In the last few weeks, we’ve heard from several business owners that they’re feeling the stress of going from too much work to not enough. It’s sure been a topsy-turvy ride in business over the last 6-12 months, and many businesses are experiencing fluctuating workflows.
When work is coming in and all is going well, marketing tends to take a backseat. But when the workload starts to slow down, business owners suddenly decide to do some marketing in an effort to increase sales enquiries again. Does that sound familiar?
What’s your timeframe for conversion?
If you think you don’t need marketing because you are flat tack and have plenty of jobs, you’re wrong. The key to success is to always work on marketing your business. Even when you are busy! Marketing is always part of the equation if you want your business to be profitable and sustainable.
To get the most out of your marketing efforts, you should look at your conversion metrics. Just take a moment and think about how long your sales cycle is. Take a typical client and work out the timeframe, from the moment they first get in touch to when they say yes to working with you.
For example, ours can be as short as 4 weeks or as long as 2 years. Typically, it’s around 3 to 4 months before a client gives us the green light to go ahead with a project. It’s never the same for every client, of course, but look at the average timeframe. What’s this process like for your business?
Essentially, higher value services have a longer sales cycle. With lower priced services, the timeframes are usually shorter. If you are a builder, there’s a good bit of time involved talking to clients about the possibilities of a new build, all before you get the job over the line. Mechanics on the other hand will have customers that make contact and book their cars in right away.
Once you know how long your sales cycle takes, you can work out your marketing plan, which should include details on the frequency and timeframe of when to focus on marketing your business.
Stay consistent at marketing your business
Many businesses make the commitment to consistently work on their marketing because it gives them a constant flow of enquiries and leads. It also helps build credibility and authority, and it’s an important part of SEO. The more active and consistent you are with your online marketing, the more you visible you become.
In a fast-evolving business landscape, marketing consistency is a cornerstone for success. However, if you struggle with staying on top of your own marketing, finding the time for marketing your business, or being consistent with your marketing, take note of the following 5 actionable tips.
- Stick to a marketing plan
Develop a detailed marketing plan that aligns with your business goals. Make sure it covers strategies for various channels like digital, social media, email, and content. A comprehensive marketing plan keeps your message consistent and makes sure that all marketing activities for your business work together and are aligned with your goals and objectives. - Keep showing up
If you have a database of existing clients, this is a great place to start – they already like, know and trust you. Nurture them, keep them informed with things that they need to know about the product or service they have purchased from you. If you don’t, there is always a chance they’ll get nurtured by a competitor of yours, and you could lose them as a client. - Ask for feedback
Encourage feedback and engage with your audience regularly. Address queries, respond to comments, and acknowledge every response. It reinforces your commitment to consistency and customer satisfaction. An easy way to do this is to work on collecting Google Reviews. Build it into your process of wrapping up a job, so you’ll always have a flow of new reviews coming through. - Use your socials
Social media remains a pillar in the way businesses influence buyers’ behaviour. It pays to be active on at least one platform. It could be Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube or TikTok, just make sure it is the platform that’s preferred (and used most) by your ideal client. Again, consistency is key. Give value 70% of the time and only make 30% of your posts sales related. - Utilise marketing automation
Use automation tools to make your marketing tasks easier. With automated scheduling, you can plan when your social media posts, email campaigns, and content go out without having to do it manually. This keeps your presence steady online and ensures that your audience receives content regularly.
Don’t get complacent
When workloads are slowing down, business owners have more time on their hands than usual, and that time is likely to be spent on ramping up their marketing. This includes your competition, and when they improve their marketing efforts it will raise the bar for your industry, which means that you also need to work harder to be noticed.
That’s why it is so important not to get complacent with your marketing. If you’ve been showing up at the top of the Google listings for your keywords, you’ll need to put an effort in to stay there. Just let us know if you would like some help with that. The point is, if you have a lot of choice and a good lead flow, you can choose to work with high value clients and the ones you enjoy working with. For you to stay successful in business and keep loving what you do, that’s crucial.
Bonus tips to make marketing work for you
- Be smart with your marketing activity and spend (don’t just put out fluff content)
- Double-down on understanding your audience and where they spend their time
- Create high-quality, tailored content for each stage of the buyer’s journey
- Create a free Google Business Profile and keep it up to date
- Make sure your SEO is up to scratch and your website is better than the rest
Need a little help?
Regardless of your industry or how long you’ve been in business for, marketing your business should be at the forefront of your mind. It must be an ongoing focus. If you have a solid marketing plan and strategy, it will give you a heck of a lot of confidence.
For an obligation-free chat about how you can optimise your digital marketing, have a website that works for you and stay on top of the Google rankings, book in a discovery call with the team.
