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WHY SUSTAINABLE GROWTH HAPPENS WHEN YOU STOP MARKETING LIKE A BEGINNER
What Beginner Marketing Looks Like – and Why It’s Unsustainable
Most business owners aren’t also marketers so when they start out there is a steep learning curve. A learning curve that usually will involve a lot of trial and error, as well as possibly learning by getting support from a marketing expert whether that be in a membership, course or working directly. Here are some of the common traits in beginner marketing
Relying social, or predominately, on social media
Most new small business owners first port-of-call for marketing will be social media. Given that social media ia free and offers the opportunity to attract clients and customers worldwide it is very appealing. Often many small business owners will have already used social media personally and so the technology is familiar.
Posting without a plan
As mentioned most small business owners will start their marketing with social media marketing and they’ll post what they want, when they want. There will be no planning in advance and no overarching strategy. They post to ‘be seen’ and to ‘make sales’ without really knowing what content will make that happen.
Chasing trends
Given that beginner marketing focuses on social media very often small business owners will often focus on trends. This can be anything from using trending sounds on TikTok or Instagram Reels in an effort to get pushed out more to creating posts based on a current trend.
Prioritising virality
One of the reasons beginner marketing focuses on chasing trends is because those business owners are prioritising virality. Their belief is that if only they could go viral their business would blow up. They truly believe that the secret to success is just by having more people become aware of their business.
Short-term focus
Beginner marketing is usually short-term focused. This is true both in terms of planning and in the life-span of the marketing Beginners will usually not be planning or up to the max of a month and they’ll use marketing that has a short-term lifespan. The focus is very much on marketing to generate sales now rather than in the future.
What advance, sustainable marketing looks like
Advanced marketing and beginner marketing are very different. Whilst there is crossover in marketing channels for example both beginner and advanced marketing may use social media and email marketing their approach will be different. Here are some of the common traits in advanced marketing
Diversify their marketing by using a number of marketing channels
Whereas beginner marketing focused predominately on social media advanced marketing continues to use social media, but will diversify and have a multi-channel approach. Diversification will ensure that the business is marketing in some places that it owns – for example email marketing. When diversifying the focus will also be on ensuring the channels are strategically chosen so the buyer journey can be completed with and without social media.
Repurposing content
Beginners often don’t know what marketing is and isn’t working and so will constantly be making new content and hoping for the best. Those who are running advanced marketing know what does and doesn’t work. Therefore, they don’t keep on reinventing the wheel. They’ll focus on works and look for ways to repurpose that both on the same marketing channels, as well as across other marketing channels.
Focus on evergreen marketing
Rather than running after trends advanced marketing focuses mainly on evergreen marketing. This is marketing that is value today, next week, next month and even next year. By focusing on evergreen marketing the marketing has a longer life span and means it is valuable to the business long after it was originally created.
Value conversions over visibility and engagements
Smart business owners know the key to growth isn’t purely to have more people be aware of their business. They know a viral post won’t change everything. They need to ensure that they are seen by the right people and that there is the content for people to not just like like and comment, but to buy.
Places email marketing at the centre of their marketing
Advanced marketing highly values email marketing. Whereas as beginner marketing may include email marketing it is likely to be basic and focus on a newsletter. When moving to advanced marketing the focus is now on segmentation, targeting and automated email sequences. It is about using what you know about your subscribers to be able to send them email that will convert.
Automate and systemise
Smart business owners know that for sustainable growth they need to be able to scale their marketing without working more and the answer to that is automation and systems. This looks different in many business but can be anything from automated email sequences, recorded webinar funnels or using ManyChat.
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Making the shift – marketing for sustainable growth
If you continue to market your business like a beginner the problem is YOU are central to your marketing. Whilst you can continue to grow your business you will always have to be actively involved and there might come a time when you don’t want to or can’t do that. Therefore, your aim when switching from beginner to advanced more is thinking about marketing at scale. Some of the key things to focus on are
Marketing that will last, and is valuable, for months or years
Switching to focusing on marketing that lasts for months or years will mean that marketing will be working for your business whether or not you are also doing short-term marketing on top. This will mean looking at the marketing channels you are using and the content. This is where a long-life span and having evergreen content is the ideal combination.
Removing your involvement
Another thing to focus on is marketing that doesn’t actively involve you. This is where using automation and letting technology do the heavily lifting becomes massively powerful. This can be anything from investing in digital advertising, setting up automated email sequences or using software like ManyChat.
To be clear this doesn’t mean you have to be entirely removed and it doesn’t mean you have to stop actively marketing your business. But in an ideal world, you want to minimise your involved so you are the cherry on the top.
Diversifying intentionally
With so many ways to market your business it is easy to diversify and have a multi-channel marketing approach but not all are created equal. When diversifying you should focus on ensuring the buyer journey can happen with and without social media being involved
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That’s it! You now know why sustainable growth happens when you stop marketing like a beginner.
Learning to successfully market your business is a learning curve and if you are currently in beginner mode please don’t be embarrassed. It’s got your business to where it is today and that is something to be proud of. But if your aim is to continue growing and to grow in a sustainable way then switching your focus and leaving beginner mode is key.
Let me know in the comments what your biggest takeaway has been.
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