In episode #8, we talk about the marketing advice that we think could use some improvement, and we share alternatives for generating more leads and clients for your business.
TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES:
[01:11] The problem with most marketing advice
[04:15] Marketing pet peeve #1: Facebook ads
[05:35] What to do instead of jumping in on Facebook ads
[07:21] Marketing pet peeve #2: surveys
[09:42] An alternative to surveys
[10:53] Variations of surveys
[13:27] Marketing pet peeve #3: adding people to your email list
[15:54] What to do instead of adding people to your email list
[17:26] Marketing pet peeve #4: free lead magnets
[18:02] What is a lead magnet?
[19:00] What’s wrong with lead magnets
[21:24] What’s working now to attract leads
[28:05] Marketing pet peeve #5: experiment with new strategies
[29:17] An alternative to new strategies
[30:06] Marketing pet peeve #6: work for free
[32:30] An alternative to working for free
[34:06] Final thoughts
[36:42] Bloopers
RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:
- Derek Halpern’s Social Triggers
- Interact quiz creator
- FTC’s CAN-SPAM Act guidelines
[Meghan] To keep your business alive, you’ll need to market your products and services. Unfortunately, according to Fundera, almost half of small business owners run marketing entirely on their own. And guess what? About half of business owners spend only TWO HOURS A WEEK on marketing! Ouch!
With so little resources devoted to finding new leads and sales, you’d better avoid those marketing tactics that waste your time or hurt your business. That’s why today we’re talking about our marketing pet peeves and ideas for what you can do instead to generate more leads and clients for your business.
What’s the Problem with Most Marketing Advice?
[Meghan] Okay Theresa! Today’s topic is near and dear to me. As you know, I have a long list of marketing pet peeves. I think it’s because I’ve had to recover from the worst marketing advice. I’m not the only one either! Many small business owners struggle with marketing and bad marketing advice.
Generating leads and turning those leads into customers takes hard work, persistence, and time. That’s what they don’t mention to you before becoming an entrepreneur!
Yet, you’re always hearing “just do this” and “just do that” for marketing. The experts make it sound like there’s an easy button. As if marketing takes so little time. Not only that, but the marketing advice out there seems outdated or out of touch with the small business owner.
Many small businesses struggle with marketing. They struggle with making time for marketing. Me included. Marketing is challenging when you’re busy delivering services. It is overwhelming to go get new leads and sales when you’re swamped in the trenches. What say you?
[Theresa] Ugh! I wish I could disagree. I’ll say this: I think as a culture, we WANT things to be quick and easy. We look for that magic solution and buy into the “if you build it, they will come” mentality. It just doesn’t work that way.
[Theresa] To do it right, you have to work at it—and more than 2 hours a week! It takes time to cultivate a marketing strategy. You have to dedicate the time. It’s critical. Getting this piece right can make all the difference in your business.
[Meghan] Amen to strategy! The facts support that many marketers find generating traffic and leads as one of their top challenges—if not their number one challenge. But that’s not really a surprise when so many small business owners run marketing entirely on their own for only a couple of hours a week. Time, money, people—the resources just aren’t there to do what needs to be done to market the business.
So, it’s no wonder that generating leads and sales is like climbing Mount Everest every week. Unfortunately, the marketing advice that we often hear makes this mountain even harder to climb. And that annoys me!
That’s why today we’re talking about our marketing pet peeves. I’m excited about this topic! I think it’s gonna be fun and maybe a bit controversial.
Marketing Pet Peeve #1: “Just Run Facebook Ads”
[Theresa] The first piece of marketing advice on my list of pet peeves is to just run Facebook Ads.
According to FB’s Q3 earnings report, they have 2.45 monthly ACTIVE users.
So, running some ads on Facebook seems like a no brainer, right?
[Meghan] Marketers and business owners are obsessed with Facebook.
[Theresa] Yep! Facebook Ads might be a great idea for you, but it isn’t really all that simple.
Before you go dumping a ton of money into Facebook ads there’s information you need to know first. For example, who’s your demographic and are they even on Facebook?
According to that same earning’s report, the fastest growing demographic on Facebook is 65 and older. If that’s your target, great. But if you’re trying to reach teens in the US, they just aren’t there. In that instance, you might want to focus your efforts on Instagram, where 72% of US Teens say that’s where you can reach them about new products or brands.
