Marketing overwhelm...Every twelve seconds your latest tweet gets old…Your Facebook page needs a post at least four times a day…Post a blog at least once a week…Go to at least one decent networking event this month…Update your headshot on Linked-In every six months…And are you on Instagram and SnapChat yet???
OMG!!!
Marketing is exhausting!
The pressure to keep up with everything you ‘should’ be doing to promote your business is ridiculous.
But there is a simple solution...
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Thankfully Google, You Tube and Linked-In are bulging at the seams with marketing how to’s.
Yet, while assisting with a local chamber of commerce event, I noticed 90% of feedback forms showed the one thing businesses wanted more of, was marketing!
It seems that, regardless of the plethora of webinars, articles and workshops on the topic of marketing, there is still a desperate need to understand how it works and exactly what you should be doing in the limited time you have to spend on it.
It’s not a case of missing information or lack of content that’s the problem, it’s more a lack of clarity and direction.
There is a simple solution for marketing overwhelm and it’s not talked about very often.
Before sharing the simple answer to the marketing puzzle, you need to know there is no magic bullet.
There is a simple solution for marketing overwhelm and it's not talked about very often.
In today’s disruptive marketplace marketing is not set & forget, it is something you have to work at to get right, but there is a formula that makes knowing what to do that can make marketing easy and more effective.
The answer to save your business from WOFTAM (Waste Of Flipping Time And Money) with your Marketing is to get your brand strategy right first.
You see most entrepreneurs are lost when it comes to promoting services, but you can find the path to success.
And you can do it by finding your True North.
You see, your brand is like a compass for your business, pointing you in direction of your single minded purpose, keeping you focused on the #1 thing you want to be recognised and respected for.
Your brand is like a compass for your business, pointing you in the right direction.
If you find it difficult to explain what you do and why someone should choose you, if you are totally overwhelmed with marketing and don;t know what to do next, chances are you have a Map, but no compass.
A MAP (or Marketing Action Plan) gives you an idea of what’s around you, but if you don't know what direction to go, and you don;t know where you are, you might as well use it to light a fire.
Going about your marketing using only a map with no brand strategy or compass to keep you heading in the right direction can be a total waste of time and money.
So take the time to develop your brand strategy compass first.
The magic really happens when you combine your compass (brand) with your map (marketing action plan).
Suddenly your path becomes totally clear and you know instinctively what to do to grow brand awareness and create effective marketing tactics at the same time.
With a brand strategy, you also know when your brand compass is pointing North and when it feels off.
When you are choosing social media channels to use, deciding on topics for blog posting or podcasting, have a marketing opportunity or partnership offer, as long as your compass (brand) is pointing North, your efforts will be rewarded.
And that’s why a brand makes marketing so cost effective, because it determines the marketing tactics and activities you invest your time or money in.
Here is the formula to develop your own brand compass.
West - What is the problem you solve, What service do you provide
East - Execution, how do you serve others, what is your process
South - $ Your value, the transformation that takes place for your clients
North - Your Why, passion and purpose, what makes you feel so strongly about what you do
Consider and combine all points of your compass to create your Brand Strategy - the one thing you want to be well known, well paid & wanted for.
TIP: Find a quiet place and record into your phone, a day in the life of your ideal client, their pain, their desires and how your services can help them. Get it transcribed (I use www.speechpad.com) and use it to focus your brand strategy on a particular market niche.
Then, and only then, think about developing a Marketing Action Plan.
The final Personal Branding Masterclass workshops for the year have limited seats available so you can develop your brand strategy, find your single minded purpose and discover your True North.
CLICK HERE for more information.