3-step plan: inbound marketing for time-strapped businesses
Image source: Anna Shvets
Are you putting your energy into all the wrong places? If you’ve got an account on every social media platform, a podcast, a newsletter, a YouTube channel, and sink countless hours into your marketing for very little return, the answer might be ‘yes.’
Don't feel bad, babe; lots of businesses fall victim to this. And I know because I help them untangle their mess and focus their efforts after they've hit inevitable burnout.
A scattergun approach to inbound marketing is very tempting, especially when you see other content creators or businesses doing well on a particular platform that you aren't using yet. But as small businesses or freelancers, our time for personal marketing is finite, stuffed into pockets of time.
So, let’s use that time wisely! Here’s my easy, 3-step plan for identifying your strongest customer touch points and how to focus your energy there for more effective results.
1) Backtrace ya besties
First, we need to identify your best customers. Go through your sales system for all the high-spenders and repeat customers. If you’re a freelancer, list out your recent clients, do a little Pumpkin Patch assessment and figure out who you want more of.
Now that we’ve got our shortlist, we’re going to backtrace them. Where did these golden geese come from? If you’re freelance and got your best clients through referrals, consider where you interacted with your top referrers. That’s where our time and energy needs to go.
2) Make a content strategy
Okay, so we’ve got our top clients and identified which platforms we acquired them on. Now we need an excellent content strategy for that platform (because content without a strategy is just random chaos without a planned outcome).
You can find more detailed info on making a content strategy here, but essentially, you’ll need a mix of seasonal, topical, FAQ, and inspirational posts, each designed to sell a specific aspect of your product or service, with a tempting call-to-action at the end.
I usually sling my post ideas into a Google Sheets page to track which platforms I’ve posted my ideas on, the bare bones of the concept, and the CTA.
3) Pick your platform wisely
Don’t be fooled into thinking this strategy is limiting. You’re more than welcome to test out new social media platforms or get that podcast up and running if you want to. However, heed my warning — don’t waste extra time and effort on something until you know it will pay dividends.
It’s also worth building a content pipeline for the new platforms you want to join. Not only will this give you much-needed momentum, but it’ll almost test out whether you’ve got enough ideas to facilitate a whole other customer touchpoint.
It’s not uncommon for people to start (and abandon) podcasts or YouTube channels once they’re hit with the reality of how much extra time and work it’ll take. Think it through and plan ahead before you dive in!
Feeling confident, pal? I hope so! Of course, if you’re strapped for time, I'll take care of it for you. Hit me up!