What to Do Instead of Jumping in on Facebook Ads: Strategy
Before you spend any money on advertising however, you need the right information. The kind of information you find by researching. That’s an absolute must. Then, use your findings to create an ads strategy.
What really bothers me about this advice is it implies that all you need to do is run an ad and then you’ll have success. That’s not how it works in reality. To get the most from your ad spend, you need to create a strategy.
So, instead of thinking about the ad and the mechanics of it, develop a strategy and run the strategy.
You can’t possibly expect to run Facebook ads–or any marketing tactic–without strategy first.
[Meghan] Yup! Strategy and research are where you start. There are plenty of advertising platforms to choose from these days, but you need to pause and strategize first. Strategy makes you understand the “why” and the “what” of your marketing tactics. In other words, what tactics you’re using and why.
Marketing Pet Peeve #2: Take a Survey
[Meghan] Ok, number one on my list of marketing pet peeves is the survey. The advice is to survey your audience to find out what they want. Have you heard this, Theresa?
[Theresa] Yes! I’ve been given this piece of advice multiple times from top gurus. I honestly find it daunting. And I never got useful information from conducting a traditional survey to be honest.
[Meghan] Same here. On the surface, this seems like good advice. After all, it makes sense to ask your potential customers what they want, right?
But there are a lot of variables with surveys. For instance, there’s actually a science behind survey questions. So, if you’re not experienced in this area, then you could run into issues just based on your questions alone.
Another variable is the respondents. Who’s participating in this survey? If you’re asking random people on social media, they aren’t your target market. You’ve got to qualify survey participants. You don’t want to make an important business decision based on survey answers from random people. You need relevant data collected from your target market.
Once you do find participants, what will you do to get them to answer your survey questions? We know this, people are often reluctant to participate in surveys. They’re busy, not interested, or have no incentive to spend their time helping you with your goals.
And heck, what if you don’t have an audience because you’re just starting out in business? Maybe you don’t know enough about your customer avatar yet. There’s that to consider too.
So, those are some factors that make surveying your audience more complicated than it initially sounds. Again, you’re hoping to glean business insight from your survey, so you want accurate data. Surveys aren’t as simple and as straightforward as they are made out to be. Can you see why I’m annoyed with the suggestion to “just survey” your audience?
[Theresa] Definitely! A survey does require experience and a lot of thought. It’s not simple by any means. It needs to be taken seriously.
An Alternative to Random Surveys: Research
[Meghan] So, what do you do instead of conducting random surveys?
I suggest that you research. Market research! Look at ratings, reviews, blog comments, and social media comments. You can look at other products and services to see what the competition is doing–and what they are NOT doing. You can even read your competitors’ testimonials and case studies to find market research.
Research reveals the questions people are asking as well as how they feel about topics, ideas, their struggles, and about the existing solutions that are being offered in the marketplace. This is a gold mine for you!
Variations of the Typical Survey
[Meghan] I’m not saying that a survey is never a good idea. About six years ago, I actually collected data by interviewing small business owners who were in my target market. Basically I used a list of survey questions to interview participants and get their answers. This was part of an online program I was doing through Derek Halpern from Social Triggers.
With this format, I could get initial reactions and ask follow-up questions. So, I felt like this format gave me more insight than a simple digital survey. Side note, I received excellent feedback. So I think surveying in this manner could be worthwhile.
[Theresa] Oh really? I didn’t know that! What’d you find out?
[Meghan] The survey was about custom website design. Would these business owners invest in a custom website? What would they be willing to pay? Questions like that. Almost all participants were not willing to pay for a custom website. A template from their ISP was good enough. They were very budget conscious and a custom site just wasn’t a priority. So, this data was helpful. I slowly phased that service out. But I should have phased it out much earlier.
You used a survey recently in your business, right? But it was very controlled and not a random group of people. And you consulted with a professional, I think?
[Theresa] Yes to all of that! I’d attempted to conduct surveys before with little to no luck, so when the coach I was working with suggested it, I was looking for the nearest exit.
The process she suggested yielded way better results for me. I asked a few very targeted long answer questions that I used to help validate a product idea. And, I personally asked a small group of individuals who I knew were my ideal client to participate.
