This might be the most actionable, helpful episode of The Found Podcast I’ve ever released. Not kidding.
In today’s episode, we dive in to the three things I wish all small business owners knew about marketing in order to get people to take action. And I don’t tell you to adopt any short-term trends or spend a bajillion dollars to do it.
Nope, we focus on three key components:
- People do business with people
- You choose the trends, don’t let the trends choose you
- Everyone has a story to tell
In each of these components we drill down further to help you create a marketing strategy that fits you, your audience, and your business, and we use examples to help you take action just in time for summer.
This episode also comes with plenty of resources, so be sure to tap the links below to access my 100 Story Starters downloadable tool and the slide deck that accompanies this information.
And if you want the help of a strategic marketing expert to walk through this process on behalf of your business, reach out at molly@mollyknuthmedia.com to discuss a 1:1 Strategy Session to give you a clear plan for your 2024 marketing.
People do business with People
I learned this in my teaching career, using Facebook for a book drive for my classroom
Learned this in my first “client” – my dad’s business: telling stories of the process, behind the scenes
“People do business with people”
“My hope is that that made you see some aspect of yourself or your business journey…because we connect so strongly through storytelling elements”
You Choose the Trends, Don’t Let the Trends Choose You
Marketing Flywheel – Attract, Nurture, Serve
Attract:
- purpose: get out in front of people, recognize our name & what we offer
- FB ads, sponsor banner, newspaper ad, commercial on tv or podcast, in-person networking events, collaborations, vendor shows, etc.
- “How do we stand out and how do we get more eyeballs on us?”
- NOT asking for the sale or any commitment, just repeating our names and helping others remember us – just drive them to the nurture phase
- If you DIY your own marketing, have 1 attraction method. If you have a team or contractor support, you can have more than one attract presence.
Nurture:
- purpose: to understand what it’s like to be our client or customer
- social media posts, videos, demos, informercials, email newsletters, email challenges, downloadable freebie guides, podcast series, blog entry, case studies, client reviews, coffee chats, workshops
- guide them to the next step of your process: serve, aka: make it easy for them to become a client or customer
Serve:
- purpose: make it so easy and delightful that your clients/customers want to tell everyone about you
- client experiences, gifts, bonuses, discount codes, referral program, exceptional customer service, exceptional client workflow
Your job: pick marketing avenues from each of these three phases so we’re moving people through the stages of buyer consideration
“you need to know, what is the person who i’m looking to help having a problem with right now? what is their struggle? what is their challenge?”
“we can choose the aligned avenues of marketing that match our audience, that match us, and that fit those three arms of the flywheel. That is a much more intentional, that is a much much more humanized form of marketing.”
Everyone has a story to tell
It all comes back to making people feel seen, heard, valued, and understood.
When we plan our marketing strategy, we follow the flywheel from attract to nurture to serve.
When we begin creating workflows, processes, and assets, we reverse the flywheel.
Begin by setting a goal. I recommend doing this at least quarterly to orient all your marketing efforts.
Then move into developing the systems, processes and assets you need to serve your clients and customers.
After serve, create your nurture sequence. What do we need to communicate or express to make our clients/customers feel seen, heard, and understood?
Lastly we create our attraction content pieces. Do not fall into the trap of getting a really great marketing idea and implementing it immediately without nurture or serve developed. Attraction is the last thing you create, so you know where you are guiding your potential clients and customers to.
If you feel lost when it comes to creating assets for attraction, refer to the SEEN model: stories, education, entertainment, and news.
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