Marketing is like courting someone before you propose marriage.
Imagine meeting someone for the first time and they asked straight up “Will you marry me?”. You’d likely say no, right? Maybe not, but I assume no. (And if you’re anything like me you’d turn on your heal and run over the hills and far, far away!)
Now, what if you met another someone and they were the bee’s knees? No strings. The two of you just hit it off chatting until 5 am.
They asked to see you again and of course, you agreed because they were the bomb! Each time you’d lose all sense of time and see the sunrise. It was fun and you trusted them.
Eventually, they said “let’s get married!” and this time you said yes! (Congratulations btw)
Now imagine applying those two scenarios to your marketing. It’s pretty easy to see which one would attract and which one would repel your customers.
As consumers, we’re bombarded with over 4000 marketing messages a day! True according to Forbes.com. So as a small business adding to the machine-gun-fire of “Buy my stuff” inevitably you will get lost in the noise.
Think about it, without a clear targeting strategy or bucket of cash to throw at a campaign, how could you not? One of two things would likely happen:
a) You’d get lost in the ears of jaded-customers or;
b) Competitors with deeper pockets would outperform you.
Either way, this is why we feel so overwhelmed and salesy as business owners. The angle of the hard sell is hard work. I know because that’s how I used to market my stuff. Spray and Pray. “Ta da! I do this! Soooooo buy it yeah!?”.
Since then I’ve learned there is another way, a much better way.
Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of human needs was pivotable in my new perspective on this.
I believe the following to be true:
- We’re all at different stages in the buying journey
- We only notice what will help us survive and thrive
- Not everyone is ready to buy our thing right now
Intercepting people where they’re at instead of dragging them across the purchasing-line is key. I do this by publishing valuable free information to help move people forward in their journey. It helps build trust and positions me as the go-to authority when they’re ready to invest in a marketing transformation.
Your Business Seasons
Think of your customer’s buying cycle as business seasons. People aren’t always willing to buy a particular solution during Winter but you can help them in other ways until Summertime rolls around when they are ready.
As part of my business seasons, I produced a series of affordable projects Marketing Little by Little. It’s an entry point in my business to give great value and teach entrepreneurs how to pull in their ideal customers to work with them without my direct assistance.
I recommend creating a variety of solutions for your business seasons too. It’s a way to meet your customers and move them forward in their buying journey.
Marketing is like courting someone before you propose marriage. It’s about building a relationship over time so they know, like and trust you before they say “I do”.
Kate.
P.S. Keen, to deliver valuable content and grow your email list? Learn how to by optimising your personal Facebook profile.
P.S.S. How about learning 5 hacks to finding your ideal customers (wherever they are)? Get these strategies here.
