Jay Sachetti joined Jeff O’Brien, partner at Husch Blackwell and Dyanne Ross-Hanson, president of Exit Planning Strategies talked about the market for mergers and acquisitions, exit planning opportunities for companies that don’t end up for sale and how companies can maximize their eventual sale price during an early October panel at the first Upsize on Tap event at Summit Brewing Co. in St. Paul.
When the state Legislature passed a law requiring employers to provide paid leave and safe time for employees, Justin Bieganek started hearing differing details from friends, colleagues and peers.
1, Each business’s marketing mix has to be customized to a careful blend of strategies and tactics with an approach based on your customer, goals and business type.
2, Many business owners have been lured by agencies promising quick results, only to find those promises were unrealistic and don’t pan out.
3, Identify key past moments when sales or leads spiked and trace them back to potential causes, like influencer mentions or specific campaigns. Rebuilding the context may help you replicate the success.
4, Consistency is key to building momentum and achieving sustainable success. Do something for marketing every week.
When I was starting my business in 2002, and for many years after, I suffered from something I call the “gut-wrenching fear.” Whenever I mention it, I get instant recognition from my fellow business owners. I’d describe it as the anxiety we all experience — those sleepless nights when a check doesn’t arrive from a vendor or customer, an important employee or client is lost, or any one of a million other things that happen when you’re running your own show.
It all comes down to the fear of failure, which is very real for all of us. It’s incredibly tough to manage. And if there’s one thing that amplifies this fear, it’s marketing. The good news is there is a way to dial that stress down. It requires taking a long view and it’s easier than it sounds.
Marketing decisions often feel like navigating a strange maze. Maybe you’ve reached a dead end when an ad stops working. Your social media accounts may be eerily quiet. This is when the fear creeps in, and usually, your mind turns to marketing as you ruminate over and over on questions like:
Do I need a marketing agency?
How do I know my marketing consultant has the right strategy?
Am I advertising in the right places?
How much should I spend?
How can I get more leads/more customers/more sales…
The questions can go on and on, especially if revenues are down. Sales for small businesses often feel like a roller coaster impacted by many things we can’t control, both within our business and externally, from the economy to even the climate. Unfortunately, these factors have increased considerably since the pandemic and there doesn’t seem to be a break in the level of disruption on the horizon.
Some marketers tout “best practices” as proof they’re doing the right thing. Sometimes that’s okay. However, each business’s marketing mix has to be customized to a careful blend of strategies and tactics. The approach should be based on your ideal customer, your goals, and, of course, the nature of your business, not just best practices.
But that’s not the whole answer to alleviating stress and getting the best marketing results possible. You have to focus on the long game.
This may be simple, but it isn’t easy. When numbers drop, the first thing we often do is change our marketing tactics (or even our agency) before determining what’s really going on. This is often because we believe the marketers I call “big promisers.”
There are too many agencies that promise to deliver unrealistic returns. They’re either too large or they’re in a short time frame. For a short period of time, I worked for one of these agencies. They projected their own revenues quarterly based on when a client terminated their contract. In meetings, they promised the world but rarely delivered. Launch a national software product on a $2,000 a month retainer? No problem! Rewrite a massive website in six weeks? No problem!
Now, this was a dramatic example. But many business owners have been lured by agencies promising quick results, only to return disappointed when these promises don’t pan out.
This often coincides with business owners seeking a silver bullet — a single, magical solution to their marketing woes. This mindset leads to jumping from one marketing tactic to another, resulting in short-term gains but long-term instability.
In other cases, businesses often try to be everything to everyone, fearing they’ll miss out on potential customers. Trying to market to everyone usually results in ineffective, generic messaging and high costs.
Sustainable marketing takes time and patience. You can overcome gut-wrenching fear by building trust in your marketing department or partner. Investing in proven practices rather than chasing quick fixes helps deliver results that last over time. Here are some guidelines to help build an effective, sustainable marketing strategy.
Know your audience — Start by gaining a deep understanding of your audience. Conduct small, low-cost tests to see what messaging resonates with them. Embracing this “test-and-learn” mindset will fine-tune your marketing efforts, so you know what works before committing significant resources.
Analyze past successes — Look at past wins. Identify key moments when sales or leads spiked and trace them back to potential causes, like influencer mentions or specific campaigns. Rebuilding the context of these successes can help you pinpoint key performance indicators (KPIs) that you can replicate.
Develop and measure metrics — Establish a set of meaningful metrics and track them regularly — monthly often works well. Your initial targets might not be perfect, but starting with a baseline is essential. As you gather more data, you can refine your goals and focus on what works.
Find a marketing mentor — Guidance from an experienced mentor can make a world of difference. This could be a fellow entrepreneur, a consultant or even an admired author. A mentor brings objectivity and can help you overcome the fear that often accompanies marketing efforts.
Commit to consistency — Set aside at least an hour each week for focused marketing activities. Consistency is key to building momentum and achieving sustainable success. Even if you’re just checking your social media follower numbers, do something that contributes to your marketing strategy.
Test, learn and adapt — Keep experimenting with small campaigns, and don’t hesitate to pivot based on your findings. Marketing is a long-term game and adapting will help you stay ahead.
You’ll work on these steps in the short term, but they’ll inform your strategies in the future as well. That makes it feel less like a roller coaster and more like a good steady climb as you use what you’ve learned to keep doing the things that work and stop doing those that don’t.
Focus on building a sustainable marketing strategy and the confidence to overcome common fears associated with marketing. Play the long game, and you’ll get rid of that wrenching fear for good!