I learned so much from that process and got some really great language to use in my marketing as well. I would do it again.
Marketing Pet Peeve #3: Adding People to Your Email List Without Permission
[Theresa] I can’t even believe that this second piece of advice is making it to my list in the year 2020, but sadly, it is!
Within the last six months, I was listening to training about networking and communication. When I heard this advice, I nearly spontaneously combusted.
Add everyone you meet to your email marketing list and email them all the time.
What do you think about THAT advice, Meghan?
[Meghan] It’s definitely bad advice–unless you want to anger people or break laws. It’s perfect for that! LOL
[Theresa] This is one of the downsides of networking. Some people believe the act of you handing them your business card gives them permission to add you to their list.
To avoid confusion, sending a personal, follow up email with someone you met at an event is good etiquette. Adding that person to your personal contact list so you can reach out or send them referrals is ok. Adding them to your company’s newsletter or any other list that is sending out promotions? Not ok!
Not only is it bad manners, but there are serious consequences:
- You could get flagged as spam
- Once an email gets flagged as spam, your future emails will also go to spam.
- Get flagged often enough and your “sending reputation” decreases, which causes email providers to flag ALL your emails as spam and no one will get them.
- If you’re not following the FTC’s CAN-SPAM Act guidelines, you could end up with some serious fines.
What to Do Instead of Adding People to Your Email List without Permission
Instead, use best practices:
- Ask for permission
- Get relevant people to opt in for a freebie, training or webinar
- Follow the FTC’s CAN-SPAM Act guidelines
- When you email your list, lead with value
Using best practices will help you build a list of relevant followers who are actually interested in your products or services. Getting permission, following FTC guidelines and leading with value will also help establish the know, like and trust factor essential for building raving fans and ambassadors.
[Meghan] That’s a pet peeve I share, mostly because I’ve been on the receiving end of that advice. Not so much with a networking event, more so with social media. You know how it goes. You accept a request on LinkedIn and that person takes it as an invitation to add you to their list. In that scenario, I not only unsubscribe, I also go back to LinkedIn and unlink. That’s a major foul in my book and an immediate unlink LOL
Marketing Pet Peeve #4: Building Your Email List with Freebies
[Meghan] So, this next pet peeve of mine is probably going to get me in trouble. There will be nasty comments! I can feel it in my bones! lol I think my feelings on this topic are a little controversial. But here it goes anyway.
I really can’t stand to hear another person tell me to build an email list off of a free lead magnet, specifically an eBook. This tactic takes a really long time and it’s not as effective as it used to be.
What is a Lead Magnet?
Real quick so that we’re on the same page. What is a lead magnet? A lead magnet is a free incentive that you offer people to get them to opt-in to your email list. So, they give you their email address or contact information in exchange for some free item. A lead magnet attracts prospects or leads to your business, hence its name. People also call lead magnets freebies or even ethical bribes.
There are lots of types of lead magnets. Some are more effective than others. My beef is with eBooks and more static, hands-off downloadable documents.
What’s Wrong with Lead Magnets?
Lead magnets like eBooks, checklists, and reports used to be a really effective tactic a few years ago. And I’m not saying that they don’t work today. I’m saying they don’t work as well now and that there are better and faster ways to build your list than these hands-off downloadable freebies like eBooks.
I think we’ve advanced past the static freebie and graduated into more interactive forms of lead generation. People are pickier about who they give their email to and they want more interaction from you than just a download.
Not only do consumers want more interactive content, but I also think that static lead magnets tend to attract the wrong audience. This is partially because businesses don’t do an effective job of creating a lead magnet that targets well. So the email list is then filled with people who want free stuff and who aren’t ready to buy.
And, many people who opt in will never even read this static document. It will sit on their computer without any attention. I do this all of the time. I opt in and then never revisit the free thing.
What do you do when you get the lead magnet Theresa?
[Theresa] Uhhhh. Ok, I’m guilty of the same. But I do have them organized by topic in a folder that hangs out in the cloud. And I’d guess about half of them are not even relevant any more.
[Meghan] It’s no surprise you’ve organized your lead magnets! I keep mine in a specific folder too, but not by topic. I love that you have your freebies organized and separated by topic, that’s so you!
