Top 3 Methods That’s Helping Entrepreneurs Become Better Marketers

Whether you’re a chiropractor, own a SaaS company, or run a law firm, B2B and B2C companies vary widely in their business models. Yet, the things they have in common are the desire to generate leads and drive business growth.

 

Though achieving these goals through marketing can be time-consuming, this article will present the top growth methods for successful marketing execution. Here you will learn how to accomplish three ways to help you become a better marketer:

 

  • Create multifaceted content
  • Build customer relationships
  • Adapt to new tools

 

Plus, you’ll know how to implement each method by utilizing the top tactics below. Here are the top three approaches you should consider implementing today.

Creating Multifaceted Content

 

content methodContent marketing isn’t just for B2C brands. B2B companies are also making a significant jump in this marketing realm by creating a strategic content marketing strategy.

Yet, when it comes to helping entrepreneurs become better marketers, they must focus on creating content for more than one channel. This approach uses well-rounded subject matter to attract new leads and convert prospects by focusing on audience pain points in different areas of the internet.

 

Here are a few tips to help you implement a multifaceted content strategy.

1. Create Buyer Personas

When developing different content, understanding who the content is reaching is important. You should have a clearly defined audience, known as a buyer persona. 

A buyer persona gives you a picture of an ideal customer. The details of a buyer persona include demographics such as age, income, location, etc. In addition, you should describe the buyer’s personality, interests, goals, wants, and needs. 

2. Align Content to the Sales Funnel

Once you create your buyer personas, you can add an extra layer to your content marketing strategy by mapping the buyer’s journey. In essence, it helps to create “evergreen” content that addresses customer issues at each stage of the sales funnel.

 

A sales funnel’s purpose is to nurture the prospects at each stage, helping them move closer to sales. The process works like this:

  • Awareness: This is the top of the funnel where prospects are looking for information to help them articulate their problem. Content at this stage should focus on the buyer’s pain points rather than the product or service. Examples include informative blogs, ebooks, guides, infographics, etc.
  • Consideration: The buyer at this stage understands their problem and is now ready to find solutions. Consider creating content focusing on specific solutions to solve the buyer’s problem. Examples include webinars, product features, and comparison blogs.
  • Decision: The buyer is ready to compile a list of solutions. You can create brand-specific content at this point, focusing on the benefits of your company’s offerings. Examples include case studies, reviews, and demos.

 

3. Measure Return on Investment

Once you start creating content to maximize traffic and convert leads, you must understand the results of your content marketing campaigns by analyzing data. Based on your goals and timelines, consider using metrics to measure your results, including:

  • Total leads such as email subscribers, purchases, and free-trial sign-ups.
  • Total impressions from Google Analytics.
  • Traffic from the content you publish.
  • Changes in bounce rates.

Once you analyze your results, you can use this information to maximize future content marketing strategies for success.

Establish Customer Relationships

One method of helping entrepreneurs become better marketers is forming organic relationships with customers. Customers are savvier than ever and don’t want you to bombard them with sales pitches or advertisements. 

Instead, they prefer to get to know you first. That way, you understand them better and can create products that cater to their needs. One way you can start building customer relationships is through social media.

You can use social media to post customer reviews or user-generated content to attract new buyers and increase your customer base. Engaging prospects and providing valuable content your customers find share-worthy across various platforms is also useful. Additionally, you can gain regular feedback and distribute content that fosters engagement and drives website traffic.

Here are some tips to help you get started on social media and form relationships.

1. Choose the Right Platforms

Not all social networking sites were created equal. That’s why it’s important to consider which platforms you’ll use for your business carefully. The best way to decide is to look at your target audience’s demographics and determine where they spend their time on social media. 

B2B businesses mostly rely on LinkedIn or Facebook to reach their target audience. For example, a broker might be interested in connecting with users to gain qualified leads for buyers interested in purchasing a home. Meanwhile, B2C companies might use Instagram or TikTok to engage users since their target audiences are mainly on these platforms. 

