Microwave Marketing
Microwave Marketing
You get the picture – you have a great idea and you pop it into the marketing microwave… Ping! And 30 seconds later you have a piping hot campaign that is ready to go!
Microwave marketing doesn’t exist unfortunately
Until someone invents it we just have to accept that in the fast-paced, on-demand, need-it-now culture that we live and work in – marketing still takes time, effort, resource, and perhaps most importantly, discipline.
Where to start with marketing
Guy Kawasaki and Peg Fitzpatrick wrote a book called “The Art of Social Media” and one particular passage really stood out for me.
“ Figure out how to make money…
Figure out what kind of people you need to attract to make money…
Figure out what those people want to read (which is probably different from what you want them to read)”
As a small business, you have probably got number one sorted. You know your product or service, you are good at it, but you just want more profitability and that usually comes from more customers.
The second point that Guy Kawasaki refers to is really important – How well do you know your customers?
- What do they look like
- Who influences them?
- Where do they network?
- What do they read?
- What problems do they have that you can solve?
This all comes down to customer persona analysis – which is basically creating a semi-fictional representation of your ideal customer.
Customer personas really help you to intelligently engage with the right people for your business.
Create content that your customers need!
Point 3 that Guy was making is all about creating compelling content that your customers need. Now that you know your customers it is time to make content that will attract them and make them engage with you.
You don’t want your content to just say something… you really need it to cause something. Your content should make people take action, and that action will be dictated by where they are in your customer journey.
Summary
You are now at a place where you know your business (it’s what you do day in and day out!) You probably can get your head around customer personas and you are at the stage where you need to make decisions on content creation.
This is the bit that just isn’t that easy, but with good advice, a pinch of bravery and a dollop of patience you will be able to find a system that works for you.
Creating content that is compelling, engaging and targeted at your ideal client is not always easy and does take time, but with good advice and support it is achievable.
Content creation costs money, but knowing that you have a plan and a target in mind should give you the confidence to carry on.
As a well connected small business marketer I can offer advice and support at all stages of the process and where I cannot meet the needs of a project I will always signpost you to people that can.