And that’s a good point about relevance. If your leads don’t consume the freebie quickly, then it loses relevance—and so do you!
Okay, so the whole lead magnet to build your list tactic is a bit more complex than what I’m going over now. I don’t want to get into every detail since we’d be here for a really long time. But we’ve highlighted some reasons as to why static documents aren’t working as well to build a list.
What is Working Now to Attract Leads?
Experts have been touting for years that you need a lead magnet and they’re not entirely wrong. You do need a way to generate leads.
I’m suggesting that we need to up our game as marketers. We need more interactive methods to attract leads. So what am I proposing you do to build your list?
There are a couple of tactics that I see working better and faster.
Option #1: Make the lead magnet a free live training webinar and pitch an offer at the end.
People still love webinars. Okay, they may not be as popular as a couple of years ago. But they are still very popular. Running training webinars will build your list faster. But even better, webinars get you more targeted leads.
Plus, people LOVE the interactive format of live webinars. They get to see you live and in action. So this interaction builds trust much faster. Then you have the added bonus of riding the trust and energy of your webinar into a sale.
So, you’re not just building a list, you’re building a more targeted list of buyers — or at least people who understand from the start that you’re a business and you’re going to promote.
Option #2: Create an Interactive Assessment Quiz
People are short on time. A freebie that takes a long time to consume – like an eBook – won’t interest a lot of people. They prefer entertaining and more personalized content. That’s why quizzes work really well at building a targeted list. They are entertaining and people get a personalized result at the end. Who doesn’t want to know which Frozen character they are, am I right? LOL
So, you build an assessment quiz that aligns with your business. Try to make it a little fun and entertaining. I love using Interact for building quizzes. They have great templates.
So before you reveal the quiz results to the person, you ask for an email address. And that’s how you build your list. This also segments your list and creates a more targeted list since you collect all of the data from their quiz answers. You know who needs help with what from those answers. So quizzes are a terrific lead magnet.
Option #3: Run a Facebook or Instagram ad to a low dollar offer, something under $50.
Okay, I see this all of the time on Facebook and Instagram. Businesses are skipping the whole freebie tactic entirely. They are going right to paid offers. And I love this tactic because again – you’re building a list of buyers from the get go.
Businesses wouldn’t run this play if it wasn’t profitable. I’ll name a couple of people who are using Facebook ads this way: Allie Bjerk, Angie Gensler, Biz Template Babe, EverTemplates, and Billy Gene is Marketing. Those are just a few of the ads I’ve seen from people whose list I’m not on, who I didn’t know, or who I hadn’t bought from before.
I want to mention that in my own experience, I’ve had more people not on my list buy digital products from me than subscribers. This is so powerful so listen up: people don’t require a freebie to buy from you. You need the right product or offer and you need to get it in front of the right audience. This tactic makes you money while building a list of buyers rather than a list of freebie zombies.
So, I’m curious Theresa, have you ever bought something from someone who didn’t give you a freebie first?
[Theresa] I sure have. Several times. And not always low dollar offers either.
[Meghan] Me too. I’ve invested both low dollar and higher dollar products WITHOUT getting a freebie first. In fact, I’ve bought from people I don’t know and I’d never heard of – and I’m not the only one. For a lot of consumers, it’s more about the offer and the problem it solves rather than the cost or even the know, like, trust factor. And that really goes against the things we’ve been told and taught, yes?
[Theresa] Oh wow. I didn’t realize that until you said it. When I do buy from someone I don’t know it’s always because they’ve done a great job describing my problem and how they solve it.
Marketing Pet Peeve #5: Experiment with New Strategies and Tactics
[Theresa] The next item up on the list of pet peeves is the advice to experiment with new strategies and tactics.
While I agree that it’s a good idea to try new strategies and tactics, especially when it comes to marketing this advice is misleading to me. There can be too many interpretations.
I see three problems.
First, this advice implies that you always need to be trying new strategies and tactics. Implementing a new strategy just for the sake of doing it without a real purpose or knowing the why behind it, just makes more work.
Second, entrepreneurs can misunderstand this to mean that they have to abandon old methods. I disagree with that.
Third, advising someone to experiment with different techniques can lead a business owner to flit from tactic to tactic, never giving any one a long enough run to see if it actually works. This can lead to missing out on a great strategy….as well as more work and loss of revenue. It’s hard to get traction when you don’t give a method an honest chance.
