Are you feeling overwhelmed by your marketing strategies? This episode of the Duo on Air podcast shares some ways to eliminate overwhelm in your overall marketing plan.
This is what we hear all the time: I suck at marketing, or I don’t even know where to start.
We’ve talked before in episode #88 about how many marketing channels you should be using, and in episode #37, we talked about how to DIY your own marketing roadmap, but that isn’t this kind of episode.
We won’t list all the different places you can live and tasks you can be doing to market your business.
Instead, we will talk about why you feel overwhelmed and how to fix it.
So let us ask… Do you know why you are doing certain marketing tasks in your business?
- Why are you posting on Instagram?
- Why are you blogging?
- Why are you paying for that quiz tool?
- Why are you emailing your list weekly?
Better yet… Do you know how each of these things is actually performing for you?
The 80/20 Rule
Have you heard of the 80/20 rule? It’s also known as the Pareto Principle; it suggests roughly 80% of outputs come from 20% of inputs.
In other words… 80% of your leads or conversions could be attributed to 20% of the marketing channels you use.
If that’s the case, wouldn’t you be way less stressed about marketing?
For this principle to be true in your business, you need to start focusing your limited time and resources on the marketing activities that are most impactful, no matter the marketing channel you choose.
How to Determine Your Most Impactful Marketing Strategies
So which one should you pick to focus on?
We always say to look at the data. Your CRM tool should manage where your leads are coming from. We use Dubsado to help us track our leads (get 20% off for a year with our link!) From it, we know our biggest lead generation source is referrals. We always ask our clients to refer us when they can!
If you have an e-commerce website, your Shopify or other e-commerce data should tell you where your sales are coming from. Understand how your customers are finding you and put more effort into that channel.
You can also peek at your highest-grossing projects or orders and see where those leads found you. Was it from Instagram, a paid ad, a collaboration with someone, a blog, or something else?
If you don’t have any fancy tools for tracking data, then simply start adding a “source” column to your invoice tracker, and be sure to ask your leads where they found you in your contact forms.
Google Analytics is a free tool to help you monitor your website traffic. Peek at your acquisition traffic to see where most of your website visitors are coming from.
Let’s share some examples!
Let’s say you found out that most leads come from organic search. In that case, focus on SEO. Optimize website content (make sure those highest driving pages are built in a way that actually converts people), build backlinks, and create more helpful content for your audience. This will help you drive even more traffic to your website.
Here’s another scenario: Most sales come from repeat customers or referrals. Prioritize customer retention by investing in loyalty programs or email marketing to existing customers. Make sure people want to continue working with you and give them an incentive to refer others to you.
Maybe you find a particular social media platform that drives the most engagement. Double down on that platform. Create targeted content, engage with followers, and consider paid advertising. Don’t spread yourself thin by investing in other social media platforms when you see one significantly outperform the others.
For us, it goes referral, Google, then podcast. But we just realized email isn’t even on our form 😵💫 So we haven’t been able to track that at all. However, we can look at the data in our emails to understand more about our audience’s buying habits (course sales, open rates, click rates, etc.)
Now what?
Double down on that platform and take action. Be consistent and open up space on your calendar to do so. It’s so important to invest in the marketing strategies that are getting you results. If you find a platform isn’t serving you and you’ve given it enough time and energy to get the data, it’s time to move on.
Another thing we want to mention… If you know this platform is bringing in money, then hiring help is a no-brainer. Don’t be afraid to invest in your business.
So here’s your homework today: Take a look at your data. Dive into your CRM, website analytics, and invoices. Find out where your leads and sales are coming from. Then put all your focus and energy into that marketing channel.
The best part about understanding the data is you can let go without guilt for what’s not working! We hope this episode helped reduce the overwhelm around what marketing strategies to focus on.
If you liked today’s episode on The Duo On Air Marketing Podcast, don’t forget to leave us a review & subscribe!
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Abbey Oslin and Courtney Petersen are Minnesota-based marketing experts, educators, and co-founders of boutique marketing agency Duo Collective, which specializes in SEO, social media strategy, and branding for small business owners and creative entrepreneurs. To learn more about Duo Collective, or to inquire about working with our team, head over to www.duocollective.com.
To inquire about being a guest on Duo On Air, please fill out this application form.
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