I spoke at a conference for small business owners who were looking for advice on where to spend marketing dollars. There were about 150 businesses together looking for some sage marketing advice. After my presentation, we had twenty minutes for the audience to ask questions.
A young woman asked where to begin because she felt bombarded with so many choices. Where do I start? I see Facebook ads, and PPC and ads in magazines and newspapers and on local TV and I’m overwhelmed. Where do I begin? How do I sort through all the choices? I’m not even certain what I’d say in my marketing?
My suggestion was that she starts with an insight.
Insights First
The woman had a small retail shop selling knitting supplies. Her clientele is almost exclusively female, and she didn’t do any marketing per se. She opened her doors about a year ago, and a handful of people come in each day to shop. She is barely making ends meet.
She loves what she is doing and needs to attract more people to come in the door.
I asked her to give me one insight about the people she currently serves.
What motivates them to buy from you? They can easily shop online and find the same products for less, so what feeling do people have when after they shop with you that they can’t get online?
A Community
“We are a little community; the knitting is equal to the stories we share.”
I urged her to use that insight, to help build her business.
Serve people who want to be part of a community of knitters, not just shoppers.
Market yourself not as a store selling knitting supplies and yarn, but as a community centered around friendship, craftsmanship, and kindness.
Market the community and the feeling of belonging, not the particulars of what type of wool you sell.
Can you anchor your message in an insight that explains how customers will feel when they shop with you. What story will they tell themselves and their friends? Remember, your brand lives in the stories customer tell their friends.
When you step back and distill what you do into the benefit you provide, you can stitch things together and begin. It all begins with a crisp, clear insight.
Where should you begin your marketing? You can set up a time to chat with me about your marketing challenges using my calendar. Email me jeffslater@themarketingsage.com Call me. 919 720 0995. The conversation is free and we can explore if working together makes sense. Try my new chat feature on my site if you have a quick question.
Photo by Fancycrave on Unsplash