An Alternative to Going a New Direction in Your Marketing
Instead, consider this path:
If a marketing strategy you’ve diligently implemented isn’t working, then go ahead and abandon it. However, keep strategies that are working.
Then experiment with ONE new strategy or tactic at a time.
Again, keep what works in place and add one new strategy to try alongside it.
[Meghan] You know I love advice that reduces overwhelm! You’re so right when you talk about diligently implementing a marketing strategy first. I think most businesses abandon their tactics too early. You’ve got to implement, analyze, and adjust quite a lot before you can declare a tactic isn’t working.
Marketing Pet Peeve #6: Working for Free to Build Your Business
[Meghan] Ok, this next and final marketing pet peeve gets under my skin big time. I disagree with the advice to work for free. Experts suggest working for free to attract new customers. They also suggest working for free to develop case studies for lead generation. This is a big no in my opinion.
I understand that it could be difficult to get hired when you lack experience or testimonials.
However, working for free isn’t a good marketing tactic. Yes you want to generate leads and sales for your business – but not by diminishing your value.
Here’s what happens when you don’t charge a customer for your time.
You train your customers not to value your time and your services. people associate money with worth. Even if it’s subconscious—our society equates dollars with worth.
Think about it. When you get something for free, do you value it as much as the thing that you paid for? No!
The result is that your client typically takes your work and your time for granted. At some point in the future, this client is not going to suddenly want to pay you. They’ll resist since they’re getting the work for free. And even if they do decide to hire you, their base for comparison is zero dollars since you worked for free. So, the fee that they’re willing to pay is going to be low.
In fact, I’ve worked for free more than once. And I know other business owners who’ve tried this advice. What ends up happening is you have to fire the client. They don’t value you, they won’t pay you and you aren’t happy.
Who wants to work for nothing? For zero? No one! So you gain what exactly? No money, no client, nada!
And you may get a testimonial out of this tactic, but there are other, better ways to go about it. So, no, don’t work for free.
Start with a Low Rate Rather than Work for Free
You’ve got to start somewhere, so start with a low fee if you feel you need a low price point to begin. This is acceptable as long as you raise your fee with each new client.
You can’t sustain super low fees indefinitely. It’s not good for your confidence, motivation or for business to charge cheap rates. The idea is to charge lower rates to build a client base so that you can get your business off the ground. This is a temporary solution!
It’s much harder to raise your prices with existing clients. But once you acquire new clients, you’re in a good position to say goodbye to lower paying clients.
I’m curious, Theresa, have you worked for free and if you have what was the experience like?
[Theresa] This is a great question. I believe when you work for free, you’re essentially saying, I don’t value my skills and neither should you, so as a general rule, no.
But there have been special circumstances when I may choose to volunteer my time. And with a few exceptions, they’ve been really great experiences.
[Meghan] Your time is valuable no matter what. It’s your most precious commodity because you can never get it back. You need to believe that and honor it if you expect others to do the same. Your value and your worth starts with you.
Final Thoughts on Marketing Advice You Hear a Lot
[Meghan] Well, I’ve had fun today! As an experienced marketing professional, I can confidently say that marketing is a favorite topic of mine. I want to clarify that we’re not saying experts are wrong. We’re sharing our own personal experiences with the marketing advice we’ve heard or received. If you’ve had success with these tactics, terrific! If not, we want you to know that you’re not alone.
The biggest takeaway from this episode for me is that marketing isn’t a one size fits all situation. Your marketing tactics depend on your industry, who you serve, your budget, the stage of your business—and even your personality. What’s right for you may not be right for me, and that’s okay. You don’t have to do every marketing tactic the experts tell you to do. In fact, you can’t do everything. Do what works for you.
So, Theresa, what are your final thoughts on our biggest marketing pet peeves?
[Theresa] I think that whatever advice you’re taking, make sure it comes from a trusted source. Also make sure you’re not listening to too many people. Listening to a couple of really good mentors and taking intentional action on your part can really boost your marketing efforts. The key is to be consistent with whatever you’re doing.
Now it’s your turn. Tell us about one of YOUR marketing pet peeves. We’d love to know!