2. Think Creatively

Avoid being afraid to create fun content. Social media is a place to develop personal connections. So whether you’re a B2B or B2B brand, it’s important to show the human who’s behind the other side of that screen. 

Consider putting yourself in your audience’s shoes and what they might find interesting. How can you mix intriguing and easy information for your audience to consume? 

Making an additional effort like this can help you connect with your audience and stand out from the competition.

Adapt to New Tools

Marketing is constantly evolving. There will always be new trends and directions to explore. While it’s not necessary to master all things at once, you can still become a specialist in an area or possess multiple technologies.

One example is discovering how to make video content for marketing.

Video content is one of the most powerful tools for marketing today. Hubspot Blog Research found that 88% of B2B and B2C brands have an entire team dedicated to creating video content. 

Yet, why is video such a staple of marketing? It helps raise brand awareness, increase revenue and advertise products. 

 

If you’re considering going in a new direction with video, here are some tips to help you get started.

1. Focus on Stories Instead of Sales

If you want more people to watch your videos, create value for them instead of focusing on your brand. The best video content shares stories that connect with the viewer’s emotions. 

For example, suppose you’re a doctor specializing in sports medicine. In that case, you could tell a story about how your business changes clients’ lives. Essentially, you can develop a story about how you’re making a difference in your community. 

2. Be Strategic in the First Few Seconds

Attention spans are short these days. Therefore, a successful video provides clarity and gives viewers confidence that what they’re watching is worth their time.

Consider grabbing attention with a hook, such as a quick preview of what’s coming in the video. You can also attract more viewers by creating a high-quality thumbnail. The best thumbnails are clear and begin to tell viewers what they’ll gain from watching your content.

3. Create a Call to Action

Always include a call to action that aligns with your marketing goals. Do you want them to visit your website or share the video on social media? 

You can easily instruct your viewers to take action by asking them in the video through someone speaking or using text.

Either way, adding a call to action is easy and can create results you wouldn’t have without one.

Use These Top Methods to Become a Better Marketer

You can ultimately reach your business goals using these methods to become a better marketer. Without these strategies, you won’t be able to collectively produce results such as obtaining leads, increasing revenue, and scaling your business growth.

The marketing space is crowded. Therefore, these tactics will allow you to distinguish yourself from those with similar offerings.

 

What other methods can you share that have helped you to become a better marketer?

Eleanor Hecks is the founder and managing editor of Designerly Magazine.

She’s also a web design consultant with a focus on customer experience and

user interface. She lives in Philadelphia with her husband and dogs, Bear and

Lucy. Connect with her about marketing, design, and/or tea on LinkedIn!

 

Driving Business Growth Through Strong Leadership [UPDATED]

6 Powerful Leadership Principles to Bring Out the Best in Your People

leadershipAs a business growth coach I am often asked the question, “What’s your advice on achieving fast business growth?”

My one line response, “Never try to do it alone.”

Whether you are the CEO or a key manager, the quickest road to fast business growth is through having a team of committed people. Strong development is what will allow you to laser focus on your core areas of competencies and not fall into the trap of wearing too many hats, which will only slow you down. (more…)

Business Growth – How to Get From Where You Are to Where You Want to Be in Your Business

Everywhere you look, there are so many success stories of other small business owners who started from a simple idea to create a thriving, profitable business they love. Their big achievements can make entrepreneurship look so easy, but the truth is they all went through a series a learning curves and had to overcome real challenges along the way.

If you’re not where you want to be in your business, you’ve got to first decide you are going to do something different to change. After all, if you keep doing what you’re doing, you’ll keep getting what you’re getting.

[Definition of insanity]: Doing the same thing while expecting a different outcome.

