Some principles never change and this is true for marketing. Even for Internet marketing. Call them 'life principles or 'marketing truths', they are always there and must be applied for marketing success.
Most of our ancestors were farmers. In fact, if you go back far enough, almost every one of them was a farmer.
Granted, there were a few carpenters and merchants thrown in there, but farming was statistically the prevalent occupation of our forebears. Tillers of the land.
When thinking about farming, and planting in particular, as you work on a marketing strategy, it may occur to you that the similarities are quite numerous. In fact, we've identified seven principles, or practices, in farming that can be applied to marketing and lead generation.
Seven Farming Principles for Marketing
1. Plan. Farmers do not randomly throw seed around their barren fields and yards. Not only would it be chaotic, but the chickens would eat up a lot of it, as well as the other birds and critters. No, good farmers have a plan and a strategy before they even touch the soil or the seed.
2. Prepare. Ever walked on a fallow field? One that is hard, crusted over, rough and clotted with weeds? Not going to grow much with that. Preparation is essential for ensuring any chance of success when planting seed.
3. Plant. Yep! That’s what has to follow. Lots of seed. More seed than you know will ever take hold and produce. And the funny thing about planting is that poor seed, if it takes, produces poor crops. You have to have good seed and plenty of it.
4. Nurture. The weeds have to be pulled, the birds kept away, the other critters kept out, and plenty of water at the right times and in the right places. Nurture is a soft, pretty word for ‘work’!
5. Patience. Once you have done everything you can do with a crop you have to wait. This does not mean simply being inactive or sleeping till noon. There is always plenty to do on the farm. Different seed gets planted at different times. Some fields have to be furrowed while others are being harvested. But you cannot make the darn seeds sprout and grow any faster! You gotta be patient.
6. Harvest. Payday! Eventually, if all goes well and you don’t have drought or pestilence or evil bankers foreclosing on the farm, you will reap what you have sown. And the cool thing about the harvest is that each mature plant holds more seed. (think: referrals, repeat business, subscription sales, etc.)
7. Repeat. No one succeeds in farming with just one harvest. Farmers farm until they can’t no more. (Or until some giant agricultural conglomerate buys the farm and the farmer retires and spends his winters in St. Croix!)
Getting Ready for the Marketing Harvest
Successful farmers are not successful only because they have good seed, good weather, and good soil. These are necessary, but the most important ingredient is work.
A humbling and not-so-glamorous realization for many of us. But without it the harvest will not come. Yet, with enough labor and grit and determination, even the meanest of seeds in the thinnest of soils will produce a harvest.
Take content marketing, for example. While much of the components are free, to be truly successful it requires a great deal of planning and work.
You may be a small business owner functioning as your own marketing manager, or possibly a staffer who has been tasked with publishing the company blog every week or so.
Either way, you have probably discovered that, while the blog is a good idea and it can generate traffic for your website, feeding the insatiable beast with blog post articles can be challenging.
If you are engaged in creating and publishing your own blog for your company, the challenge can be frustrating at best. You are probably busy doing everything else your job calls for and now you have this blog task to keep up with on top of all that.
Getting Help With Your Affordable Internet Marketing
There area a number of terms are used to describe Internet marketing such as "online marketing", "digital marketing", "social media marketing", and so on. All of them more or less mean using your website to market your business.
We prefer to focus on an approach known as Inbound Marketing.
Here's why...
"Inbound marketing focuses on creating quality content that pulls people toward your company and product, where they naturally want to be. By aligning the content you publish with your customer’s interests, you naturally attract inbound traffic that you can then convert, close, and delight over time." - HubSpot
This content typically takes the form of blog posts aligned with periodic ebooks and even email campaigns. The end result is a cost-effective, multi-faceted marketing strategy that not only attracts ideal leads, but deepens the relationships with customers and clients, while positioning a company as a thought leader in its industry.
Regardless of which term you prefer to use, the approach of inbound marketing holds great promise for your business.
But achieving these objectives with your content marketing strategy takes time. It won't happen with a few blog posts or great ebook. People will need to consume your content for a while before they contact you. Yet, without your content compelling them to contact you, your goals may never be met.
Content and inbound marketing work day in and day out. Once you post a blog article or upload a Slideshare piece, it is always there, working to educate and compel people to become leads. And when they do come to you, they are educated, informed, and much more likely to make the decision to buy.
Get your free Complimentary Inbound Marketing Session to help you make an informed decision or call BroadVision Marketing at 707-799-1238.
And take a moment to download this informative resource entitled"10 Powerful Inbound Marketing Charts" to support your own marketing efforts!
