Marketing Mythbusters: Four Faux Facts to Ditch
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In this week’s episode of Marketing + Margaritas we donned our safety glasses and hazmat suits for some serious marketing myth busting! Ok, well it wasn’t quite that cool, but we did get real about some common myths we come across in our industry. Because I mean, let’s face it, aren’t there already enough hurdles to jump to keep your business at the top of its field, without having to worry about what is and isn’t truth?! Let’s dive in.
MYTH 1: Your website is live – job done, never need to touch this again!
TRUTH: Your website is ALIVE and, just like any living critter, it needs you to keep loving it. Put simply, you need to keep it updated - think blogs, staff profiles, services, home page refresh etc. By regularly adding fresh, new, relevant content, you’re helping your SEO (your site’s searchability) and it’s also great for user experience (clients see you’re current, active and still interesting). Depending on your website platform, you could do these updates yourself or may need to contact your web developer. If you’re getting your web developer to make these changes for you, the more details you provide (copy + images + instructions) – the more cost effective this will be.
How often should you update your website? If you’re blogging each week or adding case studies regularly, that’s great and it totally counts! When you bring on new staff, get them updated quick. However overall, we recommend at minimum to schedule an annual website review and, where possible, tee up someone outside of your business to perform a third-party review. Getting user feedback is super valuable when it comes to industry jargon and even site map structure.
MYTH 2: I just rely on word of mouth – that’s the only marketing I need.
TRUTH: Yes, word of mouth (WOM) is absolutely amazing and, in our opinion, it is one of the richest sources of marketing. If you have it working in your favour – goals! But word of mouth can be facilitated. Which means you can put activities in place to generate WOM marketing, and make it a little more strategic.
Firstly, if you are running off WOM – we highly recommend to Google yourself and check out how you present online. Because it doesn’t matter how good your WOM is, the majority of people who get a recommendation are going to do some light Facebook + Google stalking before they book your service or buy your product – we can’t help it.
Secondly, don’t be shy – you can ask your clients for reviews/testimonials/permission to do case studies etc. It’s one thing for you to say how amazing you are, but if your clients are advocating for you, it holds so much more power. We believe third party sources (aka social proofing), so promote what third parties say about you and share it across your social media, website, brochures etc.
Thirdly, consider referral and/or loyalty programs that will work with you for WOM. Referrals work to bring more people like your clients (that you love!) + loyalty rewards keep them coming back!
MYTH 3: Blah blah doesn’t work OR you have to have a blah blah these days.
TRUTH: So if you’ve been told by your friend Bob that radio doesn’t work or email marketing is a waste of time or Facebook only works if you pay, then sure, Bob might be right – if you don’t do it well or if it’s not suited to what you’re trying to achieve. When choosing your marketing channel, consider the following:
What you’re trying to achieve
Who you’re trying to target
The message you want to get across to them
If you have found that a channel hasn’t worked for you in the past, chances are you need to re-evaluate how and why you used it, and perhaps try again with a different approach. And get cosy with your analytics so you can accurately review how something is being received by your audience.
Mind blow > Hold onto your hats here, because in our opinion, you don’t HAVE to have a website, a Facebook page, or anything really… because the best thing you can do for your business is to consider what your goals are and pick your marketing to suit that.
Picking marketing activities and platforms that you think will achieve your goals streamlines your marketing time + budget, and allows you to do it well and really consider your audience. Remember though, you want multiple touchpoints – as consumers, we don’t make decisions on 1 ad. Give your audience a few chances to see you and understand what you can offer, then they might consider and convert.
Keep that old sales funnel process in mind – awareness > consideration > conversion > loyalty > advocacy.
MYTH 4: Sex sells!
TRUTH: We hear this phrase a lot in the marketing world. We get it, if you do something day in and day out, you want to add some sugar and spice to make it look exciting to your audience – no one wants boring marketing. But honestly, the best kind of marketing is when you are being genuine and authentic and on brand. That’s when you’re selling to the right people, and that in itself creates return clients that keep coming back for more.
You might see your competitors out in the wild spamming everyone with their latest promotion or making a big song and dance about something – but that doesn’t mean you need to be doing it too. If your brand is about genuinely helping your clients to achieve XYZ and you do that through getting to know your client and creating a trusting relationship, then stick with that. It might not seem sexy but it’s the authentic you. Don’t fall for trends or follow what other are doing – do what is right for you and the clients that you want to work with.