“If you build it, they will come” only works in the movies. You have to tell the world that you exist and you have a superpower. Now more than ever is the world of marketing a vital element in your business.
Christie Ruffino interviews Lori Highby on Overcoming Mediocrity Podcast.
Listen to the episode: https://overcomingmediocrity.org/10-lori-highby-12-18-20/
Key Takeaways
Tip #1 – Conduct research to build a solid marketing plan together. And, in today’s day and age, content is the fuel around that. First and foremost you need to know what it is that you’re trying to achieve. So earlier today, I had a phone call with a prospective client of ours, and she wants us to run some Facebook ads with her. So what is the goal? What do you want to happen? She wasn’t able to give me a clear answer. How do you define success if you don’t even know what it is that you’re trying to achieve?
You need to know where you’re trying to go. What is the goal that you’re trying to achieve? I always like to relate it to a GPS. We have our end destination, we plug it into the phone, and you get a couple of route options. And you may end up getting a detour, which I’d say 2020 is a great detour for all of us. It’s easier to follow that detour to help you achieve that goal that you have at the end of the day.
Tip #2 – Take a look at your competition. I don’t want you to put too much thought into this, that you’re constantly looking at them. But when you’re looking at that destination that you’re trying to reach, it’s really good to see what competition you have out there and take a look at what they’re doing.
We typically recommend looking at about three to five competitors. Where are they showing up online? What channels are they on social media? Are they sending out newsletters? Are they blogging? And what is it that they’re saying? Is there a consistent message that’s being conveyed? Or are they just kind of all over the place? What type of content are they publishing that people are engaging with? You also want to take a look at how they are showing up in the search engines. When you are Googling for your offering, and your competitor shows up, but you don’t, that may give you some insight into what they’re doing on their website and the type of content that they’re creating. You can also take a look at what kind of ads they’re buying. On LinkedIn and Facebook, you can type in any company’s name, their page on those channels, and see what ads that they’ve been doing.
Tip #3 – Understand your customer. There’s an exercise that we like to do with our clients, which is to identify who your favorite customer is to work with. Try to get inside their head because you want to understand what their biggest pain is. What are their values? What’s important to them? Who is it that they’re trying to impress? And why is this important? Understanding the ins and outs of that ideal customer is going to be extremely important. But at the end of the day, you want to know what it is that they want from you. You can conduct this research on your own or you can find a third party. I find when we do this, we get a lot more information, if we’re speaking to our client’s customer, as opposed to them getting it directly.
You want to understand when the third party is involved, they can ask additional questions like how they found you. Why do they keep buying from you? Do they refer business to you? Why or why not? You will also want to ask some non-business questions like what social media channels are they on? Do they listen to any podcasters? Do they subscribe to any newsletters? It’s better to understand what your ideal customer is doing as an individual and a human being. The better that you can understand that customer, where they’re hanging out online, and what pains they have; you can ultimately craft content and position it in the right spot to attract that ideal customer to you.
Originally posted: https://overcomingmediocrity.org/10-lori-highby-12-18-20/