If you flincht just from hearing the word “marketing”, no need to worry… You’re not the only one.
I hear it so often from friends and fellow entrepreneurs. They (and probably you too) think that marketing is time-consuming, feels awkward and a bit shady, and the worst of all: it seems to bring in more work than clients. But is that really the case?
I understand where their frustration is coming from, but I also believe this topic is worth an in-depth discussion to understand our resistance.
To challenge your perspective, I’d like to propose a few ideas that might help you see marketing differently and find an approach that works for you.
Demystify marketing
The first step is to demystify marketing.
Marketing is, first and foremost, a tool to bring clients in and keep them choosing you over your competitors over and over.
Think of it as a toolbox, with various keys, screws etc. Are you going to take all of them or just the ones you need according to the problem you have to solve?
And will you always use the same or change if it’s not help you build that cabinet?
I’m willing to bet good money that most of you have already seen on videos, possibly on marketing courses too, the new mandatory tasks an entrepreneurs must do for “undeniable success” and have heard that you were “doing it all wrong”.
The truth is: hacks and “must-do lists” sell, but they also limit and pasteurize everyone.
Forget the ready-made idea of the right way to do things and start seeing marketing as a box full of possibilities.
Identify where the itchy feeling comes from
For me, this is the trickiest part. Everything we dislike has a deeper cause behind it (hello, therapy).
You’ve probably seen too much content about marketing in recent years, always with rules about what has to be done and about the right way to do marketing.
Apart from binding you to rules that don’t apply to every brand, the same rules keep changing, forcing you to stay on the hamster wheel of the new algorithm.
They also normally refer to social media, which is a great tool, but it is A tool. Not the only one. Possibly not where all your effort should be.
And doing something just because someone told you to is boring, patronizing, even.
Maybe you are an extrovert that loves being on stage, so creating events and summits might work wonders for you.
Maybe you hate the spotlight, but is great on one on one talks and DMs, or even has a story worth sharing on a magazine.
If you stick to tools that have nothing to do with you, it is almost impossible to continue.
Take some time to think about why you dislike marketing, and if has something to do to the way always thought marketing was supposed to be.
Change your point of view
You can continue to see marketing as something horrible and detestable or as a chore to be done. Unfortunately, there are things we have to do. It’s like paying taxes and doing accounting. Some people like it, I hate it and I’m terrible at it, but I do it because it’s part of having a business (and being a citizen, surely).
You got do what you gotta do, right?
BUT, however, nonetheless… Why not make it more you? More enjoyable? You can try doing it with a group (you’re more than invited to my online coworking sessions), in a café, at a park…
Try to see marketing as just another task and make it as enjoyable as possible.
On another note… It won’t help if you keep seeing marketing as the evil twin of your business.
It doesn’t have to be stachty, full of trigger points,
it can be simply viewed as a way for helping identify with you or your brand and its values.
And then serve them. If you can’t bring people in, you cannot serve them and help them with your amazing solution!
Know this: formulas exist and work, but there is no sense of urgency and no trigger that will make a person buy, continue to buy and recommend your work if they don’t identify with you or your brand and its values.
Focus on connecting with people. Marketing is a way of creating connections. It’s about creating a basis for an honest exchange, telling your story and the story of your customers in the best possible way, so you can help them in exchange for their support.
What’s sketchy about that, right?
Find your way
Still on the idea of the toolbox, not all tools will work for you. Depending on your work, your style and your audience, the right tool for you might vary. Choose one, test others, but if you feel it doesn’t sing, don’t force something that isn’t yours. The worst thing we can do is pretend to be someone else. It costs time, energy, and definitely money.
There’s no one way to do marketing.
In fact, if everyone does everything the same, no one will stand out and attract attention, which is the opposite of what we want.
When you know your message and what resonates well with your audience, it becomes easier. Understand who you want to talk to and talk to them in a way that they can resonate with.
Focus on marketing as a way to generate that conversation, create long relationships and show how you can help people. Because you did something specially for them.
Take inspiration from good examples
If you only see the same posts, videos, events over and over, eventually you will start associating content and marketing with only those things (although marketing isn’t just about content – you can read more about that in this article).
Look for good examples and notice who you love to follow. Analyze how they make content, how they speak. It’s probably in a very unique way that you can draw inspiration from.
Notice what you admire on their communication. What catches your eye. Then do more of what you’d like to see.
Be realistic
We don’t always need everything they say about digital marketing. Many solutions apply to those who have a team, who hire agencies, freelancers and have a good marketing budget.
Amuri, for example, often says that self-employed people are not Coca-Cola.
Of course e-mail marketing is great, showing up on socials helps staying visible, building summits and crating podcasts, as well as being invited as a host creates a lot of trust. All of this is amazing. But is it realistic for your current stage?
Do you really need all this? If so, I’d be delighted to help you create it, but it could be way too much, considering all the other tasks you need to accomplish.
So take a step back. Reassess your offer and your audience:
- What is your availability for this offer?
- How many people would it need to be worth it?
- Where is your audience?
- How can you reach them and keep in touch?
Once you know how many people you need to attract for your specific offer, and where they are, it’s much easier to think about what needs to be said, to whom, where, when and, my favorite part, how.
Understanding what you need is the step to an effective strategy.
It is also the first thing I do in my initial conversations with clients, before they want to spend all their money on landing pages, ads, god forbid, buy email lists (don’t ever do that).
TLDR? Marketing doesn’t have to be painful. Find your tool, test it, talk to YOUR people and find YOUR way. The rest is consistency (and a bit of stubbornness) :).
Also, a tip: be wary of too good to be true promises and focus on your needs before you spend all your time and money in a strategy that won’t fit just because a guru told you so.
