Intro Speaker: 0:05

Welcome to the Small Business Marketing Huddle. Our show is all about taking action. We equip you with the marketing knowledge and confidence you need to make real progress. So let's huddle up and listen in to the latest episode with your host, Lily Richmond.

Lily Richmond: 0:31

Hey, this is Lily. Thank you so much for being here today. If you are already subscribed to the show, thank you so much. You guys make the huddle an awesome place to be, and if it's your first time here, don't forget to subscribe, because today, like in every episode, I'm going to cover a marketing topic that I think you've really got to learn if you want to nail your marketing for your small business. And make sure you listen until the end, because I'm going to share a technique that's going to help you filter out all of that noise and distraction and focus on the marketing that really matters most for your individual business. So today's episode is all about a concept that I like to call your biggest marketing growth challenge, and the reason I wanted to teach you about this upfront early on in the podcast is that I use this with most of my clients, and it is a really helpful way to think about the big picture, really when it comes to marketing your individual business and making sure that you do a small number of things really well, rather than doing lots of things and maybe not doing them quite so well because your focus is spread so thin, and you know what.

Lily Richmond: 1:43

This is super timely, given that we are rounding out 2023. My goodness me, how did that happen? And 2024 is going to be here before we know it, and it's a really good idea to start thinking about what you want to achieve next year now. So let's get straight into it. Firstly, I feel like I kind of need to set the scene a bit first. So if we think about next year 2024, you might say, have five goals or business priorities for the year that you want to focus on and look back at the end of the year and go, yeah, cool, I achieved that. Chances are that probably equates to I don't know 20, 25 different marketing activities that you might have to do throughout the year to help you achieve those goals.

Lily Richmond: 2:34

And the problem really arises that when you've got so much to do, your focus gets split. It's like I guess the only way that I can think about describing it is like having 25 tabs open in your internet browser at once. It gets a little bit overwhelming and you're not quite sure where to start, where to go next and what to finish off, and it actually splits your budget and your resources, which I think can be pretty problematic if you're a small business and you've actually got a small marketing budget to play with in the first place. You know it can often be better at times to spend a larger chunk on a few activities and do them really, really well, rather than spending really small amounts on many things, because sometimes you'll struggle to get that cut through that you need, especially with things like digital advertising. That's a really good example of there are really minimum budgets that you need to be using to play with to actually get cut through, get some good results. Otherwise, you can be wasting your money a little bit sometimes in those areas. Now it's not to say that small you know really small budgets don't work but it's more that if you can concentrate and focus that money and effort and time into a small number of activities, you've got a greater chance of those succeeding.

Lily Richmond: 3:54

So the question for you is looking at your business now and what you might want to achieve for the next year. What does your marketing need to focus on to help you get there? Just to give you some examples is it to build your brand awareness? Maybe you want to enter into a new marketplace, or maybe it's that you want to reposition your business into a different lucrative niche that you've uncovered in the last year. Or maybe you want to deepen relationships with your existing customers. You might have quite a large engaged customer base already that you really want to focus on giving the love and delivering more business through. Or maybe it's to set your business apart from your competitors with a new service offering that you've come up with. These are quite big, meaty marketing challenges to overcome in a year. Could you imagine doing all four of those at once in a year? It's going to be really hard when you're a small business and you don't have a big marketing team or a big marketing budget to play with. So prioritizing and being super, super focused and intentional, I think, is really key. So once you've settled on what your biggest marketing growth challenge is, then you can create a marketing plan and a budget and a calendar all around that biggest marketing challenge. So everything that you're going to do in that particular year is going to feed up into that overall goal, which will ultimately help you achieve your business objectives for 2024.

Lily Richmond: 5:24

So, if we think about your biggest marketing growth challenge, how does it actually help you market better? So here are just five ways that I think it's going to help you, and I'm sure there are many more than five ways, but firstly, it's going to make you feel less overwhelmed. Second, you'll have a clearer sense of purpose around your marketing. Thirdly, it becomes easier to prioritize. You will know which activities are important and which ones can be deprioritized, depending on what you've got going on. Number four your marketing really has a much greater chance of being consistent and integrated. You'll be hitting the same messages throughout your marketing activities in the year. Number five back to budget again. It can be used much more effectively. I've already mentioned it, but really when you focus on a smaller number of focused activities, you get much more bang for your buck. So how do you come up with your biggest marketing growth challenge? Stay tuned and I'll give you the easy to action steps to create yours.

Lily Richmond: 6:29

So we are down to the business end of the episode. How do we apply this concept in your business? Well, I guess the first thing I want to preface this with is there is no single right answer here. Your business is unique and what you want to achieve from it is individual to you. So don't get caught up worrying if your goals are the right ones and if your priorities are the right ones, or if your biggest challenge is the right one. There is no right one. There are many, many options in marketing that you can always choose from. So it's progress over perfection here, and don't worry about being able to tick a box with the right answer. So, now that we've got that out of the way, what are the actions that you can take right now to implement this?

