Get real with me for a minute. Do you have a solid plan to grow your business? Did you create an actual business plan with where you saw your growth going, or did you sort of wing it because you were an expert in the service you’re providing your clients?
There’s not really a wrong answer here. I’m not sure I know that many entrepreneurs actually put together a full business plan as you might learn in college.
Your business honestly tends to grow in ways you might not have been able to foresee, too. Creating a plan can seem, well, like a wasted effort.
But it’s super hard to grow your business when you don’t have a clear marketing plan either.
Let’s talk about why your sales have been struggling (hint: it’s because you don’t have a clear plan).
You Need a Marketing Strategy
As you’re reading this, I want you to take a second to reflect.
Do you feel like you’ve just been spinning your wheels lately?
You’ll have a good month of sales and revenue, but you’re always worried about whether someone is going to come in and buy from you next month?
If you’ve ever felt these struggles – the feast and famine of entrepreneurship – you’re probably just throwing marketing strategies against a wall and hoping they’ll stick.
Not only is that a waste of your time and money, it’s never going to be the way you’ll grow your business.
If you’re serious about scaling and want to have consistent revenue (and especially growth) within your business, then you have to have a strategy to get there.
5 Ways 6 and 7-Figure Businesses Use Marketing Strategies
Want to know the real secret other 6 and 7-figure businesses are using?
It’s not about the latest hack, trick, or software. It’s simply having a solid marketing strategy that’s right for their needs, their customers, and their business’s growth.
When you sit down to create a marketing strategy for your business, you’re able to put it to work in growing your business in at least these five different ways.
Speak Directly to Your Dream Client
One of the best things that happen when you plan out your marketing is that you can actually reach your dream clients.
When we’re just throwing things out because we need to have a post or even a podcast episode that day, it can lead to really disjointed messaging.
The consequence? Your dream client isn’t sure that you can help them or are even talking to them.
When you spend just a few minutes sketching out ideas? You’re able to better drill into what your dream client needs, the problems they have, and how you can solve those problems with your services.
It’s almost impossible to have consistent, clear messaging when you’re throwing spaghetti against a wall and hoping it sticks.
The only way you can break through the online noise and get your dream clients’ attention is to do the research and create a strategy that works for them.
Keep Marketing – Consistently
Let’s get real about Marisa’s weaknesses really fast.
I am the type of person who has always had a 5-year plan. I really like knowing the big picture and where I want to head.
But when it’s time to get really granular on how I’m actually going to do that?
Uhhhh, that one’s hard. And that also means that some of my big goals don’t get accomplished in the timeframe I hoped for.
When you approach your marketing in a wishy-washy, go-with-the-flow approach, it’s basically impossible to stay consistent and hit the goals you want to hit.
Just like any goal you have, your marketing has to be thought through. You need that granular approach to get more leads, sales, and hit your revenue targets.
Winging it often means that other things come first and you’re left without that marketing piece you were thinking about before, too.
Tell me if this sounds familiar – you have an idea of what you want to post on Instagram or you got a good blog idea, but you’re going to take care of it tomorrow. Then clients bring you problems and you have to deal with that first. So that post or that blog get put off until tomorrow.
Repeat for the rest of your life.
When you have an actual plan (that’s tied to the goals you want to hit), it’s far easier to prioritize your marketing. Plus, you can batch it, too, to keep yourself consistent and make sure you’re staying in front of those dream clients you want to get.
Know What to Tackle Next
When you’re consistent (because you have a plan!), it’s far easier to know what you need to work on next.
Your company deserves more than you “winging it.”
You probably have revenue goals that you want to hit, but it’s hard to aim to go from $5K months to $10K months when you don’t know what lever you can press next to increase your revenue.
With a true marketing strategy, you’re not just setting out a calendar of posts. You’re planning out those levers and keeping an eye on your customer journey. You’re making real decisions so that you know when you get to October you’re going to shift your focus to this special or that new service to increase your revenue.
With a plan, you can get a good idea on when you might need to hire, too, so you don’t get overwhelmed running your business.
Don’t Waste Money on Marketing
The biggest mistake I see plenty of business owners make is wasting a ton of money on marketing that will never help them get a return on their investment.
When you put together a marketing strategy, you need to be incredibly honest about your assets and where you’re starting, too. If you haven’t sent an email to your list in 5 years, you’ll have an entirely different strategy than if you’ve been emailing and adding people to your list more recently.
Because you’re speaking directly to your dream clients, marketing consistently, and know the next right step for your business, a marketing plan will help you reach more people for a lot less.
You’re not going to waste money on ads or a graphic designer if that’s not what you need to grow your business.
You will get a better return on any money you put into your marketing because you know what you’re going to do.
Understand Your Actual ROI
The best thing that having a marketing strategy can do for your business? (Besides growing it, of course?) It can help you understand your return on investment.
There is so much data we can be tracking, but it’s hard to track even the easiest things when you’re just throwing things out on the internet.
Once you put together a marketing strategy, you’ll have goals, targets, and metrics you can actually track. You’ll know what’s working because you’re trying something consistent and staying within your overall goals.
It’s hard to know what’s bringing you an ROI when you’re trying to track this lead magnet and that random social media post and that other blog post.
With a strategy, you can track your customer journey and start to understand how people want to work with you.
Then create content that talks directly to them and where they’re at.
Save Time and Money on Your Marketing
The hardest part about marketing consistently is that it changes so quickly. Shit, just a couple of weeks ago Facebook launched Threads (and engagement has already tanked) and Elon announced Twitter is rebranding with an…X?
There’s a truly dizzying number of things to keep your eye on all of the time if you’re focusing all of your marketing attention on the latest fads.
But I’ve been working in digital marketing since 2005 when I was 18 and the internet was largely social media-free.
Do you know what I’ve learned?
Marketing only works when you focus on what’s best for your customer.
When you create a marketing strategy, you’re keeping your customer top of mind. You’re able to communicate a much clearer message that entices them to buy. You can absolutely create a marketing strategy in December that’s still impactful by the end of the year. You just have to be open to shifting a couple of tactics here and there.
But when you have a plan?
You save time, money, and frustration on your marketing and get a lot more leads than without one.
If you’ve never created a marketing plan and are getting caught up in not knowing what your business needs, let me help.
We just launched our new Digital Strategy Intensive. This 2-hour workshop lets you work with me to take a look at your business and your overall goals. Then, I create a roadmap and marketing strategy that can guide you for the next 12 months!
All you have to do is show up and answer some questions.
It really can be that simple!
Learn more by going to captcoder.com/dsi and book your time today.
Let’s get you a plan that works for your unique business.
