Three is the Magic Number!
What are your top three marketing activities? How many different marketing activities should you do each month? Is three enough? All these questions will be answered in this blog.
Some years ago, I attended a workshop run by a fellow Marketing Consultant, who asked us to write a list of the top 10 marketing activities that we used in our businesses. We had to rank them according to which were the best at bringing us new clients. This is a really useful exercise, because if you run your own business and do the majority of your own marketing, then you really need to know which marketing tools are working best for you. Any activities that don’t bring you enough new business, or the right sort of business, should be dropped or changed. This means that you need to measure your marketing on a regular basis. You need to ask new enquiries how they heard about you. Ask anyone who signs up to your newsletter how they heard about you. Use a free tool such as Google Analytics to see how people get to your website.
One of the secrets of great marketing is that you need to find out what marketing works best for your business and then do more of it. The only way in which you can do this is by measuring your marketing. So if you don’t know how your current clients heard about you, or you’re not sure how any new clients you’ve taken on this year found out about you, go and do some measurement now!
The Top Three
In that workshop, I remember writing the top three marketing activities on my list as Networking, Referrals and Presentations that I had given at networking meetings.
When I checked our numbers recently, in preparation for writing this blog, I saw that the top ranking activity is still Networking, number two is still Referrals and guess what – Presentations is still at number three. The only difference is that I now include Webinars with face to face Presentations. The top three and the fact they’ve not changed over the years doesn’t surprise me at all. When you run a service business, such as a Marketing Consultancy, people are really buying you and your experience. The same applies if you’re a coach, consultant, trainer, speaker or other service provider. Your prospective clients need to get to know you – they need to learn to trust you and to believe that you can really help them in the way that you say you can. So they’re much more likely to buy from someone who they have met at a networking meeting, or who has been recommended to them, or who they’ve heard share their knowledge at a talk, presentation or webinar.
Is Three Really the Magic Number?
What came next in that workshop surprised me. The presenter told us to draw a line under the third ranked activity on our lists and forget about any of the activities below that line. That meant that I could have stopped writing Scribbles, the newsletter that I’ve been writing for about 14 years now. I could save time by not writing any more tips to share on Twitter; no more blog posts; no more LinkedIn articles; an end to listings on the websites of organisations that I belong to; no more joint ventures with other businesses and certainly no more business ski trips!
The majority of people in the room at that event were running service businesses. This meant that for most them (and not just me) face to face marketing would have been the most effective tools. And yet what that Marketing Consultant told a room full of service business owners was to not bother with any online marketing, or other marketing tactics that helped them to keep in touch with clients and prospects.
This really worried me. Why? Earlier this month I had a meeting with a potential client, to whom we had been recommended. Before he called me, he looked at our website, watched the video on the home page and subscribed to Scribbles. Without first being able to check us out online, he probably would not have had the confidence to call and ask for our help. If he hadn’t been able to find a website or a LinkedIn profile, it’s unlikely that he would have called. He’s now a client.
Someone else called me earlier in March, asking for marketing help. He’s someone who I first met at a networking event. I’d not seen him for nearly six years, but he told me that he’s been reading Scribbles for all that time, taking our free advice and using it in his business. He also told me that the last issue prompted him to call us – rather than anyone else in marketing. He’s now a client too.
What is the Magic Number?
How many marketing activities should you use in your business? Well, if you run a service business, then Referrals, Networking, Presentations (along with Workshops and Webinars) will always work really for you. You then need to back up those activities with all the ones that sit in the background and might not actually bring you new clients. Using good quality, consistent background marketing activities can help you make even more from all the face to face marketing that you do.
Why Are You Still Working with the Wrong Clients?
Join us for our next free webinar at 11am on 29 March 2017 – just click here.
You know who those not-so-perfect clients are. They’re the ones who don’t want to pay you what you want to charge and who always quibble on price. They are the ones who don’t respond to you for weeks and then suddenly need everything done yesterday. They’re the ones who are never quite happy with the work you do for them, no matter how hard you try!
So why are you still working for these clients?
If you’re quite new to business, or you’ve been struggling to keep going, it can be tempting to take on any work that comes your way. We know – we had to do just that in the early days of Appletree!
But what if there was a simple way to find clients who really love the work that you do for them and always pay what you want you want to charge? Wouldn’t it be great if you only had to work with clients who always recommend you to more ideal clients, doing your marketing for you?
Here’s the good news – there is a simple way to identify them and draw them to your business, so that you don’t even have to go out looking for them!
Join us on this free webinar at 11am on Wednesday 29 March 2017 when we’ll show you exactly how to do this, which will help you to save money, save time and get new clients!
During the webinar you’ll also be able to ask any questions you have about promoting your business – anything that you’re currently stuck on or don’t understand about marketing. If you run a coaching, consulting or training business, then join the webinar and we can show you how to attract lots of lovely clients to work with – ideal clients to help you grow your business.