So, how do you get from where you are in your small business to where you want to be Here are 6 simple steps you can take action on today to get you closer to creating a thriving and profitable business you love.
How to Get From Where You Are in Your Business to Where You Want to Be

1. Write down your dream outcome goal and your why.

If you want to transform your business you’re going to have to make some changes. But, change is hard because it requires you to get out of your comfort zone. It’s even harder to
change if you aren’t super clear what you’re doing it for. That’s why it’s super important to paint a very specific picture of what your dream outcome goal looks like.

It’s not enough to say you want to grow your business to give your family a better life. Use the SMART goal method to help you be more specific. (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Time­bound).

Here’s an excerpt from what I wrote down in 1998 when I was starting a new business and starting our family at the same time.

Dream Outcome Goal – SMARTWHY?
Get my new business to generate half a million a year in revenues within the first 3 years.That was the number that would pay the bills, maintain cash flow for the business and pay off my mortgage to be debt free.
Do this while working part time (15-­20 hours per week) by year 3.Having grown up with parents who both worked overtime every week (because they had to) I desperately did not want to miss out on those special toddler years with my own kids.

With God’s help I was able to hit my two dream outcome goals by year 4. I know I would have definitely not hit these goals if I stated it in general terms like “I want to make more money and work less than I do now while making an impact in people’s lives”. Writing down specific target numbers I wanted to hit and what was at stake for me (my WHY) helped me stay laser focused.

2. Write down 3 things you know you should START doing and start doing them.

Pretty profound stuff isn’t it? I find with all of us, there are a lot of little basic common sense kind of stuff that we all know in the back of our minds that we should do. The first thing that keeps us from doing it is because we aren’t writing it down. If it’s something important enough to do, it’s important enough to write down. It reminds us to get it done. After all, knowing what to do never changes anything. We have to actually execute.

So, go ahead and write down all the easy stuff you know you should do. If you’re lacking energy it might be as basic as drink 64 oz of water every day, do a 30 min exercise routine every T­ues-Th­urs-Sat. and eat more fruits and veggies each day. If you know you should delegate more because you’re working way too many hours, then start delegating 5 hours of tasks off your plate or even just 1­ to 2 hours to start.

3. Write down 3 things you know you should STOP doing and stop doing them.

If you’re not where you want to be in your business there’s something you’re doing wrong and you need to stop doing it. Because whatever you’re doing is not taking you where you want to be.

Here’s a short list of what some of my small business clients have shared with me they know they should stop doing:

  • Stop doing your own bookkeeping. Hire one.
  • Stop being a perfectionist. It’s making tasks take way more time than it needs to take.
  • Stop doing repetitive tasks. Start automating it.
  • Stop working “in” the business, so you can work “on” the business each day.
  • Stop saying yes to everything. Protect your time.
  • Stop worrying about what might happen. You can’t worry and achieve peak performance at the same time.

What about you? What are those things you already know you should stop doing? Write them down and commit to stop doing those things that are undermining your own success.

4. Write down the 1 biggest challenge you’ve been struggling with in your business for the longest time.

I can’t think of any great success story where the person did not have to overcome a big challenge. Get clear at identifying what is the biggest challenge that has been getting in the way of your business success.

5. Write down 3 things you tried to do to overcome that challenge.

Just doing this one exercise alone has helped many of my business coaching clients come up with better ways to overcome their challenge all on their own. There is power of clarity that comes from simply writing down and assessing what you’ve tried so far to overcome your biggest challenge.

6. Write down 3 people you could seek out who has the expertise you’re missing.

Mature people know what their expertise is in and what their expertise is not in. Immature people (or prideful people) try to figure everything out on their own.

Your area of expertise may be as a lawyer or as a healthcare practitioner or as a relationship coach, etc. If you know you are not yet an expert in marketing or sales or in scaling your business, what’s stopping you from seeking out those experts?

Somebody out there knows what you need to do to get you from where you are to where you want to be. What successful entrepreneurs do is when they don’t know how to solve something,
they don’t waste months or years trying to figure it out on their own. They seek out others who have expertise in overcoming those challenges.

