What pops into your mind when you hear the phrase "marketing strategy"? Are you thinking of creating YouTube videos? It may be time to buy a radio ad. You could even be thinking of boosting a post on Facebook. The world of marketing can be overwhelming for any business owner today but it doesn't have to be.
In this article, I'm going to show you an easy-to-follow marketing strategy that anyone can execute. This strategy doesn't take a lot of time and will result in you growing your revenue. Stick around until the end and I'll show you a High Beam Marketing case study of a recent client who followed this exact plan and got unbelievable results.
Understand Your Customer's Motivation: The Core of Your Strategy
My wife and I are in the middle of selling our house. That means we get to do a hundred small projects to get it ready for the new owner. With any home project comes at least four different trips to Lowe's.
On one of my trips, I found myself in the aisle with caulk. While I tried to find a specific shade of gray I stumbled across the Gorilla Waterproof Caulk & Seal. At first I was a little surprised to find Gorilla Glue in the sealant aisle. Why would someone want to glue the seems in their countertop?
Then I realized that Gorilla Glue was the name of a product and not the name of the company. Gorilla started as a glue-only brand in the 90s but has since expanded into dozens of different but similar product categories. Every time they expand into a new category they understand one thing: What goal does their customer have? Every customer is motivated by two things: Intrinsic Motivation and Extrinsic Motivation.
Understanding Why We Do Things: Intrinsic vs. Extrinsic Motivation
Think about why you do certain things. Sometimes, you do something because you really like it or it makes you happy. This is called intrinsic motivation. It's like reading your favorite book because you enjoy the story, or drawing a picture because you love being creative.
Other times, you do things to get a reward or because someone else wants you to. This is called extrinsic motivation. For example, a kid might do homework to get good grades, or help with chores at home to earn some allowance.
So, intrinsic motivation is all about doing things because you personally enjoy them, while extrinsic motivation is when you do things to get a reward or to avoid something you don't like. Both reasons are important for different situations in our lives.
Marketing gurus like to make the art of marketing complicated but it shouldn't be. At the end of the day, you should know what goal your customer has and why they have that goal. Gorilla knows that their customers need things to stick together or seal water tight and they also know that people want to trust the products they buy. So, they are extending the brand trust they've built over three decades into specific product categories.
Action Step: Pause here and brainstorm – What goals could your potential customers have in relation to your business?
Understanding Your Market Fit
My son has this shape game where he has to try and fit different-shaped pegs in different-shaped holes. My man is stubborn! I've seen him spend way too much time trying to shove a square peg in a round hole. He tries harder and harder and harder with no progress. This is how I see most business owners operating in their market.
It's better for you to make a small pivot and get product (or service) market fit then to keep going after a market that will never work. But how do you know if you have product market fit?
Is your product or service so in line with the customer's goal that they are excited to tell their family and friends with the same goal about it for free? A revealing study by Nielson found that a staggering 92% of customers trust recommendations from friends and family more than any other form of advertising. So, you can spend all the money in the world on all the ads you want but unless people talk about your business for you for free it'll never work.
Action Step: Pause and reflect on this for a moment. Be real with yourself. Do you actually have a product that fits your customer's goals or do you need a pivot? Are you unsure how to tell if you have product market fit? Check your online reviews, social media interactions, year-over-year sales trends, and conduct your own customer interviews.
Embrace Digital Advertising
50 years ago there were really only a couple ways to advertise your business. You could buy a radio spot. You could run a TV ad. You could buy space in print (think newspaper or magazine) and pray that someone sees it. Now, with the digital advertising, you can advertise to anyone anywhere in a million different ways. It can be really overwhelming. I can't tell you how many clients I've spoken with who've said that Google is a waste of money.
Not so long ago, advertising options were rather limited. Now, the digital age offers unlimited choices. But where should you focus your efforts?
Make sure that your website is clean and simple. Make sure that it has the ability to collect both email addresses and money when people want to spend it.
Figure out which platform your customer is most likely to be using. Once you do, commit to spending money with ads (not organic content marketing) for at least three months. This will give you enough data to make more informed decisions down the road. Most people quit advertising too quickly and never get the right strategy in place. Need help choosing between Meta ads and Google ads? Check out this article.
Email your entire email list at least once per week. Content in this email could be anything from a new blog you've written to a reminder about a sale you have going on to a new item you have in the shop.
Commit to this strategy for a year and watch your business transform!
Something to Consider
Do you already have a clear understanding of your customer's goals and believe that you have product market fit? Are you ready to sell more products online than any year before? If so, we would love the chance to speak with you about your business and see how our performance marketing plans could help you grow your business. Currently, we're averaging over a 6x return on ad spend for our portfolio of clients. That means for every dollar our clients give us we give them six back. Reach out today if you're ready to learn more.
Case Study: The Nashville Cocktail Festival
We met with the team behind the Nashville Cocktail Festival (NCF) a few months before their event. NCF was in its 9th year and looking to attract a larger crowd than it ever had before. They clearly understood that the goal of their customer was to be able to go out and have a good time that didn't involve Broadway in downtown Nashville.
The festival clearly had product market fit with it being its 9th year and dozens of positive reviews online and plenty of returning customers year after year. The only problem NCF had when they came to us was that they hadn't been able to fully implement the digital advertising piece of their marketing plan.
We worked with them to optimize their ticketing sales page, ran digital ad campaigns to build their email list and sell tickets on Meta (Facebook & Instagram), and built an email campaign that focused on consistent delivery over the course of two months with an emphasis on the early bird ticket discount and the last chance to buy messaging.
With this simple three-prong approach we helped NCF sell 51% more tickets than the previous year! The only thing that changed was that we helped them implement a well-rounded digital advertising system. It isn't complicated but it isn't necessarily easy to do. If you need help implementing a marketing system in your business, reach out for a discovery call.
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