Where Do I Start with Marketing?

Marketing can feel daunting. It can feel like you should know what it means, what it entails. A little bit of SEO here, some content there, what are funnels anyway? Should I know what PPC is? What about paid ads, and then there's social media, storytelling, branding. It’s really easy to get overwhelmed and lose sight of your aims within marketing. The common misconception about marketing is that you have to absolutely start with tactics and strategy. And that's great, to have effective marketing, strategy and tactics are super important. But before anything else, whether you're a freelancer, an entrepreneur, a startup, a small business, or even a big business, the first stepping stone to effective marketing isn't to start thinking about tactics. The first stepping stone is about clarity. You need to know what it is that you want, and who it is that you'd like to attract and who you'd like to talk to.

Before you start thinking "I need to make a logo, a website, a silly viral dancing Tik Tok and an Instagram reel, take a coffee break and ask yourself "Why am I thinking about marketing?".

What is it that's brought you here and what are your goals? Are you looking for more sales and is your marketing directly to make more money? Are you looking for community? Is it that you want credibility or social proof? Do you have something new to show off or launch? And what does it look like if you were to wave a magic wand and reach your end goal so you wouldn't need to think about marketing anymore? Do you now have 10 retainer clients but not 10,000 likes. Did you receive 100 sales but not the 1000 followers? Before you start thinking about a campaign, think about what it is that success of your marketing looks like when you finish. It will help you figure out your "why".

Once you have the 'why' down, you can start figuring out your who. Who are you for? What's your purpose? Your marketing isn’t for everyone because you're not looking for everyone, you're looking for a refined customer base who connect with you. But who are they? What do they need, want, or not know that they need/ want? Where are they online and where are they offline? Of course, this may change depending on the growth of your business and the trajectory of your business profile, yet the point is to ensure that your marketing becomes a conversation rather than a hard sales pitch and that's so much easier when you have an idea of who you're speaking to.

An interesting take is to think of it as a dating profile. Think of your marketing as the first introduction and the first impression that people have of you. Are you confident enough in your approach that you feel that people will swipe right on you? And actually, who is it that you're wanting to attract? And how do you want to come across? Or are you attracting the wrong people for your business and the people you're wanting to attract will automatically be swiping left? And just like in dating, there will be some people that catch your vibe and some people who will really buy into who you are and what you're selling and others won't show any interest at all. But to attract the right kind of people, have a think about what do you want people to know about you? And why should they care about it? What sets you apart from other potential partners or in other words, why should customers choose you? What value do you offer? And then think what tone feels authentic to you? Are you serious and honest or are you cheeky and playful, or are you somewhere in between? When your messaging has clarity and that's apparent to people through consistency and conscious effort, people remember who you are. And more importantly, it's easier to trust you. And that's what marketing is about, being visible but building that trust.

Work with me here and still think of marketing as a dating scene. You don't have to be everywhere to achieve results and so pick your platforms. If you're on every single platform, think tinder, bumble, hinge, coffee meets bagel, grindr, plenty of fish, match.com, lovecupid, what does that say about your aims in the dating scene? The advice would be to just pick one or even two apps and stick to it, be consistent and you'll find your audience. And that goes for in-person networking too because let's be honest, you don't want to be seen as the person who is just a networker and doesn't 'do' anything else. So what is it that each platform does and what is it that you're wanting from each platform? Think Tik Tok, think trend-driven but fun and short-form content, LinkedIn - B2B and networking, Instagram, visual content and story-telling. Then have a think about setting SMART targets, I know it's a super buzz word and we see the word SMART targets or SMART goals and it's met with an eye roll and some dread. But actually, marketing without a goal is just a bit like trying to achieve a solution without knowing the correct way to get there and so your marketing goals do just have to be specific, measurable, and realistic. And check in, what's going well? What isn't?

Finally. STOP TRYING TO GO VIRAL. Stop worrying about what's trending and create the content that you need to create to actually tell your story. What's your journey, what are you about? People want to know that. What have you learnt? What mistakes have you made? You're supposed to make mistakes along the way and marketing is always an experiment and something that you try, test and learn and try and test again. It's not a perfect solution for a perfect problem. If you're waiting for perfect, 'when' becomes 'never' almost guaranteed.