What You Need To Know To Market Your Business in 2016

whyareyoumarketing like isYou hear the buzz, people talking, you see it online, read it on magazines, it’s everywhere!

Everyone is telling you to look into social media for your business!

But the information is overwhelming, plus you wonder, does it really work?

You may be thinking, “I’m financial planner, a dentist, a retailer… I’m not a marketer or a media company, plus my patients are not online anyway!”

I understand, I do… But listen, don’t be the guy that bought 500 horses in 1907… Why?

Because the Model T made its debut in 1908 with a purchase price of $825.00. Over ten thousand were sold in its first year, establishing a new record. Four years later the price dropped to $575.00 and sales soared. By 1914, Ford could claim a 48% share of the automobile market.

…and you are stuck with 900 ponies at an Avg price of $300 a piece …and guess what!!? You lost!

Don’t be that guy …bet on the future, bet on progress, especially when your business, your life, depends on it!

So here’s what you need to know first before you do something about it:

  • You are not what you do, today you are a media/marketing company first, then you are everything you went to school for!
  • Produce content in the right context in any form that provides value, answers questions, and solves problems for the people that pay you for what you do or sell.
  • Educate yourself when it comes to marketing your specific business online …the information is out there, make the time!
  • Today the market decides how good, and therefore how valuable you are. Your income will reflect your value in the marketplace.
  • Respect people’s time above everything else.
  • Learn to engage with millennials (they have the energy), Boomers (they have the money) and centennials (they have our respect!) , they have the man and the purchasing power.
  • The number one thing you are competing for along with everyone else is one and one thing only: Attention
  • Mobile phone screens are where the attention is. Phones are the gateway to people’s minds, hearts, and pubic areas. Make sure you show up on people’s phone in the context of all 3, or at least 2 of the 3.
  • You need to have an effective presence on at least 3-4 of these social channels: Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, Youtube, Snapchat, Vine, Pinterest, Medium, Anchor …and be on the lookout for new platforms. Learn the user psychology of each of these.
  • You need to start telling stories in video micro-segments that lead to bigger micro-segments…
  • You must have a website that does only 3 things: educates/informs and offers solutions to problems – collects emails (builds an email list) – and generates leads and sales.
  • Get out of your office and go meet new people.
  • Orchestrate an organized referral process with your existing customer base.
  • If Amazon sells what you sell, get rid off your inventory and find something else to do! I’m serious…
  • Start using video and voice in your business. Look at FB video, Instagram, Snapchat, all have newly minted video functionality …start using them, your clients are there!
  • Social Media is the internet today …don’t bet against the internet!

Let this sink in for a few days, then come back to it and start checking off what you are already doing versus what needs to be done, and get busy.

A few points to remember:

  • don’t get overwhelmed.
  • pick your sources of information and education well.
  • listen to everyone, but act on only a few.
  • stick to practical advice, learn, do, fail, learn, do, fail, learn, do, succeed.
  • productivity is key, be smart with your time.
  • social media is hard work.
  • In social media: strategy before tactical, always.
  • Don’t spam people.

This is broad I know …it’s a map, you can use it to get closer to the objective of using social media to promote your business for the benefit and in the context of your specific target market.

Rock on!

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