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In a world where new marketing tools, tactics, and trends are constantly changing and emerging, small businesses often assume that they need to put their energy and resources into the latest marketing fads. And, while there is certainly power in capitalizing on trends and it’s important to know what’s happening within the marketing industry, all of these tools and tactics are a waste of time, money, and resources if you have yet to lay the foundation for successful marketing, which includes:
- Clarifying your message
- Building a strategic, lead-generating website
In this episode of Priority Pursuit, Victoria breaks down why these two critical steps matter and exactly how you can set yourself up for marketing success.
Step 1: Clarify your message.
You can do all of the marketing “things” you’re “supposed to do.” However, all of these efforts and tactics are a waste of time, money, and resources if you don’t know what to say to your ideal customers.
In other words, clear messaging—which is communication that your ideal customers can understand quickly and easily—is the key to successful marketing. Because, in order to convert prospects into paying customers, you have to know exactly what to say to connect with your ideal customers, hold their attention, and—ultimately—make them want to do business with you.
How can you clarify your message?
The best way to create clear, customer-focused messaging is to write what we call your “Marketing Guiding Statements.”
Marketing Guiding Statements are written guidelines that position your brand and business as a trusted partner. The process of developing these statements gives you the information you need to write clear, concise, and effective messaging in a story-based framework.
And, when you take the time to create Marketing Guiding Statements, you can refer to this language as you work on writing website copy, blog posts, social media posts, or developing any other marketing piece to make sure your marketing is customer-focused—rather than braggy or salesy—and has the power to convert your ideal customers.
Because we know that small businesses' marketing cannot succeed without clear messaging, we put together a free mini course that walks you through exactly how to develop your messaging: “The First Step to Effective Marketing for Small Businesses: Writing Your Marketing Guiding Statements.”
Why is clear messaging important?
Clear messaging is a crucial aspect of your marketing foundation as it ensures your marketing uses the right language in order to be effective and can save you immense amounts of time. For example, how many times have you stared at a blinking cursor not knowing what to say? Well, when you take the time to write your Marketing Guiding Statements, you’ll know exactly what to say and can even copy and paste.
Think of your Marketing Guiding Statements as the GPS of your marketing efforts. Once you write them and make them the cornerstone of your marketing efforts, you’ll more easily get to where you want to go because all of your marketing materials will be written in a way that allows you to actually connect with your best customers.
Again, your marketing will not be successful—meaning it won’t convert or attract your ideal customers—if you don’t have clear, customer-focused messaging.
So, before you spend another minute or dollar on your marketing, write your Marketing Guiding Statements.
Ready to clarify your messaging? Take our FREE mini course: “The First Step to Effective Marketing for Small Businesses: Writing Your Marketing Guiding Statements.”
Step 2: Build a strategic, lead-generating website.
In order to lay a foundation for successful marketing, the next thing your small business needs is a strategic, lead-generating website.
While social media, email marketing, and other marketing tactics and tools certainly matter, your website is the foundation of all of your marketing and communication efforts and is your most powerful marketing tool.
All marketing tools more or less exist to help drive traffic to your website, and your site is where your ideal clients will get the information they need, decide to take action, and convert to paying customers.
That said, it isn’t enough just to have a website. So many small business owners assume that if you just slap up a site, business will come. However, in order to be your most powerful marketing tool, your website needs to do two things.
1. Your website needs to include the “right” information.
First, your site needs to serve your ideal clients well by helping them quickly and easily understand what you offer, how you can help solve their problem, and how they can work with you. In other words, your website needs to include the “right” information.
If it takes longer than five seconds for website visitors to determine the answers to these questions, they’re practically guaranteed to leave your site—meaning you’ll miss out on business.
In our experience, there are eight things that every business’s website needs to include to convert site visitors into paying customers. If you’d like to learn what those eight elements are, check out our free guide: “8 Things Every Small Business’s Website MUST Include to Convert Visitors into Paying Customers.”
When your website includes these eight elements and any other information that is pertinent to your ideal clients—which you can determine when you thoroughly understand your ideal clients—your website will be much more likely to convert your ideal customers and repel those who aren’t the right fit for your business.
Basically, when your website includes the right information, it will serve as a 24/7 salesperson that generates business and saves time by filtering out unqualified leads.
Does your website include the “right” information? Find out with our FREE website guide!
2. Your website needs to be optimized for search engines.
In addition to including the right information, your website also needs to be found where your ideal clients are already looking for your products or services: among the top Google search results.
97% of people use Google when they’re in need of a product or service. As a result, if you can get your website and business to rank on the first page of Google, you can get your information in front of prospects who are actively searching for—and likely ready to purchase—exactly what you have to offer.
Basically, when your website ranks at the top of Google search results, you don’t have to spend so much of your time going after new leads. Instead, many of your strongest leads will start coming to you through Google.
SEO (which stands for search engine optimization) is a free process that helps your website rank well on Google (or other search engines) when users conduct searches related to your products, services, or content.
There are a lot of moving parts to a successful SEO strategy, but SEO has the power to do big things for your small business. After all, when people intentionally look for a service or product, most go to Google and many are ready to make a purchase. So, when your website is one of the first solutions they see in a search, they will be more likely to buy from you.
To learn more about SEO and how you can improve your Google rankings, tune in to “Episode 106: How to Optimize Your Website for Search Engines.”
If you want your marketing to be effective, you have to start with a firm foundation.
We know that spending time and/or money honing your messaging and developing a strategic website may not sound like a lot of fun when you could be creating reels, TikTok videos, or working on or thinking about other aspects of your marketing that are seemingly more exciting.
But, here’s the thing. If you don’t know what to say in an Instagram reel, your ideal customers likely aren’t going to notice or engage with it, making the time it took to create said reel a waste of time. And, if you do get people to your website but your site doesn’t include the right information, prospects aren’t going to convert, meaning your website was a poor investment.
Basically, all of your marketing efforts are a waste of time, money, and resources if you don’t have a firm marketing foundation.
So, before you spend another minute or dollar on your marketing, make sure that you have a clear message and a strategic website.
If you’re ready to lay your foundation for successful marketing, be sure to check out these free resources:
- “The First Step to Effective Marketing for Small Businesses: Writing Your Marketing Guiding Statements”
- “8 Things Every Small Business’s Website MUST Include to Convert Visitors into Paying Customers”
Links & Resources Mentioned in This Episode
- “The First Step to Effective Marketing for Small Businesses: Writing Your Marketing Guiding Statements”
- “8 Things Every Small Business’s Website MUST Include to Convert Visitors into Paying Customers”
- “Episode 106: How to Optimize Your Website for Search Engines”
- Receive 30% Off Your First Year of HoneyBook
- Learn More About Treefrog’s Small Business Marketing Resources & Services
- Join the Priority Pursuit Facebook Community
- Follow or DM Treefrog Marketing on Instagram
- Follow or DM Kelly Rice on Instagram
- Follow or DM Victoria Rayburn on Instagram
The Priority Pursuit Podcast is a podcast dedicated to helping small business owners define, maintain, and pursue both their personal and business priorities so they can build lives and businesses they love.
You can find The Priority Pursuit Podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Podcasts, Stitcher, and wherever you listen to podcasts.
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