How to get out of a marketing rut
Does your marketing feel a bit ‘same old, same old’? Have you tried anything different lately, or are you stuck doing the same things you’ve always done? Are you, dare we say it, a bit bored of promoting your business? You aren’t alone! In this article, we are sharing our four tips to getting excited about telling your story again.
Think about what’s important to you
What is your business brand? Branding is all about telling your story, and marketing is how you just how you reach the audience you want to hear it. So it starts with knowing what your story is, and that can change over time. Maybe it has for you.
To work out what story you want to tell about your business, think about what gets you genuinely excited about it. What gets you out of bed on a cold February morning? Is it that you get to meet all sorts of interesting people? Are you championing sustainable products and/ or practices? Do you love hearing how you’ve helped someone? If in you’re marketing you’re talking about something you’re genuinely passionate about then it will help you deliver that message with enthusiasm.
Don’t always do the same as everyone else
There are certain dates and events that are huge in the commercial calendar. Christmas, of course. Valentine’s Day. Easter. Halloween. But just because that’s what pretty much everyone else focuses on doesn’t mean you always have to!
There may be other dates in the calendar that align with your business values and brand, such as Earth Day or Small Business Saturday. Maybe just come up with your own theme, something that you want to highlight. Doing something a bit unexpected and different can be just what you need to jolt you out of that marketing rut, and may also help you stand out to potential customers too, as their jaded singleton eyes sweep over yet another romantic gift idea and alight on your fun ‘Palentine’s Day’ post.
Focus on positive customer feedback
This point is not about concentrating on the myriad of positive reviews and comments you have rather than the one bad one, although that’s good advice too! Instead, it’s about making gaining positive feedback from your existing customers as one of your main targets, rather than measuring your marketing success by how many people your latest social media posts have reached.
The reason I’m recommending this is because happy customers are loyal customers. They will not only come back, but they’ll tell their friends about you too. They’ll like, comment and share your social media posts. 200 engaged followers are better than 1000 disengaged ones. You can also use their comments, where appropriate, as a powerful and persuasive marketing tool.
Having this attitude will help you worry less about how many new likes your posts get, or how many people are signed up to your mailing list and concentrate on building a customer base that does some of the hard work for you. It will also bring much more satisfaction—the majority of business owners will say that their favourite thing is when they know their service has really helped someone, or when a buyer is absolutely thrilled with their purchase.
Have some fun!
Don’t be afraid to share something of yourself in your business marketing. People enjoying seeing the pets of their favourite businesses, getting to nose around their working spaces and hearing their funny stories. It’s okay to share when something didn’t go according to plan, or a minor mistake that taught you to do something differently. We are all human and we like to do business with other humans.
I hope those ideas will help you reinvigorate your marketing this February. Get in touch if you’d like some help putting them into practice or feel you need some fresh eyes.