Was YOUR business at the races?

A topical blog this month with a horse-racing theme given the start of the season here in Melbourne.

When it comes to marketing your business online, are you ahead of the pack, jockeying for position, or have you been left in the stalls? With this in mind, and with regards to your social media strategy,
it begs the question… ‘which social media platform is right for my business?’

It’s a question that comes up a lot with regards to small business marketing (especially after some recent public speaking events) and while it’s justified, with a little marketing perspective, you’ll realise it’s also a little misguided.

Have you asked the following question to yourself? Here goes:

‘My competitors have an online presence on: FB/Twitter/Google+/Instagram/Pinterest/Squarespace… (delete as appropriate), should I be there too?’

It’s a seemingly simple marketing question at first sight. The answer may appear to be blatantly obvious. After all, who isn’t online these days and if you’re not, your competitors most certainly will be and you’re potentially missing out on hundreds of online leads and sales, right?

Not quite.
Because it’s the wrong question to ask and here’s the reason why.
The question itself invokes the herd mindset of following the crowd just because every one else is ‘online’. It’s the fear of missing out ‘factor’ that drives this strong human compulsion ‘to belong’.

The obvious insight is that what’s ‘right’ for your competitor(s) may not be ‘right’ for you. What works for one business does not necessarily work for others. To clarify, I’m not saying don’t consider or invest in your online presence or that it’s not an important channel for your business. What I am saying is making the clear distinction that:

‘Just because your competitors are online doesn’t mean you need to be there too’
and that’s a huge distinction when it comes to marketing success as it can make or break a business.

Only invest if it’s right for your business and don’t be led by your competitors or the ‘fear of missing out’.

How to know what’s right for your business?
Your answer lies in strategic marketing.
The ‘right’ question to ask also requires strategic thinking as a more strategic question you should be asking yourself instead is this:

‘Where are my preferred or ideal customers?’

The answer will dictate where ‘you should be’ online as opposed to where your competitors ‘are’. It will provide much needed clarity for your social media strategy too in terms of what your customer wants to hear, see and receive. What’s more, the insight on your customer (if you do the right research) will shed light on what social media platforms to focus on, instead of spreading yourself thin across multiple channels where you see little return and you lack the consistency, motivation and effort required to get traction.

Ask the hard questions: who’s to say your competitors are right in their conviction that online is right for them? Also ask where and what are they basing their reasoning on? Furthermore are they actually seeing success or is it just engagement?

A smarter way to market your business would be to focus on your customer and learn where and when they’re online (if they’re online at all) before committing any time or budget to social media campaigns, online sales funnels and content marketing strategies. The return on your investment has to be justified by solid research and measured projection wherever possible. Yes, most people are online but are they the people who want to buy from you?

Best advice? Always ask in any marketing venture ‘why am I doing’ this and ‘what are my key determined outcomes?’  i.e. clicks, shares, impressions, likes, downloads, phone calls, sales enquiries etc… – always with the end in mind to keep you focused and on target – especially with the online space.

Some businesses or owners can get so fixated at ‘being at the races’, they can become so blinded with the need to ‘compete’ because everyone else is ‘there’, that they forget to stop, ask and think ‘is this the best way to market my business with the limited budget I’ve got?’

My tip? Follow the advice any seasoned punter at the horse-racing would: study the form (research your customer: do they actually go online to purchase or research only and buy in-store?), consider the ground (how do customers like to buy from you? i.e. do they participate in forums or watch videos before buying?), and anticipate unexpected external factors such as environment, weather etc… (would unforeseen legislation or technical industry changes restrict or prevent business/marketing opportunities and can you predict or anticipate them?)

Here’s the final analogy: Rather than betting on every horse (or signing up to every social media platform) and seeing minimal returns, or gambling all your investment away on a ‘hunch’ or a ‘gut feeling’, or looking at what other punters are ‘betting’ on (just following the crowd and creating a Google Plus account for the sake of it), your marketing goals are to identify where your customers go online, help minimise any perceived risk in buying from your business, and assisting them in making informed choices and taking calculated risks that improve their lives.

To conclude, rather than engage in a multi-level marketing strategy that will exhaust you and your budget, find one or two social media outlets where your customers ‘hang out’ and focus on building a consistent presence with a consistent tone, voice and personality that resonates with your targeted audience. Once those leads are coming in and generating revenue for you, only then do you look at expanding the scope and getting your social media outlets working ‘in sync’.

Remember, market responsibly out there.

Your Marketing Man,
Jamie Thomas