How often could you realistically show up on the platform each week so your audience is satisfied but you aren’t overwhelmed?
Don’t be afraid to ask for feedback directly from your audience. What are they craving? How can you support them? Where can you show up for them?
3) Is there some misalignment in your values?
Your values matter.
This post isn’t to completely disregard your thoughts and feelings either. Of course, they play a part.
I personally won't give money to Facebook, which is why I don't run social ads for my business.
The company has done way too much harm and I don't get near enough value out of it in terms of marketing to invest with them.
I also recently shared an entire blog post about why I don’t agree with Elon Musk, how he approaches business, and how he has ruined Twitter.
These are personal, informed stances I have taken as a business owner.
I know that there’s the possibility that I’m missing out on clients by not running Facebook ads.
I also know that I’m okay with that if it means my money isn’t going towards something I don’t believe in.
I am also consistent with other marketing tactics that are moving my business forward, and so Facebook ads don’t feel necessary for me.
Review your own values and beliefs. How do these relate to the marketing tactics you’re choosing to move forward with (or not move forward with) in your business?
Is there real, valid reasoning behind your decisions? Or are you sacrificing the success of your business and your potential impact because of a mental barrier, lack of inspiration, laziness, or another surface level excuse?
Be honest with yourself here! What’s holding you back? Are your decisions intentional?
Your business is yours, but it’s not just yours
Considering only your perspective in these decisions will only get you so far.
Your feelings matter.
Your values are important.
Your interests should be taken into consideration.
Learning to recognize and listen to our own thoughts, feelings, and intuition is a key part of business ownership. It can help keep us in alignment and can prevent us from experiencing burnout.
Only listening to ourselves though will result in a narrow-minded, tunnel-visioned, closed-off approach to business. (Ask me how I know this. Yep, I’m guilty!)
To see success, especially long-term, we need to implement a more holistic approach.
We need to listen to our audience and ask for feedback.
We need to look at the data to see what is and isn’t working.
We need to ask mentors and coaches for support.
We need to prioritize diversity in our marketing.
We need to establish and regularly review our goals and values.
And we need to have a healthy sense of objectivity when approaching all aspects of our business.