LIE: There is a One-Size-Fits-All Marketing Strategy -

Wouldn’t that be great!?!?

It just is not true – no matter what the ‘online-gurus’ say.

Each business, and each business owner, has to find their own unique way to market their business. What works for one business may not be as effective for another.

That is why it is so great to have choices!

We have said this before – if you like to speak…speak! If you like to write…write! And if you like to chat…. network and build relationships!

When marketing is done the right way, it should be fun, not feel daunting, and certainly not be the dreaded activity of the day. Because you will have to do it – day in and day out… so you better enjoy it!

A wise man once said that there are many ways to add up to 8 = 2+6, 4+4, 1+7, 0+8, etc. No way is better then the next.

Likewise, there is not just one way (or one best way) to market a business… any business. In today’s world there are literally hundreds of ways to market…digital, traditional, PR, email, social media, networking, speaking, ads, organic searches, just to name a few.

Many business owners look at their competitors and see what they are doing and often are convinced that if it worked for their business it should work for them. Maybe not!

But we get FOMO (fear of missing out) so we jump on the newest marketing bandwagons they are using and take a ride – sometimes to nowhere but a hamster wheel of activities.

The old proverb is not always true in business and marketing:

What’s Good for the Goose is Good for the Gander

Yes, it might have worked for them… but, the LAST thing you want to do is be a cheap replica of someone else.

We are all different – and marketing should come from the inside out. Not the outside-in. We can’t expect to have success using someone else’s strategies if that is not who we are, if those strategies don’t feel ‘right’ to us.

Think of it this way – fire in some situations and for some people is life-giving and incredibly helpful. But for others, and in other circumstances, it can be destructive and detrimental.

Like fire – marketing strategies can be either lifegiving or detrimental to an overall growth strategy depending on who is striking the match.

Let’s take social media as an example: there are 3 reasons/strategies for social media…

For visibility

For credibility

For sales/lead generation

One business owner may LOVE social media: posting, writing, doing ‘lives’; and they have great results from it. Whereas the next business owner (in the same industry) may find it complicated, scary, and downright the worst thing in the world for them to have to do!

When they try it fails miserably because they are trying to do a cookie-cutter strategy to something that should be very personal and unique. They come across as salesy, not authentic, and this actually does the opposite of what they intended.

For each of us, we first need to define what we are using social media for (visibility, credibility, or sales/lead generation), and to what degree we feel like it is “us”, who we are. Then we can better target our message, our frequency, and the time/effort spent on it.

If you determine that you only need social media for visibility or credibility then you may not need to do lives, or paid ads, or complicated opt-in-funnel strategies, challenges, webinars, and other such things.

Maybe for you speaking is an avenue you prefer to pursue. Great! Do that! Then just use social media to distribute event details or thought leadership through the written word or pre-recorded videos for credibility.

Regardless, I encourage you to find your lifegiving fire. Forget what others are doing and determine what you like to do – which strategies you find exhilarating, enjoyable, and even dare I say, fun!

Reduce your choices by focusing in on the areas where you can willingly dedicate your time and be consistent. Consistency will trump luke-warm efforts across multiple-strategies every time.

So how do you know what marketing strategies will work best for you? How do you start to determine an inside-out marketing approach?

First, do some introspection. What marketing strategies are you doing right now – what do you like, what do you dread?

Determine if you are a writer, a speaker, or a chatter (you enjoy individual conversations). Explore different marketing strategies that use those preferred skills.

Here are some starter ideas:

Writers – do email marketing, BLOG writing, Newsletters, PR campaigns

Speakers – perfect the art and science of speaking, book events for yourself, showcase your thought leadership through teaching seminars and workshops

Chatters – network and define a solid follow-up plan, spend time getting to know people 1:1

Yes, there are some things we ALL have to do in the marketing realm…things like have a decent website, social media profiles and presence, and possibly have some published thought leadership. Every business should spend some time optimizing their SEO. We should all consistently expand our networks (which can be achieved several different ways).

Beyond that, we have a lot of choices as to how we market our brand.

But fact is fact: you have to market yourself and your business.

But here is the reality…if it is raining outside and you have to go out into the storm you have several choices: