6 things you need to get consistent with your marketing

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How consistent is your marketing? How much time do you really put aside to market your business? Really think about it.

In my Big, Fat Survey of the Year 2020, the majority of respondents said they spent 5 hours or fewer a week on marketing their business.

I’ve been asked a lot about how small business owners can be more consistent with their marketing. It’s a tall order, especially if you’re the only one in your business. You are your everything, right?

Believe me. I get it.

Short of paying to have someone do it for you, you don’t have many options… at least that’s what you think.

Being consistent with your marketing your business is achievable. The truth is, you’re going to have to put in the time to achieve it. Nothing worth the struggle comes easy. And your business is definitely worth the struggle.

So, grab a cuppa (or something stronger if you’re reading in the evening) and I’ll take you through what you need to do.

Start with your goals

I know, I can almost feel your inward groan. But let me tell you that there’s nothing that focuses the mind more than having a goal you want to achieve. And who doesn’t want their business to be successful?

Here’s the thing…

Your goal setting should start with your business goals. Yep! Because they impact what your marketing goals should be.

When you think about your business goals, think in numbers….

• I want to achieve £50,000 revenue by the end of the year.

• I want to increase profits by 20% every six months this year.

• I want to increase sales by 10% month on month this year.

You get the gist.

Now you have business goals, you can start to set your marketing goals and decide on your marketing strategy. There, I said the s-word you really don’t like.

Let’s break this down

Think of your marketing strategy as a meal plan. You want a healthier diet, but you don’t just go out and buy ingredients and hope for the best, do you?

You sit down and work out how you’re going to achieve your goal of a healthier diet week on week. You work out meals that will help you. You start to explore different recipes to see if they fit your new meal plan.

A marketing strategy is the same. It needs a few more inputs (I’ll go into that further down), but essentially, you’re creating a meal plan for your business.

Now you’re ready to set some marketing goals!

Why set marketing goals?

Your marketing goals are going to help you achieve your business goals. It’s as simple as that. Let’s take one of the examples I gave you above.

You want to increase sales month on month by 10% this year.

Let’s say you’re an eCommerce business. Your sales come from your website, right? So your marketing goals are going to be driven by increasing traffic to your website.

One of your marketing goals might be…

I will increase monthly traffic to my website by 15% by introducing a blog where I share tips and advice about how people can get more from my products. I will drive traffic to the blog via a mix of social media and email marketing.

Can you see how your marketing goal ties into your business goal?

Read more about the types of goals you can set for your email marketing.

Having goals you can aim for is going to mean you’ll want to spend the time figuring out how to get there. And it means more consistent marketing because you know you have to!

Know your target audience

“If you try to sell to everyone, you’ll sell to no one.”  Have you heard that before? It really is true.

You need to get granular about who your target audience is. Don’t get me wrong… It might be more than one type of person.

But you need to know if that’s true for you, or whether it really is one, particular group.

At this point, you might be wondering what this has to do with consistently marketing your business. Well, knowing your target audience will help you to be consistent in your messages. That means people will remember what you say.

First thing’s first

Do some research. Get elbow deep in learning as much as you can about your current customers.

• Who buys from you – men, women, or both?
• How old are they?
• Where do they live?
• What have they bought?
• Have they bought more than once?

You can add as much to this list as you like. Every detail is going to help you get to know your customers better.

What are their pain points?

What problem are you solving for your customers? You can take a guess at this, but a much better way to find out is by asking them!

Pick a small group that you know well and ask them. You can either call them and have a chat or email them. Either way, give them the opportunity to tell you.

Where do they hang out?

You want your marketing messages to be in the right place. Don’t take a stab in the dark. Spend some time figuring out where your customers are – online and offline.

Here’s how you can do that:

• Ask existing customers. That small group you’re going to contact to find out their pain points. They’ll tell you!
• Look at what already works well for you. You might have got there by accident, but you can definitely capitalise on it!

Know why

We all have reasons for doing things. Understanding those motivations is going to help you.

