Intro:
The first question I often get asked by prospective clients is: “Can you help me with my social media?”. This is a valid question, but often misses the point that there’s a lot more to marketing in your business than social media alone.
Social media is one set of channels, which should of course be part of your marketing strategy, but isn’t the be all and end all. There are lots of other marketing channels that may well be more effective for your business… they’re just not as visible online as social media!
Here are some of the main channels you should consider using alongside social media to have a well-rounded marketing strategy.
Blog
If you have a website, you can have a blog! Blogging has lost favour in some marketing circles because it’s a longer form of content compared to social media. However, there are still lots of advantages to blogging regularly.
For one, it does help improve your SEO (another hot topic in marketing at the moment!). But aside from that, it also has other benefits that are less talked about:
- It’s owned media. You own your website and therefore your blog. You don’t own Instagram or Facebook or LinkedIn. If they all disappeared overnight and that’s the only place you promote your business, what would you do?
- You have more space and time to help your customers. Because blogging is longer-form content, you can provide a lot more value to your audience.
- You have more freedom. You can post about whatever you want because (you guessed it), you OWN your blog. You don’t have to worry about algorithms and fitting into certain word counts. It’s a beautiful space on the internet for you to do things your way.
Email marketing
I’m not going to lie, building your email list is hard work. But it’s worth it. If you build your email list using a permission-based approach, where your contacts have to opt in and agree to receive your emails, then you’re building up a community of people who really want to hear from you and value your expertise.
Like blogging, you might be put off by all that writing you’re going to have to do if you commit to email marketing as part of your marketing strategy! But again, your emails don’t have to be long. In fact, sometimes the shorter the better. Communicate some value each week concisely and you’ll stay top of mind for your audience, without spending hours agonising over content and design.
Lead magnets
This fits in well with email marketing. One way of asking people to join your mailing list is to provide them with some free value in exchange for their email address. Make sure it’s a resource that you know will help them. I often get asked about social media so I created my Social Media Channel Cheat Sheet [link to https://freshbat.kartra.com/page/channel-cheat-sheet].
It’s a win-win – they get amazing value completely free from you and you get their permission to email them on a regular basis so you can build strong relationships with them.
Webinars
Another great way to communicate value for free to your ideal clients. They give you a chance to share your expertise and build trust with your audience as they can often get to know you better this way than through written media.
Networking events
One of my favourite and underrated ways to do marketing in my business. In B2B marketing it’s easy to forget that you’re still aiming to connect with real people, just like in B2C. Networking events are a great way to do this.
They’re also much more dynamic than a lot of the other marketing channels, which often feel very one-way. Engagement with your ideal clients is by far the best way to find high-quality marketing leads that will ultimately convert into sales for you.
Guest speaking slots
If you can get in front of a new audience as a guest speaker, this is an excellent way to increase your audience and reach more people who could benefit from your services.
This marketing activity really positions you as an expert so it’s incredible for your personal brand as well as a great opportunity to promote your services.
Referrals
Word of mouth is always going to be the best form of marketing. But are you actively encouraging referrals? It’s easy to assume a happy client will refer you to everyone they know… but the reality is they probably won’t because they have a hundred other things on their plate.
You can encourage referrals either simply by asking for them when you’re working with a client, or by setting up a more formal referral scheme in your business where you pay commission to anyone who refers a new client to you.
Offline marketing
Last but not least, offline marketing is still a hugely viable way to do marketing! It’s easy to forget this is still an option. Why not send your ideal clients something in the post? It’ll certainly stand out if you know your ideal clients spend all day being bombarded with digital marketing!
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