Many business owners are so excited about the idea of running their business that they forget that in order to generate traffic, leads and business, they not only need to create a marketing plan, but they also need to consistently implement it.
There are aspects of your marketing efforts that can be automated, but if you're hoping that AI or a 3rd party company will fully take over marketing and give you the results you'd hoped, you're going to want to adjust your expectations.
When it comes to marketing, there really is no "hack" or "silver bullet." The truth is that it will take time to setup the campaign, create content for it, and optimize it based on how it performs. If you understand this when you're starting out, and are willing to make time in your schedule to make it happen, you'll see the most success.
What is Marketing Automation?
Marketing automation utilizes software to streamline and automate manual steps. These may be sending out an email, posting on social media, or managing an ad campaign.
Automation is beneficial because it can help you save time while providing an improved experience for your customers. Nowadays, there's also AI that can help you with creating content and answering questions through a chat system, but how "ready" it is will depend on your industry and expectations.
Types of Marketing
There are many types of marketing you can choose to focus on for your business. For many, it depends on their industry, business goals, and the resources they're willing to invest in their efforts (time and money).
Here are a few examples of types of marketing, and you'll notice that they all require planning and consistent content creation.
Outbound marketing - focuses on raising awareness and how the message is delivered.
Inbound marketing - focuses on attracting customers by educating and providing value.
Personalized marketing - uses historical data to make user-specific recommendations (when done right, it should be seen as helpful).
Search engine marketing - can include creating content with SEO (search engine optimization) strategies and PPC (pay per click) advertisements in mind.
Affiliate marketing - a company pays a commission for promoting and sending traffic to a product or service.
Social media marketing - uses social media to raise awareness and encourage engagement with your brand.
Email marketing - sending emails to potential and/or current clients with the goal of educating, providing value and encouraging engagement.
In person marketing - the goal is to increase awareness and make/strengthen connections with potential partners and customers. This can be an in person networking event, pop-up store, or through a mastermind group.
Keep Your Marketing Efforts In House When Starting Out
3rd party options can play a role in your marketing, but they shouldn't be a replacement. In our experience, the clients who see the most success in their marketing efforts are the ones who are involved and take ownership in their campaign.
This is why our approach involves teaching our clients the fundamentals of marketing, so they can setup a foundation and learn how to market their website themselves. No one knows your business as well as you do, so as you grow your business, it's important you take an active role in your marketing.
Want to Learn More About Marketing?
Book a free strategy session with our team, and we'll chat about where you are now with your business, and where you'd like to be!
Our goal is to help our clients learn the fundamentals about marketing, so they can setup the foundation they need and have the confidence to market themselves.
