Having a solid marketing strategy is essential for growing your business. But there are other ways you can promote your business, as well.
There is a saying in the business world that “no one cares about your business as much as you do.” This is certainly true and it applies to your marketing strategy, as well. Inbound marketing, content creation, and local SEO all have a place, but promoting your business isn't as personal to your staff as it is to you.
Consequently, no one is going to care enough about your business to talk about as much as you do.
There are many opportunities to talk up your company that are often overlooked. And because, like most business owners, you're so busy doing all the other things that have to be done with your business, promoting your business yourself doesn't happen much. Or nearly as often as it could.
Being your own company’s evangelist is not a new or novel concept. Business owners have been doing it for a few centuries at least.
But now it’s become easier than ever.
The Stage Just Got Bigger!
One of the greatest things about the Internet, social media, and enhanced “word of mouth” channels is that you can talk up your business in a multitude of ways that never before existed. And the net effect is that what you say, what you put out there, can multiply exponentially as it is passed along , linked to, and shared by others.
If it is true, then, that you are the "Chief Evangelist" for your company – possibly the only one evangelizing – then it stands to reason that you must make this a priority and a major function of your role in your business.
And that requires a strategy.
What Makes for a Good Plan
An effective strategy is three-fold:
1. Determine what channels, or methods, you will use to talk about your company and how you will optimize them
2. Don’t settle for going solo – recruit your staff! They possess the ability and, hopefully, the willingness to promote and evangelize your business as well. Which means determining what channels they will use and how to optimize them, as well.
3. Elicit the help of your customers, your vendors and suppliers, your friends, colleagues and even your family. Anyone and everyone that knows your business is a potential evangelist. Enlist them, boost them, and remember to thank them profusely and repeatedly when they do talk you up.
The details will vary from business to business, but the end game is the same: getting the message out to everyone who will listen of how great your company is!
But this means you have to have a great message that succinctly and compellingly communicates that.
Say What You Mean and Mean What You Say
The key is to know what your message is going to be first. In other words, what is it about your business that is unique and valuable to your prospects?
Write it down. Read it out loud. Practice your message and be able to relate it with boldness and from the heart.
Then impart that to and instill it into your staff. Make it a message that is easy to take in, easy to remember, and easy to share.
If it’s worth saying, it’s worth saying well and saying with boldness!
“The single biggest problem with communication is the illusion that it has taken place.” - George Bernard Shaw
A common phrase among political handlers is the admonition to their charges to “stay on message.” This is just as true for business owners. It is critical that your message, your words, be informed by your own vision and values. It is also true that the underlying message of your internal communications and your customer-directed communications must be consistent in its tone and its voice.
This is not to say that you must go around repeating yourself endlessly! It does mean, however, that you how you represent yourself and your company must be consistent throughout.
What Do You Do?
Imagine if Wal-Mart, whose message is captured succinctly in their tagline: “Save money. Live better.” were to suddenly begin to offer a line of premium and high-priced clothing items. While they may make some sales, more than likely they would simply create confusion - a sort of “consumer dissonance” - that would deter shoppers.
On a more subtle, but perhaps more common level, imagine a management team that constantly preaches integrity, transparency, and openness, while leaving their employees continually in the dark regarding policy issues, marketing and branding strategies, etc.
The lack of information and implied lack of trust would counter anything else the company had to say about openness.
This prinicple applies to your promotion messaging, as well. What you say when evangelizing your business must be genuine and authentic, and it must be seen in and reflected by your business.
Actions Can Displace Words
Poor messaging can sometimes be a matter of contradictory branding messages or an inconsistent customer experience. At other times it is a conflicting vision of how a company treats its employees or customers versus what they publicly say they do. But more often, inconsistent messages are a combination of all these things and more.
And this all stems from a lack of a cohesive and unified vision, and a lack of shared values and purpose.
Consistent messaging is a function that is truly a “top down” dynamic. The front-line employee should not be left to construct his or her own version of “who we are, what we do, why and how we do it.”
And while it is not the intent to create a staff full of clones spouting the same mindless bromides, having a team of people who are “on the same page” with the vision and values of the company is vital.
And having a team that “speaks the same language”, but in their own words is priceless.
Take Up the Challenge - Be a Consistent Promoter
You have a great business. If you didn't believe that you probably would be doing something else, right? But not everyone knows how great it is which is why promotion - in all of its iterations - is essential.
Inbound marketing, SEO, even paid advertising, all have a role in this, but nothing beats the personal enthusiasm and engaging appeal of personal evangelism from real people.
Your Company Is Unique. Your Marketing Should Be, Too.
Your business is like no other. Really. Your goals, your challenges, your offerings - they are all unique to you and your business. Even if you think you are simply a commodity. And because your business is unique, your marketing plan shouldn't be generic either.
The good news is that you don't have to figure out alone. In fact, one of the best investments you can make with your marketing budget is to partner with a solid firm like BroadVision Marketing.
Click on the button below to get your free Complimentary Inbound Marketing Session so you can make an informed decision, or call BroadVision Marketing at 707-799-1238.
