What Are Your Strategies? Today’s topic is marketing strategies. Things are about to get seriously exciting up in here!!
What’s the Difference Between Goals, Strategies, and Action Items? To start, let’s distinguish the difference between strategies and goals. Goals are what you want to achieve. Strategies are the methods and channels you will use to accomplish your goals.
A word of caution for all of you who want to run to the finish line before you finish tying your shoes. Slow down a second. Strategies are not actions. That comes next. Strategies are the big, overarching tools/methods you will use. Since my mind automatically gravitates toward marketing, if one of your goals is to increase exposure and expand your audience by XX% in XX days, think of strategies as: social media, email marketing, research on a specific topic, networking, writing on a topic, speaking on particular topics or to particular audiences (aka the channels you will use to achieve these goals).
How Many Strategies Should I Implement at One Time? I wouldn’t recommend implementing all of these at once – especially if you’re a lone ranger solopreneur like I am. Pick 1,2, or 3 strategies where you will laser-focus your time that you set aside to dedicate to reaching this particular goal. Otherwise, you’ll be spread too thin and will end up spinning your wheels and/or getting burned out. Not a recommended goal. Don’t go there, please!! There are several problems when you approach it this way. For one, you will get burned out because no one has time to do everything. For another reason, you won’t stand out if you’re only doing a little of this and a little of that. You want to go big in a few places.
Ideally, you want to identify a few methods where you can dive deep. Base these on your strengths, personality, and the type of business you have. I recommend implementing 2-3 strategies at a time.
Make sense? Ok, then. Moving on…
What are some examples of marketing strategies? I love to help my clients plan their success and focus on specific strategies to help them get there. We create a map together based on what makes the most sense for them and their business.
This is by no means an exhaustive list of marketing strategy examples, just a few to get the juices flowing in your brain to determine what is right for you. Here goes: social media channels, video, free giveaways, freebies/freemiums, blogs, guest blogs, networking groups, networking on social media, public speaking, writing a book, creating a book tour, email marketing, Facebook/Google/other social media ads, webinars, courses, podcasts. Phew! That’s a bunch. Write these down and start doing some brainstorming. Which are right for you? You might want to link a few of these together. What you choose will depend on your personality, business, and target audience.
How to Have Ridiculous Amounts of Success with Your Marketing Strategies. I recommend implementing a strategy for a minimum of 3-6 months before determining whether or not it will work for you. How many of you know someone who tries something once or 2-3 times and then decides it’s not right for them?
Everyone I know who has become truly successful says that it takes persistence and consistency. These are keys to your strategies. Once you determine what you will do, you repeat the process over and over. Humans like routine and consistency. I’m sure you’ve heard that when it comes to marketing and advertising, it takes 6-7 touches for someone to decide they trust you enough to work with you. If you only make 2-3 attempts, you’re never going to achieve the success you want – the success you see others have and it seems to come to them so easily.
Whether you realize it or not, people are watching you. They are watching the way you conduct yourself, the way you run your business, and the way you develop it. I can’t tell you how often people tell me that they notice I’m consistent with my blogs, my videos, my social media. This consistency translates to trust. They know that I’m not going anywhere, that I stay in one place long enough to dig deep. So, they trust me as an authority and someone they can trust. This is what I recommend to any business owner. Find your sweet spot and plant yourself.
This doesn’t mean that you should never try anything new or that you can’t experiment with new strategies to see if they work for you. I’m merely saying that once you try something new and decide that you want to jump on that band wagon, stick with it!
If you have any questions at all on strategies, please let me know in the comments below.