Let’s talk marketing. 😀
Marketing is a HUGE part of your business and one of the hardest parts. There are a lot of things that business owners are doing wrong, but there are simple ways to fix those so you have better results!
The thing business owners don’t often realize is that marketing requires a lot of testing. That can be frustrating when you think you have a super clear message, but when you put it out there, and you hear crickets.
When that happens, we have to fix it and do it again. And sometimes you have to do that multiple times. It’s just part of marketing.
These are three things I frequently see that business owners are struggling with and how to fix them.
1. Have a clear core product
Having a clear core product is a critical part of marketing.
Take a minute to think about Disney (I’m a huge Disney fan and have been studying their marketing methods recently!) Disney’s core product recently changed from movies — which can happen when you have been in business for a long time like they have.
Disney’s core product is DisneyPlus. I nearly peed my pants and fell on the floor when I learned how much money they make each month just from DisneyPlus — Almost $2 BILLION each month.
That’s BILLION with a B!
That is significantly more than what they make at the box office by releasing movies. DisneyPlus is about $10/month which means they have about 150+ million subscribers.
If you pay attention to their marketing, you will see that everything they put into the public is DisneyPlus. It’s their clear core product. It has a low entry point, and they have multiplied it into a gigantic monster.
So, what is your clear core product?
Every time you put an ad out, what are you asking people to opt into?
My core product is my workshop. I put it out again and again and again and again—everything I do drives back to my workshop. Once you attend the workshop, I move you into Launch, my business academy.
Soon, when my book “Don’t Suck At Business” releases, everything will be all about the book all the time. Book, book, book, book, book. Then after the book, I’ll move people into the workskhops.
People have to see your business eight to fifteen times to remember it and take action. If every time they come in contact with your brand, they see something different, you are making it harder and harder for them to remember who you are and what your core product is.
Like Disney, we already know who you are and what you do. We got it. But if you are pushing out more than one product, you are making it more complicated for your people. Simplify it.
2. Not Enough Time
Business owners aren’t giving themselves enough time to get their message out.
Going back to Disney. Do you know when they started marketing DisneyPlus? They announced it TWO years before they launched.
First, they announced it. Then they started advertising for it. Then they started signing people up and then putting people on the waitlist.
Most small business owners give themselves about a three-week runway to launch a new product, sale, or business. Sometimes it’s only two weeks.
So we give ourselves just a few weeks, then get incredibly frustrated when nothing happens, and nobody buys. We get upset when we don’t have a huge waitlist. We’re not giving our audience enough time to find us. We’re not giving our audience enough time to care, and we should be.
Guys, if Disney needs two years to have a successful launch, why do we think we only need a few weeks? By the time DisneyPlus dropped, a million people were ready to sign up.
Now I’m not expecting you to have a million people ready to sign up, but we should have a much longer runway than “hurry, quick, and grab it now, or it’s gone.”
But you are not alone. I get mad about it too. In fact, before my recent workshop, I had some internal issues and ended up throwing things together last minute. It happens to all of us.
I have a client that makes puzzles. They are adorable puzzles made by amazing articles. They draw the artwork for the puzzles, then make the puzzles and sell them. They are really great at talking about the product before it’s launched. They continuously showed their products. It’s coming, it’s coming, it’s coming. This is the launch date. Be prepared, get on the list, pre purchase, get a couple, etc. They built up the excitement for the puzzle before they launched.
So if Disney is marketing that far in advance, then what the freak are we doing???
In all honesty, Disney could have launched DisneyPlus in a week and still been relatively successful, but we would have been really in the middle of it because we didn’t understand exactly what it was.
Start marketing further ahead than you have been. We don’t have the global brand recognition that Disney does, and you don’t need to start marketing two years in advance, but try for six months. Build up the excitement for the things you’ll be launching in six months. You will have much more success with your launches.
3. Connecting with your people
The third thing I see business owners struggling with is connecting with their people.
Disney knows how to connect with people. They created an entire world for people who get Disney. And we spend a crap ton of money to be at Disneyland and experience their magic. They make us feel fuzzy, warm, and magical inside.
They know how to connect with us.
When you watch Encanto, do you cry your heart out like I do? They know how to connect with us. They know how to make us care. They have been doing it for decades. They know how to cultivate dedicated Disney people.
As a business owner, are you connecting with your people? Are you putting your face out there? Are you understanding what they care about? Are you solving their problems? Are you teaching them?
We need to know how we want people to feel when they interact with us.
I want people to feel empowered. I want them to feel like they know what’s next. I want them to feel stronger and which direction to go.
I don’t want them to feel bored or down on themselves. I want this to be fun and educational.
So, how do you want people to feel when they shop with your business?
Then entwine those feelings into everything we do. People will recognize that and have emotions toward us. They’ll care about what we’re doing.
Marketing doesn’t have to be complicated. But it does need to have a clear core product, more marketing ramp-up time, and connection. You will see more success in your business when you do these three things consistently.