Lily Richmond: 7:18

Well, first, up with 2024 coming, I want you to sit down with a coffee and plan out your top business goals first. And if you're not sure how to do that, or if you haven't done that before in your business, here are two quick and easy ways to help you brainstorm. Firstly, look at your performance this year and ask yourself how do I want to improve my business on 2023? What could I do to take my business to the next level? And that doesn't have to be the business getting bigger, it could be the business getting better. And the second tip for brainstorming your business priorities is ask yourself this question when I reach the end of 2024, what will a successful year have looked like in my business? And jot down your ideas around that. That's a really good way for you to project forward and think about what you want your business to achieve, so that you can work backwards if you want. So hopefully, those two ideas can help you get your inspiration flowing around your business objectives.

Lily Richmond: 8:24

Once you've done that, the next thing to do is to look at your business goals and brainstorm the different marketing activities that you could action to help you achieve that goal. So, for each of your business goals, write down all of those different marketing activities that you could do throughout the year that are going to help you achieve that. Once you've done that, then look at all of those marketing activities that you've listed down and have a look. Are there some themes emerging? Is your marketing all about growing awareness? Maybe it's about growing market share? Maybe all of your marketing is related to launching a new product or service, or could it be fully maximizing your loyal customer base. That you've got and you want to be able to really cement your position in your market is the best at what you do.

Lily Richmond: 9:10

So these are just some examples, and there are plenty more, but it's a really good way for you to start to tease out and look at those marketing activities that you've defined for those business goals and start to say, actually, what's the common thread here? What's my overall goal with my marketing. What do I really need to do? What's going to move the needle more than anything else? And then that's how you come up with your biggest marketing growth challenge. And again, this is unique to you and your business. There are no right or wrong answers here, and hey, if you're not happy with it, you can change it Easy peasy.

Lily Richmond: 9:50

Okay, so you've now landed on your biggest marketing growth challenge. I want you to then write that at the top of your marketing plan or your marketing calendar whatever you use to plan your marketing for the year and you can then start to list out those activities that are going to help you get there. And, hey presto, you've done that in the previous exercise. Once you've done that, you've got your biggest marketing growth challenge front and center, it's a great time to assess your budget. Is your marketing budget going to be going towards activities that are going to help you meet that challenge and achieve success? And that should be the yardstick with which you determine what activities you're going to do and which ones you're going to pass on.

Lily Richmond: 10:30

So, if we can get a practical level, how does this work? If you wanted to say, cement your market position as one of the best in your industry and your category for what you do and you want to use Facebook to do that, then you might use Facebook to share testimonials, or you might ask customers to share their photos of what they love about your business or your products and services, and this is called user generated content, and we'll talk about that in a future episode. But that's how you could use Facebook to really position yourself as a leader in your particular field. Another way might be that you want to create an automated email campaign that goes out to your customers with a satisfaction survey, so you can share how happy your customers are. You can put that on your website. You can also keep potential suppliers updated. There are loads of ways that you can use a customer satisfaction survey to your advantage to help you market.

Lily Richmond: 11:29

So can you see how this is all super focused and helpful, because it makes you really single-minded in the things that you do, in the effort that you make, so that when the next marketing agency knocks on your door and they're trying to I don't know sell you some advertising space, you'll be primed to ask yourself does this help me achieve my biggest marketing growth challenge? That way, you can make the best possible decision for your business and your individual budget. So there was quite a lot to unpack there. Quite a few actions for you to take as a result to come up with your marketing growth challenge. So just to recap number one come up with your business goals for 2024. Number two brainstorm all the marketing activities that you could do to help you achieve each of those individual goals. Three look for the themes and patterns. Ask yourself overall, what does my marketing need to achieve for me to hit my business goals? And four write that growth challenge down and put it on the top of your marketing plan or your marketing calendar, and it's a perfect way for you to filter marketing in and out of your plan based on your priorities.

Lily Richmond: 12:41

Thanks for being part of the Huddle Today team. I really do hope you enjoyed this episode. It was a little bit of a meaty one, but I think, such an important way to start thinking about 2024 now. Now don't forget to hit subscribe, because next week we are going to cover how you can get more sales for your business on a shoestring budget, so you definitely don't want to miss it. And one other thing I'd love for you to do once you've listened to this episode. Head over to my website and you can grab yourself a copy of my free marketing tactics for growth guide, which will help you prioritize your marketing to the stuff that actually grows revenue. You can get it at https://marketingondemand. co/growthguide - all one word. Thanks for listening and I'll catch up with you at the next episode of the Small Business Marketing Huddle. Now for the legal jargon. This podcast is for information and education purposes only . We make no business performance claims or guarantees in the information shared. The podcast content is general in nature and does not constitute advice for your unique business situation.