There’s plenty of fish in the ocean but are you catching them?
Once upon a time marketing came in print form, radio, television, cold calling and word of mouth. We’d pay for adverts in the local papers, major papers, magazines and hoping for, or paying for editorials in print. We’d organise mail drops, vouchers, coupons, whatever creative marketing that worked best for our business and, of course, our budget. If we had a substantial budget we’d try television or radio. We consider whether our ads were being delivered directly to our audience – all of these mediums cast a wide net, so we’d be sure to hit them. Of course, we’d waste a lot of money on the people who would never purchase from our businesses, but that’s how it went. Most of us didn’t even consider that – what choice was there?
Blind hope was always there and often the only choice given lack of time, resources or cash flow. Word of mouth was our greatest ally, and if we were really evolved, we’d have our customer service dialled up way past a friendly smile and helpful advice. If you’re nodding your head you’re thinking ‘yep‘, this was me… congratulations on making it past the new millennium of marketing. If you’re saying this ‘is’ me….. keep reading.
When Social Media came into existence, it was exactly that. Social Media. LinkedIn came along and some of us joined up but we didn’t really know what to do with it. We connected with ‘professionals’ and those of us who joined Facebook connected with ‘friends’. Twitter was another rising star and we followed our favourite celebrities and motivational speakers and a few friends.. but again… what do we do with it? We eventually figured out that having more contacts meant … well… more contacts… more feed and less time because we were busy keeping up with the Kardashians and what marketing we thought we were doing, fell by the wayside, as did the stuff we thought we might not have to do any more with the existence of Linkedin and Twitter. We were lost.
So, for those of you who are still reading and stuck between old school marketing, new era of digital socials and exhaustion this is it in a nutshell.
Social media is now one of the majors you need to consider. So is email marketing. Let’s call it all Digital Marketing. Still do the other stuff if it serves you well and if you have the budget.
Know this though. You can’t target your audience through a newspaper ad. Of course you can speak to your audience and I encourage you to do this, but you can’t send the newspaper or magazine directly to only your ideal audience so you’re wasting a lot of money on an audience who won’t suit your business. You can put the same funds … less actually, into social media and target your ideal client; the person that will purchase your goods and service. For example, send the 20 something female with hobbies and viewing habits to show she may have expendable income an advert for the perfect stiletto with the spare heel tip, a fabulous photo of a long legged woman in the perfect matching dress, and you’ll be seen by the women who will potentially become a client. There’s no use sending it to a 40 something male. While he may appreciate the fabulous photo, he’s most likely not going to buy the shoe.
There are different platforms you can use. Not all of them will suit your business but the right one is out there being used by your competitors.
Starting a page or a profile and sitting on it… posting the odd photo, sharing some one else’s post isn’t going to attract the right person for you, much like throwing a fishing rod out to sea without the right bait to catch your desired dinner. You need to know who you are trying to attract and throw out the right bait for them to bite. Then, you have to allocate some of your marketing budgets to this piece of bait and tell the ocean you’re sitting in which fish you to want to catch. Make sense?
A good friend and mentor say’s this;
“Fishing where there are no fish is a lovely day out, but does not put food on the table”
~ James Archer
Food for thought??
Now don’t get me wrong. Social Media isn’t the only thing you need to do to properly promote your business and attract new and current clients. A lot of the old ways will still work for you. So will newsletters, picking up the phone and speaking to your clients asking them what works best for them and how you can help further their business, SMS messaging, a good website, blogging, and even a podcast. Check out podcasts by Destroy Digital for some great marketing ideas and case studies. Some business owners go further and will write a book… now that’s a fabulous business card!
