When you start your business, you want to get the word out and start marketing as soon as possible, but I want to make sure you are marketing strategically. You need your marketing strategy to have the below three pieces right way to make sure you are getting the most out of your time.
Ultimately your online marketing strategy should be to drive people to sign up for your email list and then BUY. Gaining social media followers should not be your ultimate goal, you want paying customers, and as a service-based business, you need to build relationships.
#1. An Email List
You really need to establish an email list to capture people who visit your website. If someone visits your site and they want to learn more or stay in touch with you, you need to give them a place to do so. Your email list gives you a direct line to potential customers.
Most people are not going to buy from you the first time they visit your site. By getting them on your list, you can keep reminding them you are available and help educate them around your topic and offerings.
✨Action Step✨
❏ Get a list and put a sign-up form on your website
BONUS:
❏ Make a simple opt-in to further to entice people to sign. But it’s not 100% necessary at the step, most important give them an option to get on your list.
Need an email marketing service? MailChimp is a great starter option because it’s FREE up to 2000 subscribers. As you grow your list and optimize your email marketing strategy, you may find a need to move to another service, but for getting started, it’s a good option.
#2. Welcome Email
The welcome email is the highest opened email you will send. You know why? Because they took the time to sign-up and they WANT to hear from you. They are interested in what you have to say in that space of time. Don’t waste that time frame of attention, give them more about you!
✨Action Step✨
❏ Write at least one welcome email that tells your list about yourself and services.
When people sign up for your list welcome them and give them a little more information. There are tons of strategies you can use to further optimize your email marketing but for now, let people know what you offer and who you are.
Pretend you are meeting someone at a party/networking event and you are introducing yourself.
#3. A Newsletter Schedule
You MUST stay in touch with your list, so establish a schedule on which you will follow to keep them updated. I don’t care if you have 5 people you need to be staying in touch with those people. At this stage, it’s less important “what” you talk about than abandoning them with no communication.
✨Action Step✨
❏ Plan on an email at least every 2 weeks for a starting schedule, but every week is better IF you have the time to maintain that schedule.
Think of it this way; you feel more connected to someone you hear from regularly right?
For some reason I find people get very worked up over WHAT to send their list. Give them:
- a small tip
- a word of advice
- something you learned recently
- something you want them to understand about your area of expertise
- let them in on what’s going on behind the scenes with your business
BONUS-Start Networking!
It’s never too early to start making connections with potential clients and peers. The sooner you get out there (either physically or digitally), the sooner you start building relationships + finding support on for your entrepreneurial journey. Networking can be one of the most powerful marketing tools you can utilize, so get at it!
✨Action Step✨
❏ Pick at least 3 networking activities to incorporate into your weekly or monthly schedule depending on what you choose.
💡Need help getting started?💡 👇
While there is much more you need to do to get your marketing strategy up and fully running, having these 3 pieces in place will make sure you have a destination to drive your growing audience to.
You should view your marketing strategy as something that is always a work-in-progress, and you intentionally revisit areas to optimize your approaches.
These three steps are the starting point of getting your online strategy going; they should be refined to maximize your impact. BUT if you are spending any effort on driving traffic to your website, then you better have the three items above. Otherwise, stop, get these things up and running then resume promotions (social media/content).
💡Need help establishing a full focused marketing strategy?💡 Download the FREE Simplified Marketing Plan Workbook. I will walk you through the basic pieces of an online marketing strategy that will give you a focused plan of action.
