I’ve gotta tell you something essential, next level to your future grow and super controversial (that’s just who I am in a nutshell😚). Ready for it?
Forget everything you thought you knew about digital marketing.
Why? Because I think digital marketing is one of the most under understood. Can I say that!? No, but I wanted to get my point across lol. Let’s go with ‘misunderstood’ and move on!
I think digital marketing is the most misunderstood (yep!) aspect of our current small business environment. I think so many times, regardless of the type of business that you’re trying to launch or grow, there is a misperception about what digital marketing is and what it can be for your business. That can be really detrimental for a number of reasons.
What do you need? What does your business require?
I think the bigger issue, for me, is that you have misconstrued desires that you’re looking to get out of digital marketing, and you’re really not taking advantage of the impact of marketing your business if you believe the only thing you have to do is pay to get more clients. So, the first aspect of this, is to understand what digital marketing is and what it’s not.
Well, the first thing that it is, is it’s a way for you to market your business, completely online. That can be a lot of different things, including ads, that’s advertising on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Google, Pinterest, and any of the like. And it can also be things that are not typically conceived as digital marketing, such as online reviews, social media, and pretty much any combination of those things. What I think is equally as important, is understanding that digital marketing is also your email, your automation, and your text message SMS strategy. That includes web chat online, as well as having calls, and text messages, and communications offline.
So, you can see there’s a lot more to digital marketing that you may not have considered as part of your arsenal of things you can do to grow your business. So, that’s the first thing. The second part of this, is that oftentimes I meet business owners and they’re super excited about the idea of diving into digital marketing tactics, but they’re not ready. And sometimes, the things they have to do to get ready, are not exactly the most popular with a business owner.
One, is that it takes cost and sometimes it takes some investment that they weren’t expecting. And two, because they were expecting that the end all be all for their business was going to be investing in digital marketing, which is incredibly unrealistic expectations. And so, there’s three things I want you to consider if you’re really serious about growing your business and you’re following. I think these three things are what you need to have a great experience with digital marketing.
And the first, is to get your assets ready. Ooh, get your assets ready…. I’m into it🤣🤓😝
Okay, just moving on….
Get your assets ready, which means, genuinely, get the things that you need in order to be successful online, make them the thing that you want to promote. For instance, your website. Listen, most businesses, especially small businesses, and especially in the niche that I typically work in; fitness, beauty, health, and wellness. They tend to cheap out when it comes to building their website or improving their website. My recommendation is that your website is turnkey, so that it’s really great for a client to get to the website, it’s easy for them to navigate, and then you have one less thing to worry about when it comes to conversion.
Sales, please… and more of it!
Your goal for digital marketing has got to be conversion of sales. So, in order to make that more possible and plausible, your website needs to be set up in a way that the easiest, most customer centric, modality and user experience is the goal. Okay, so the second piece of this, is that you need to make sure all of your system’s in place, not just the digital ones. So, sometimes I’ll find businesses that have a phone number on their website, and yet no one ever answers the phone. Okay. Or they had this contact us form that they’re really proud of on their website, or it’s something that they’re constantly talking about, ask us question, DM us, and then no one ever responds.
Guys, these are the things that people are weary of when it comes to online business, social media, and especially in small business. So, to take those three things out of your arsenal of success, it actually limits the ability for digital marketing to help you. What does that mean? Well, it definitely means you need someone who can be serious about growing the business alongside you, if you’re a business owner that doesn’t have the time to do the day to day like this. And it does mean that they’re going to need some training and some timing to ensure that every time a client reaches out, they’re able to get that level of conversation, communication, and connection that they need to make a decision.
Let me give you an example about this. Sometimes you’re inviting a client to get to know a product or a service that they’ve never done before. And that can be really petrifying and frustrating for the end user. Why? Because as good as you think your website is, as informative as you think your social media may be, there are things that you may not have addressed. And if you have not addressed something that keeps a client from making a buying decision, then that’s going to limit your digital marketing. So, some things you can do is of course automate some of that information, create tutorial videos, add better frequently asked questions, not the BS you typically have. And so, that helps the client, at least as long as they can navigate it, to understand some of the questions that you know they have.
The second piece of this, is really to ensure that there’s a chance for them to connect with a human. I know that sounds silly in the digital world we live in, but being small and independent as a business, it actually is your vantage point, it is what you have over a big box retailer or business. And so, it is so important that you get back to the business of being boutique, being niche, be independent, be community driven, so that your clients can actually get to know you, get to know the products or services you’re offering, and actually do the thing you want them to do, which is to make the buying decision. That is the entire purpose of digital marketing.
Get your marketing together, seriously!
Okay, last thing and then I’m going to get off my marketing soapbox for the day. I really believe that there is this disconnect between success and the results that get you there. What I mean by that, is oftentimes there’s a lack of desire to track and measure and really put the level of professionalism into digital marketing that I know you’re going to need. This is why oftentimes working with an expert on your digital marketing is a lot better than trying to piece it all together yourself, or using some virtual assistant who has no idea what they’re doing, or an intern who has no knowledge of your business and no expertise.
So, I say all this to say, I think digital marketing can really level up your business. Let me say it a different way. I know digital marketing has leveled up countless businesses, especially small, independent ones like yours. But when it works well, you need to invest, you need to prepare, and you need to be very strategic so that you can make sure that, that first experience your client has with your business, or that subsequent second experience, is amazing.
That means the first touch from the time they click on the ad, from the last moment before they make a buying decision. And that is actually the thing you may have overlooked about what digital marketing can do for you. Okay, I’m sure I’m going to get lots of questions about this one, so let me know. What aspects of this make you feel stuck, maybe burdened, like it’s too much or too expensive, or maybe that’s just your misperception. And then what parts of this are you like, “Yeah, I can do this. I can do this tomorrow.” Let’s talk about this in depth and what it means for YOU and your needs!
xoxo KK
There’s another level of success just waiting for you reach it… are you willing to invest, be intentional and put in the work to get there!? – KK FIP TIP #1079