3 essential layers of marketing to grow your business

Marketing can feel overwhelming at times - especially when you’re trying to do everything all at once. And without any clear structure, it’s easy to get pulled in lots of different directions and you can end up chasing your tail.

But if you start to look at your marketing in interconnecting layers, you can actually create an approach that feels authentic, easier to manage, builds trust with your audience and is even, dare I say, enjoyable!

• Behind-the-scenes marketing - the foundational work that gives you clarity on what you offer, who to and why they should choose to work with you

• Day-to-day marketing - the marketing you do on a daily and weekly basis to raise your profile, build your audience and nurture relationships.
• Offer-specific marketing - the targeted campaigns and promotions that drive interest in, and demand for, your service offerings.

Let’s look at each in turn.

Behind-the-scenes marketing

This is your foundational level of marketing from which everything else flows. It's about having clarity on what you offer, who to and why they should choose to work with you.

• An attractive offer that solves a significant problem or meets an urgent need for your ideal clients
• A deep understanding of your ideal client - the one(s) who will benefit most from what you offer and who you absolutely love to work with
• A clear brand identity that showcases your values, strengths, experiences and approach that helps you stand out from the crowd.
• A message that speaks directly to the needs, wants and desires of your ideal client, positions you as an expert and attracts clients into your world

Quick tip: Focus on developing offers for your ideal clients, rather than finding ideal clients for your offers.

Download the Stand Out & Shine Workbook to go into this in more detail.

Day-to-day marketing

This is your 'bread and butter’ marketing - the marketing you do on a daily and weekly basis to raise your profile, build your audience and nurture relationships. It's about building connection and trust over time as not everyone will be ready to work with you straight away.

• Consistent visibility is critical, but choose platforms where your ideal clients are active and where you can play to your strengths. Try to have a balance of both online and offline activities you enjoy.
• Build an engaged audience by sharing content, information and expertise that will help them, inspire them and/or make them feel understood. Be honest and authentic in how you communicate as this will build trust.
• Marketing is about developing rapport and building relationships. Reply to comments, ask questions and connect in a meaningful way. Move the conversation from faceless social media to focused email engagement and real-time connection.

Quick tip: you can do anything, but you can't do everything so focus on being consistent and delivering quality over quantity

Offer-specific marketing

This stage of marketing is about creating interest in, and demand for, your service offerings.

Yes - it's the promotion and selling bit (and often a stumbling block)! But selling doesn't have to feel icky and you don't have to hide your light. If you've got your foundations right, and you've been building and nurturing your audience, then selling is simply an invitation for them to find out more about how you can help them.

• Use social proof such as testimonials, reviews or results to show the transformation you provide in the words of your clients.
• Build anticipation and excitement - whether you are planting the seeds months in advance, or you are turning something around quickly, try creating a buzz around your offers (it helps if you feel excited about it too!).
• Make it obvious what the next steps are with clear invitations and calls to action - whether that's booking a call, downloading a resource, registering for an event or signing up for a programme.

Quick tip: Focus on promoting one offer at a time with consistent messaging across all platforms

By focusing on these three layers of marketing you can create a strategy that feel authentic, manageable and effective.

And you don’t have to have it all perfected from the start - keep reviewing and refining as your business grows.

What do you think of this approach? What's one action you can take in each layer of marketing this week?

If you’d like to have a chat about your marketing and how I can help you simplify your approach, take a look at the different ways we could work together here.