Confessions of an Internet Marketing Rookie ...Part 2

Building out the chassis of a simple consultancy-based business in digital.

 Part 1 referred to my learning experience; that splurging money on “all singing and dancing SEO strategy” is not the way to go. 

 My second Guardian Angel arrived …..in the form of another learned consultant (CRM this time) , one who completely won me over when he told me that my decision not to down the “Red Pill” was the right decision. He could empower me for the future at a fraction of the cost! Where do I sign?  

I did sign up to a very nifty suite of CRM, workflow, automated social selling and a media engine. Step forward Avon and the Zoho One Suite of Apps Everything to make you look like you know what you are at in the digital age. In fact, it’s not just ‘look like’, I now know what I am doing and very satisfied I have control over it. What was initially a steep learning curve has become a very rewarding adventure . 

So the CRM guy and I sat together to articulate and prioritise the required processes which were going make my value proposition credible to my audience. Gaining insight and knowhow along the way, learning the lingo and understanding what works and finally putting this into action. The buying experience is a positive one and the value proposition is present.

However, the lesson learned here is one cannot devote the complete control of your marketing efforts to digital transformation in isolation. It just does not stand alone nor work independently. Further intervention is warranted. 

What do I mean by that? It's meant to be automated !

 Let’s just say the CRM won’t fill itself. An ongoing set of activities needs to take place. At a minimum, you need to generate leads, capture them, engage them, nurture and retain them. Setting up a CRM on your company network is all well and good but this technology leap is just Step 1 of your new ecosystem and modus operandi. Business has not changed in that age-old methods of getting ahead still stand. Marketing is but 1 word to describe a myriad of interdependent concepts and ideas in the overall recipe. 

 With a pandemic taking a grip of the planet I felt that I was in a good place with how I decided to spend my resources. I would enjoy the long-term positive impact of having invested in a new CRM, Candidate Database, Social Media platform and workflow automation tool during the downtime. The building out of processes that would support the growth and sustenance of a new business while I expanded my database of clients and partners.  

Afterall, the hard sell to hiring sales managers was just not going to go down well with so many companies struggling to make ends meet, never mind hire new salespeople. I felt and rightly so, that the hiring for growth mood was and still isn’t quite right for many firms. To suggest a new sales hire (for growth at least) is in many cases is ill timed, verging on a crass and tactless and in fact anyone going to make a hire through a 3rd party is going to use a known source in the industry not an incumbent. I get it.

 What Brian did next!

 I invested in a system to compliment my newfound tech impetus, one that would help me to build a community that I could nurture, market to and understand better. My intention is to generate selfless goodwill and trust from by providing decent, valuable content and every reason to stay in touch with a view to future mutual opportunities and collaboration. This is road I am taking with Target Impact.

The framework for a future growth, existence and something which allows me to put the needle to the record (building revenue) as opposed to working on the business (spending money). The former being the long-term goal. 

 Deciding what the right mix is 

 When you start a business and you don’t complete the local government 101 for new business start-ups but instead ride it out by the seat of your own trousers, there really are quite a number of pitfalls to avoid. Through the helter-skelter of business plans, marketing plans, missions statements, accountancy packages, company registrations, front end and back end systems, target marketing systems, putting out the right message, finding your niche, refining your offering, finding your why, delivering your value proposition, trying to be unique and good value, creating a buying environment and trying to make sure that the process is a positive one. It’s not surprising that this can become a bit flabbergasting and overwhelming and of course you might still miss a salient point or two along the way.

Everyone is vying for the budget of the rookie.

For the purposes of clarity, let’s assume that I have managed to reconcile and implement strategies for lots of the above, allowing me the headspace to consider just a few variables. In particular, being bogged down with how to identify my audience and engage with it in a positive way, to generate a groundswell of people who want to listen to my small voice in the market and convince them I am worth a share of their funds . 

I have realised that my website, in its current form, does not exist for generating business leads. For my business, generating leads starts on platforms such as LinkedIn. This is where my audience lives by and large. The website exists to validate my existence only and let people know that I am a bona fide entity. I am not sure I would have bothered investing in too much of a website had I known it’s just not a place where people go to engage in my type of offering . If you’re a hiring sales manager in a technology company, you would need a really good reason to stumble across my domain ( be sent directly for example) . Hiring sales managers just don’t operate in a way that leads them to  www.targetimpact.com.au and if they did, it’s hard to know what is going to keep them there, what content is sticky and why they might want stay any longer than a minute . Where is the value and what path do I want to lead the visitors on?

 I would be very happy to consider your views and share some views of my own on this.

 Please feel free to discuss and comment. These are just the experiences of a rookie after all!

 Part 3 is on its way!