First, know your why. Why did you start your business? It’s not because you love marketing! Figuring out your why will help you to articulate how you can help your customers.

What’s that? Me?

My why is to help you find your inner marketer. That means I want to make marketing as accessible as I can for you. Because I know you have to do it, and your pain point is that you don’t know how!

Next, work out why you. Why should people pick you over your competitors?

And there’s one really easy way you can do that. Ask! Ask existing customers why they picked you and why they continue to do so.

Create a brand to attract your tribe

This is not just for big businesses. Your business can have a brand too. What’s more, you should have one.

Why? Think of a brand as a coat stand. It’s the foundational piece you hang things on that help you communicate with your target audience.

Things like:

• What you stand for or your values
• Your identity
• Your promise
• Your messaging

Getting this nailed is really going to help you deliver consistent messages.

Your identity

I want to pull this one out as an example of why you should have a brand. Creating an identity is going to make you recognisable in the market you serve. What does that look like in reality?

• Your logo
• The colours you use
• The language you use (your tone of voice)
• The style of photos you have
• The font sets you use

That’s just a few examples. If you want to hear from an expert, listen to Bhavini Lakhani, who was a guest on The Marketing Mix.

When you have a brand strategy (there’s that s-word again) you have a coat stand where all the coats and hats hung on it are consistent.

It’s all in the planning

If you don’t write it down, it won’t happen. At least that’s how it works for me.

But…

Just because it’s written down (or typed up) doesn’t mean it’s set in stone.

So, knuckle down and write yourself a plan. I mean, if you’ve done all the things I’ve already talked about, you’re more than halfway there!

Start with a helicopter view. By that I mean, what do you want to achieve with your marketing in a full year? This needs to support your overall business goals.

Now break that down into smaller, steps.

• What do you want to achieve every three months (quarterly)

• What does that look like monthly?

• What do you need to do weekly?

Do you see where I’m going here? Once you get to the weekly stage, you have weekly tasks you need to complete.

Here’s the thing…

Those weekly tasks feed up into your monthly, quarterly, and annual goals. The impact of this will be on your bottom line – the money you make.

One thing I know always falls off the list is email marketing. So here’s how you can create an email marketing plan you stick to.

And I’m going to repeat:

Just because it’s written down, doesn’t mean it’s set in stone. Review your plan regularly so you can adapt to changes. You’ve been there before; remember 2020 when it was all change, all the time?

Make the time

I’m going to be blunt with you here. If you can’t find the time, you will never achieve consistency. I know marketing isn’t your bag. It’s not why you started your business. I get it, I really do.

There really is only one person who can do it (unless you have the budget to pay someone), and that person is you!

That’s why it’s so important that you make time to do your marketing.

I’ve said it once, and I’ll say it again.

Marketing is not a tap you turn on when you need customers. It just doesn’t work that way.

You need to do it. Every. Single. Day.

Treat your business like a customer

Wait. What?

Think about it. Would you keep putting off doing things for your customers? Of course, you wouldn’t. They are important. They are where your sales come from.

And the reason your sales come from them is that at some point, they’ve come across your marketing.

Think about when you want to turn something into a habit. What do you do? You make changes in your behaviour, and you make time for the habit you want to adopt. And then you give it time to bed in.

Ohhhhh…. Is this your lightbulb moment?

You need to turn marketing your business into a habit. This means:

• Making the time in your schedule.
• Blocking time out for tasks.
• Prioritising your business.

Use methods that work for you. You need to make this work for you, otherwise, you just won’t do it.

If you struggle with this, I really recommend you read The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg. I promise you won’t be able to put it down, and it will help you.

It all starts with a little help. You don’t have to do this all on your own.

Let me be your marketing coach. Working alongside you, I’ll accelerate your learning about how to market your business. I’ll help you get results from day one and ensure you build on your successes.

Fast forward, and you’ll have THE strategy and tools to grow your business and achieve your goals.

You’ll get to set the agenda, choose the plan that works for you and prioritise what’s important for your business. I’ll be your guide to helping you find your inner marketer. Let’s talk and get you started!