The 5 Pillars of Successful Marketing
What does successful marketing even look like? Well, we know that our marketing is successful if it achieves specific goals that we defined in advance. But there are 5 things that all successful marketing campaigns and material have in common. No matter the size of your business, no matter the industry, if the marketing material achieves the five objectives that I’m sharing in today’s episode, you can feel really confident that your marketing efforts will pay off and achieve what they have set out to do.
These 5 pillars are the test that your marketing efforts should go through. All your content should pass through these “gates” so to speak. These are the standards by which my team and I measure the level of service we’re providing and it’s the standard I think all entrepreneurs should be using to qualify their marketing material.
The five pillars of successful marketing are: Trust, Quality, Engagement, Distribution, and Effort. We’ll talk about each one and I’m starting with trust because I think it’s the most important one.
Trust
Are you the person to solve the problem, offer real solutions, and lead your clients with integrity & honesty. Your clients should feel like and have legitimately made a wise investment when they hire you.
We’ve all heard of the "know, like and trust" factor which is basically the premise that people will hire you if they know you, like you and trust you. There’s truth to this but I don’t think they carry equal weight. I’ve bought courses and hired people that I don’t necessarily like or know but I trust them to get to me where I want to be. I’m part of a program right now actually and I don’t’ love or agree with everything the business owner is saying, but the principles and philosophies that she’s teaching me are exactly what I need right now and I trust that she knows what she’s talking about in those trainings.
Trust is the most important factor of all of these pillars. You must earn the trust of the audience you want by nurturing and showing up for them. You must earn the trust of your prospective clients if you want them to work with you.
Part of earning that trust is to explain your expertise in a way that your audience can understand SO THAT they can apply it in their life in a meaningful way that adds value.
That’s your number one job. You are a leader whether you think of yourself as one or not. You’re leading them through a process of some kind. This is true whether they’ve hired you or not: For those of you who are thinking that you’ll do this after they’ve hired you, whether they’ve hired you or not. Imposter syndrome, or feeling inadequate can really rear its ugly head here. Feeling responsible for my clients’ success because I’m in charge of their marketing efforts.
You’re not supposed to be perfect or never make a mistake. That’s not it. It’s that you know know something valuable that your clients want to know. They want the delivered results of applying your expertise in their life.
Absolutely anyone can open up a social media account and claim to be an expert. Absolutely anyone can harness the internet to their advantage and swindle good people into spending money on something that doesn’t really do what it says it will.
If you have the ability to deliver on what you’ve promised to people, then you can earn the trust of the people you want to serve with integrity. Confidence is another indicator that leads to trust and I think this comes from experience and time. Getting your first client is the hardest. I think a major factor is your confidence level. I’m far more likely to trust someone if they feel confident that we’re the right fit.
Hold the belief, be confident enough for the both of you. Not faking or lying, but being incredibly honest. I know when a prospect isn’t a good fit and I tell them so. When I know that someone is my ideal client, I will tell them.
Quality
Do your marketing materials educate, inspire, or entertain your audience in a way that makes them look forward to hearing from you?
Your message is the most important component of your entire marketing strategy. Once you have their attention, how will you hold it? How will you keep it? The answer is by providing content that helps them move in the direction of their dreams and goals.
People want you to help them get from where they are right now, to a new chapter or new version of themselves. Your marketing material should showcase Why you do that for them, why it matters to you, and HOW you help them get from point A to point B. Also note that quality doesn’t necessarily mean “pretty."
Engagement is the golden metric of marketing is how well it resonates with your audience.
Viral posts are an example of an idea or thought that really resonated with a lot of people. If you're not seeing many likes, comments, shares or saves on your social media content for example, it could be a messaging issue that needs a little modification. Find out what matters to the people and who you want to matter to. Market your business with integrity and an honest desire to serve. Review content you’ve already shared and look at that data.
You can listen to the episode called Marketing Metrics That Matter to get a better idea as to how to measure engagement and where to find it.
Distribution
Where you put your content on the internet or otherwise should be comprised of three main components:
1. Where you enjoy spending time
2. Where your clients like to hang out
3. What you can consistently maintain (PS – this has to be something that you can enjoy doing with regularity)
How visible you are to your audience simply depends on the distribution channels of your message.
Effort
Creating meaningful content for the people whom you want to ultimately pay your bills is a valuable use of your time. What you give to your audience will come back to you. Spending an appropriate amount of time helping your ideal clients make better decisions takes some effort, but ultimately pays off in dividends. It's an investment and worth the effort.
It's when we feel like our effort isn't paying off that we get frustrated and feel like "nothing is working." That's where your marketing strategy comes in. With a comprehensive, accurate plan which is tied to your larger business goals, you can use your time wisely and effectively. You know the right marketing tactics to achieve the purposeful goals you've set.
Schedule a free consultation to get customized advice on your marketing activities.
Thanks for being here,
Kelly Smith