OKAY, I think there is something we need to talk about.

Marketing.

I feel like no matter how much we learn, and how many people share what a marketing strategy and plan looks like, we still think that we don't know how to create a simple marketing strategy for our business.

Why is that?

This is my simple marketing funnel that I use and think about all the time.

So if you ever feel like you don't know what you're doing then ask yourself these questions.

The main thing to do is …get super clear on who you're talking to, and then all of this will become a lot easier.

So let's do a deep dive with an example in my business.

📢TOF – TOP OF FUNNEL

When you want to create a simple marketing strategy, you have to start at the beginning of the customer journey is is all about, where new people find you.

Knowing where you can grow your brand and get more eyeballs on what you're doing is important for any business.

If you can find platforms where you're target audience is and platforms that you like being on, it makes it easier to build community, share content and build your brand & reach there.

For my business, I connect with new people through:

• The Brand Builders Lab podcast
• Instagram/other socials/FB/LI/TT
• Networking
• My podcast becomes an SEO blog
• Running masterclasses
• Opt-ins

We have schedules for how we do this every day or week. The podcast has a weekly schedule that I've had since 2017, with over 350 episodes.

Instagram is a daily post that usually focuses on driving engagement to my opt-ins as well as using the tools IG has to get in front of new people.

LinkedIn is a love/hate relationship. As an ex-recruiter who had to use it daily for weeks for many years, it's not my favourite place to be, but I do post 1-2 times a week, which is usually something repurposed from IG and/or the podcast.

I schedule a lot of my content PLANN scheduling app which allows me to post to all of my platforms from one place including videos and reels. It also allows me to respond to comments and build out my strategy.

Having a scheduler like this can also help you to stay on track with your marketing strategy.

❤️MOF – MIDDLE OF FUNNEL (Stage 1)

The next step to learning to create a simple marketing strategy is asking the question…

How are you nurturing your followers and community that you have right now?

There is no point only focusing on new people, you want to take people who now know you through the customer journey in a deeper way.

Things like:

• Emailing your subscribers regularly (they signed up and yes they want to hear from you!)
• Running masterclasses for your existing audience as well as new audiences – I sometimes run live coaching calls or subscriber-only sessions to foster a better relationship and let people really get to know me.
• Nurturing through an opt-in email sequence once someone signs up for a freebie you have
• Nurturing your social community through engaging with them and creating relevant content

The truth about the middle of the funnel is that you can have people in your community and audience for months and years so being consistent with how you're connecting with the people you have can be the difference between them buying from you or falling off.

I've had clients buy from me 2-3 years after first finding me. So having a mindset of ‘being the person they get support from' helps with the ongoing trust building.

❤️MOF – MIDDLE OF FUNNEL (Stage 2)

I think there is a 2nd stage to the middle of the funnel where they know you, they've been nurtured and now they are in the consideration phase. They may or may not be ready to buy, that's where you come in!

This stage is helping them decide if this is right for them. That could involve

• Discovery calls
• Personalised video
• Direct message conversations
• Q&A group call
• Customer testimonials

Not everyone goes straight from connecting with you, straight to the sale. You need to know what kind of clients you have and what you might need to put in this consideration stage.

💸BOF – BOTTOM OF FUNNEL

The final stage when you create a simple marketing strategy is to be super clear on what, where and when you selling it.

At the end of the day, you're a business. That means you need to make sales. So having a clear strategy around how you're doing that and what's working and what isn't working matters.

I talk to my clients all the time about how much they are selling. There are a lot of different ways to sell that don't require you to stand on a street corner with a megaphone or sandwich board. I'm a big believer in SIMPLE SALES STRATEGIES, even fun ones (believe it or not)

One of the best ways to think about your BOF is to have clear timelines for when you're selling specific things and having MEMOs (monthly energise marketing offers) so that you know what you're selling and when you're selling it.

I teach this more in-depth in Brand Builders Academy, but to give you a quick overview, it's about deciding on what product or services you're selling this month.

Once you decide then you can start to build out the TOF-MOF-BOF so that you have a clear and executable plan.

➡️For example:

What am I marketing right now?

Amplify Accelerator & Mastermind

Ideal client Avatar:

• People who want to create their program but haven't done it yet.
• They ‘don't have time'
• They don't know where to start, what to use, how to plan, how to build, or how to launch.
• I've asked my audience, I know my old clients' problems, and I've asked in groups and had feedback on what people are thinking and feeling right now.

Top of funnel:

• Instagram posts that get them to comment 1 word to be taken to the webinar page.
• Running 2 x webinars
• Running ads to the webinar sign-up
• Podcast series

Middle of funnel

• Emails to list about podcasts, amplify and masterclass
• Podcast episodes and seeding Amplify
• Retargeting people who have engaged with the page

Bottom of Funnel

• Masterclass offer and call to action
• Sales Emails to subscribers
• Conversations with specific people in my community
• Targeted approach

📈Measuring what's working

When you think about your products and services I want you to think about how you plan out your marketing so that you can measure what's working and what's not.

Measuring what's working and what isn't is important because you don't want to keep using strategies that haven't given you the result that you want.

Measuring things like:

• Follower growth and looking at social analytics to see what's performing well for you.
• Looking at your email list growth and what you're open rate and click-through rate is.
  • Meaning are your emails working for you? Are people interested? Are they clicking through to find out what you have to offer?
• Looking at your Google Analytics to see how your website is performing.
  • How many people are coming to your website and which pages are they going to?
  • Based on the number of people going to your sales page, how many are buying? meaning what is your sales page conversion rate? When you know this you'll know if it's doing what you need it to do or if you need to update it so that it converts better.
• Looking at Sales…where are people coming from and what is working for you when it comes to what you are selling?
  • Have a question on your checkout page that asks a question like: where did you hear about this? Can help you see which channels are doing well for you and where to invest more of your time and effort.

Having a goal can help you plan better as well.

• Having clear growth and sales goals can help keep you on track.
• Knowing how many clients you want/need to hit the revenue you want can help you decide on things like your marketing spend and the strategies that you use.

So the next time you think about YOUR MARKETING STRATEGY, think about it as I've outlined above.

That's it.

It's not hard or complicated.

It's about knowing what channels you have available, what your goal is and how you want to market and sell what you have clearly.

If you have any questions let me know, but I also want you to start telling yourself that you know how to market your business and you know what to do next to attract the clients you want.

You've got this!

Now you just need to plan, execute and believe it!

If you need more help with building a business that is simple, systemised and clear then come and join me in Brand Builders Academy to build a profitable business without burnout!