In closing, I want to encourage you to take action on these 6 steps today. I also invite you to take a small step of accountability and share your progress on my brand new Ask Yoon page. You can also post questions that come up for you during the process.

QUESTION: What is your greatest take­away from this blog article? Please share your comments below.

© Copyright 2021-2022

Grow Your Business Faster with Financial Technology

Starting out in any business can be a challenge, and striking out to realize your dream as an entrepreneur can be even more complex. You have probably spent months coming up with the perfect idea to build your business around and taking the necessary steps to turn your goals into a reality. 

Once you have the basics in place regarding what your company will sell and the work culture and policies you will put in place, it’s time to get clear on some of the most important aspects.

How you approach your financials is a big part of whether or not your business will succeed. For the best possible outcome for growth entrepreneurs, be sure to leverage the speed and ease of financial technology we have available today. These newer developments are the future of business and will help you get started on the right path.

Streamline Your Sales Platform

Generating sales is the main function that will determine how successful your business becomes. You will need a good plan in place to reach a broad customer base to showcase the appeal of the products or services that you offer.

You can get the help you need in manufacturing sales growth by using a software program to conduct all aspects of your marketing and sales functions. Consolidating all of your data and activities in one place will reduce time waste and increase revenue by offering support and resources to your team. This will help them to communicate with the right people while out on the road, have access to the information they need, and reach more potential customers. 

It’s also a great way to store your customer data and track sales trends so you can make informed decisions on what products to promote. Your customers’ opinions and feedback give you insight on what is working and any areas that need improvement, so you can continue to expand in the right direction.

Use Mobile Banking

Every business needs to conduct many financial transactions. Mobile banking will make this easier and more time-efficient. Instead of carving time out of your day to get to the bank during business hours, mobile banking frees you from time restrictions and lets you choose when is most convenient for you. By using an app or website, you can make deposits, transfer funds to another account, issue payroll by direct deposit, and pay your invoices. 

Beyond saving you a lot of time, mobile banking can reduce stress and confusion by keeping your financial transactions in one place. You can easily log in to your account at any time to print reports and review your current assets without the risk of misplacing any important information or tracking paper records.

Offer Mobile Payment Options

Mobile financial transactions aren’t just convenient for you, they also appeal to your customers. Give your clients the option to make mobile payments when they make a purchase. They will appreciate that this form of payment is simple, fast, and offers a greater amount of safety for their sensitive financial details.

Stay on Top of Your Profit

You don’t always need a certified accountant in order to track your profit and loss statements, especially if your business is just starting out. There are simple ways to track your profit every month, or quarterly, whatever your preference is. You do this by subtracting your expenses from your sales and there are plenty of apps or software that do this for you. A popular one for small businesses is QuickBooks. It’s even quite simple to set up your own formula in excel or google sheets if that’s your preference.

Stay Organized with Apps

I mentioned QuickBooks before, which is great for keeping track of your money, including receipts and other business write-offs. If you’re not familiar with accounting software, you might find it a bit confusing, but it’s nothing that you can’t learn. If you prefer a more hands-off experience, Bench is an app that keeps track of your expenses, categorizes them every month, and sends you reports to better understand your finances. What’s really important is that you find a method and supporting software that fits your needs and keeps you organized.

Using even a few of these financial technology solutions can help you to create a solid foundation for your business. Technology is a great way to save time and make your business practices safer, faster, and more lucrative. 

Don’t Let FEAR Keep Your Business Stuck in a Fog

Don’t let FEAR keep your business stuck in a FOG ….

As a special public service in response to #Covid-19 I’m offering a FREE 6-week digital marketing coaching clinic series on Tuesdays 12-1pm EST March 24-April 28th on Zoom.

This is exclusively for small business owners, so just comment below “Business Owner Public Service” and we will send you the link to join.

Stay healthy. Stay positive. #Keepthefaith

https://youtu.be/JbupSwSnsQ4