My marketing has been pretty rubbish this year.
This has been my least active year on social media for a long time. I’ve fallen out of love with many of the social platforms and I’ve been feeling as though I’m just going through the motions.
And yet my business has grown steadily this year. So, is that a fluke? Is it just luck? Or is it actually because I’ve focused on the things I enjoy the most and they’ve kept generating a nice flow of leads? Hmmm!
My favourite kind of marketing is networking. I enjoy meeting people in person much more than online. I find it way easier to start a conversation and get to know someone that way. And I feel like networking regularly with the same group of people allows them to develop a much better understanding of what I do and how I can help.
So they become confident to refer me to their clients or their business bezzies. Happy days!
I don’t think there’s any coincidence that the marketing I most enjoy is also the stuff that generates the best results.
Of course this is a bit of a chicken and egg scenario – is it generating results because I enjoy it and feel good at it? Or do I like it and feel good at it because it generates results? 🤷♀️
Probably both to be fair!
Then compare this to the days when I feel guilty about not posting on social media all week because I just haven’t felt inspired to say anything that anyone apart from my Dad would find even vaguely interesting.
We all know how it feels to tie yourself in knots to write something amazing and then watch it crash and burn! Soooo frustrating!
It’s no surprise that I’m having a lot of conversations with people at the moment who are feeling really jaded by social media (because that’s what my grumpy frumpy social media energy is attracting!)
Now you might think that my advice to these people is to sack off social media and just do what they love. But you’d be wrong. Because despite my grumpiness I believe all of us can gain business through social media.
I just don’t think we have to sell our souls or be permanently visible absolutely everywhere to make that happen!
What I’m finding through most of my conversations is that so many people have been sucked into the ‘activity’ trap.
“I must post every day / hour / minute /millisecond or I’ll lose all my traction and be blacklisted by the algorithm”
But they’ve completely lost sight of strategy.
Your strategy will tell you WHY you’re posting, WHO on earth you’re talking to, WHAT they need to hear, and WHERE they’re hiding so you can make sure you turn up in the same place.
Without strategy you’re just winging it. Chucking out as much marketing as you can in the hope that something will work. And even when something does work you’re clueless about which bit it actually was or how you’re supposed to do it again!
Having a strategy will make you feel like there’s a point and a purpose to what you’re sharing, rather than feeling like it’s all just a mahoosive punt!
So, my vlog this week shares tips about making your online marketing more manageable, more enjoyable, and more lucrative by pairing up a decent strategy, with your own skills and what you most enjoy.
If you’d like to feel clearer about what you’re posting AND more confident that it’ll actually generate results, you really need to watch this video.
And of course, if you know this is something you need to work on but you’re not sure how to get started, get in touch so we can arrange a chinwag and I can help you take the right steps to grow your business.