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What is strategy and why is it important in your business?
Building a comprehensive marketing strategy can do wonders for saving time, maximizing ROI, and achieving business goals. This strategy doesn’t need to be overwhelming, it just needs to be intentional – linking your goals with aligned actions.
Not everything will work. But the more you’re able to define your audience, clarify your desired outcomes, establish clear goals, and refine your messaging, the more confident you’ll become in your efforts and decisions.
Content creator vs. content creation: How to find the right balance for your business
As consumers continue to demand more from the brands they support, business owners tend to feel an even greater pressure to be omnipresent online. But, how far should you go?
While creating content is often necessary to grow your business, that doesn’t mean you have to fully embrace the role of a content creator. Here are some ways to strike a balance in your business and marketing efforts.
What’s the business case for Black Friday?
It’s that time of year when retailers and consumers alike brace themselves for the onslaught of discounts, deals, and sales that come at the end of November. With Black Friday closing in, of course, small businesses are forced to think about their own sales and offerings too.
Questions like: do I need to create a new offer? Should I be promoting my product or service? Do I need new sales funnels?, might be flooding your mind.
So, what are my thoughts as a marketing consultant, and someone who has been on both sides of Black Friday chaos?
3 ways to challenge "best practices" in your marketing
I love doing things my own way. It’s why I tend to push back on the Black Friday madness, encourage challenging the status quo in business (as long as it’s in good faith), and have spoken out about some of the most popular entrepreneurial book recommendations.
Just because a particular activity or approach is considered a “best practice” by many doesn’t mean it’s the best practice for your business. Let’s deconstruct some common marketing narratives and explore alternatives.
Connect your goals to an action plan that will guide you to success
When I talk to clients about their goals, one of the missing pieces tends to be an action plan. They have their vision, but what’s unclear is how they’re going to (realistically) get there with their current resources.
An action plan breaks down each goal you have into parts, taking you step-by-step closer to meeting the goal.
Let’s explore this with a basic example of some short-term goals that are connected, with moving parts.
Consistency in marketing: your key to success or the reason you’re falling short?
Consistent marketing is often promoted by marketers as your key to building audience trust, increasing customer loyalty, and improving sales numbers. But what does being consistent actually mean?
The best way to uphold a sense of marketing consistency for your business is to be intentional with the schedule you set out for yourself, and what you hope to achieve through these efforts. Let’s further explore what this means, and how to apply this concept in your own business.
Expand your business marketing efforts beyond social media
You can’t solely rely on social media to market and grow your business. You aren’t in control of the platforms and they can go away or change, at any time, for any reason, without any warning, and with zero recourse.
So, let's talk about some additional strategies you can implement into your business in an effort to diversify your marketing efforts beyond social media, your website, and/or email marketing. And as a bonus? You have greater control over how these initiatives work for your business.
3 qualities that matter more than perfection in marketing content
Building a brand and business takes time. Not everyone has a well-formed vision of what their business should look like from day one, let alone how to execute on that vision.
But really, that’s not such a bad thing! It gives you room for growth and improvement over time, which your audience will likely notice and appreciate. Here’s what matters more than everything looking and sounding perfect: authenticity, expertise, and repetition.
How to address the biggest marketing challenges for small business owners
Most small businesses don’t have the time, money, or expertise they need to make decisions about marketing. So where does that leave you? While this analysis might sound bleak, there are ways to make marketing work for you, as long as you’re willing to prioritize strategy.
Let’s review some of the common marketing barriers small business owners are facing and look at potential solutions.
Here’s why you need to prioritize accessibility in your business marketing
Making changes to support accessibility in your business isn’t something that only applies when you have a physical location for your business. Accessibility is just as important in online environments.
Getting started with accessibility takes time and commitment. It's not the easiest or most convenient pursuit.
But if it means that someone who needs your services is able to access the information you have, it can be a great way to show that you are inclusive in how you communicate and work with customers.
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