Is Your Marketing in Tune to Deliver the Best Results For Your Business?

Marketing – what to do, what not to do, what’s important. Some people find marketing language tricky and I love music (it feeds the soul!), so I’ve taken inspiration from the era of accessories – think hand mittens, leg warmers and neon!

Here’s my quick run down of the top 10 marketing charts from the 80s for small business owners. I’ve been told this music sticks, so I apologise for any earworms created following the reading of this blog!

Top 10 80s Marketing Desert Island Discs

1. True by Spandau Ballet – be true to your values, they will be your key reference to making business decisions. Brand is so much more than a logo, font and colours. What do you want people to feel? What do you stand for? If you’re a one-person business, what’s your personal brand? Having a clear purpose for a business is important – it’s your why, it can permeate through everything and everyone. It’s what gets you up every day and can be your differentiator.
2. It Ain’t What You Do But The Way That You Do It by Bananarama – choose the right marketing channels for your audience and integrate them. It’s useful to have a plan, it could work for you to have a theme each month or quarter and use that in your networking too. Have a clear CTA – what do you want people to do? Make it easy for people to get in touch. Even the simplest of things such as your email signature.
3. Hello by Lionel Richie – when connecting on LinkedIn personalise your connection requests and follow-up. Connect others, don’t always think ‘What’s In It For Me?’. If you can help a client they will appreciate that. Don’t forget to take conversations offline, call or Zoom! Organise 121s and keep in touch.
4. Human by Human League – If Google Search could be a person it would! Think like a human and not a machine. Write your blogs or create videos that sound like you, with passion and personality. Don’t get hung up on word counts in your first draft. Yes, optimise for SEO but you want people to read it, share it, draw them closer and return. Remember, to use your voice and no one else’s.
5. Let’s Dance by David Bowie – it’s a two-way conversation. Encourage dialogue through personal emails and messages. Engage in other people’s posts. Don’t forget to follow-up proposals, just because they’ve not got back to you – could just be busy like the rest of us! With clients, check in with them, take time to get to know their problems, become a trusted ear. You can lead but it’s not good if your clients are going in the opposite direction – show them the way!
6. Never Gonna Give You Up’ by Rick Astley – we can all be busy looking for new clients, don’t forget to look after your current clients too! There may be opportunities to help them by an introduction, upsell them, ask for a testimonial or write a client story and of course, ask for referrals. Use these in your proposals and social evidence.
7. Chain Reaction, Diana Ross – Don’t forget referrals don’t just come via clients. Create a Referral Network & collaborations or partnerships. Simple tip: mention them on social posts, think about this when networking and arrange your 121s. Grow your own supporters club!
8. System Addict by Five Star – automation has it’s place but it can come across as so impersonal, like a factory. Tools for saving time are brilliant, such as social media scheduling but I’ve known people set up rules to move emails to junk or unsubscribe when they are sent rapidly and so obviously in an automated pattern. It’s the same on LinkedIn. It’s not going to win you friends, the opposite in fact! Get to know your audience – their pain, problems, needs and desires. After all, it’s all about relationships., focus on quality and follow-up. Person to person so make it personal and focus on who and what will make a difference.
9. You Can Call Me Al’ by Paul Simon – personalisation, get to know your audience –profiles – their pains, wants, needs and desires. It could be making a note of personal information about their likes, family, what’s going on in their life, as well as their business. So when you speak to them in a few months time you can reference that in your future conversations with them. People buy from People the Know, Like and Trust!
10. Time After Time by Cindy Lauper – Review what you do, track and benchmark, set KPIs, use your Google Analytics, social media engagement, email open and click rates, listen to what your clients are saying (could be some great content).

I’m sorry I couldn’t fit in anymore, especially Duran Duran! As Simple Minds would say… Don’t You Forget About Me!

Book your free consultation with me to discover what improvements you can make to your marketing to take it to the top of the charts!