Seeing What Sticks
I must confess I stole the subject line and theme of this newsletter from Erika Steinberg, a woman in my networking group who does marketing for law firms. She threw out this term in a meeting one day and I just loved it. Random acts of marketing is such a great description of how so many businesses promote themselves and their products and services. Which, of course, is why so many of them don't see any success.
A Failure to Plan is a Plan to Fail
I can't tell you how many businesses I know that send out a newsletter. That newsletter is supposed to be monthly, but it doesn't go out on a set day. I'll give you one guess what happens to that newsletter? Yep, it misses a month, or two. It goes out sporadically, if at all. There's no rhyme or reason behind the message, outside of maybe promoting something. That's not a plan. That's an afterthought. And marketing as an afterthought is not only inconsistent, it's ineffective. You might as well do nothing.
It Pays to Be Regular
When I first started thinking about a newsletter, I knew I had to set a schedule I could stick to. Weekly felt like too much, but monthly felt like too little. So I decided on twice a month. I also decided I'd always send it out on Fridays. This gives me a target to hit and doesn't allow for "work" to get in the way. You might occasionally get something more often from me, but you'll never get something less often. Not only does this set expectations with my audience, it bakes a plan into my marketing. Because like anything, doing something repeatedly becomes a habit and a habit becomes a metric. And a metric is how you can measure success.
You Better Check Yourself
Every time my newsletter goes out, I check my open rate and clicks. And while I don't obsess about subscribes and unsubscribes, tracking what resonates and what doesn't shows me what my audience wants more of and less of (and boy do you all keep me on my toes!). The reason I picked a newsletter as my main marketing tool is because it's the only thing I can control. Putting something into someone's inbox ensures they get it. Putting something on social media relies on a platform owned by someone else and an algorithm no one understands — and that's ever-changing. And while I can't ensure my newsletter gets read or opened, subscribers are seeing my business name show up on a regular basis. It's like a little bird reminding you I'm here and when you need me, you'll know where to find me. Oh and also the ROI for newsletters is the highest for ANY marketing tool (like 7000% high). So if you aren't doing one, we should talk.
Don't Be Fleeting
Just like random acts of kindness, which can temporarily lift your spirits, random acts of marketing are just that — temporary. Sure, you might have a hit here and there, but how can you grow and scale a business with randomness? Knowing what you stand for, what you want to say and mostly, what you can do for your audience is the biggest driver of purchase and repeat purchase. People want to know that you're reliable. Having a plan for how to convey that is invaluable and frankly, necessary. And it's so much easier than you think. Email me to learn more. danielle@morethanwordscopy.com