Today, all you hear about developing your business is online marketing. from
And everyone wants to use it to attract more ideal customers.
After all, if more potential customers just find your website online, then you will get more business, right?
Well, this is not that simple. from
After working in online marketing for more than 20 years, I learned a lot. One reason is that online marketing can completely waste your time and resources.
If your client is a personal or individual business owner, online marketing can be very effective; it certainly suits me.
But if your client is a business manager for a large company and a C-level business executive, online marketing has serious limitations. Putting a lot of time and energy into this kind of marketing will only lead to frustration and disappointment.
It starts with who your ideal customers are and how they find professional services such as management consultants, business coaches and corporate trainers.
Let us say that CEOs need to help their business strategy. Do they first jump on Google and look for "strategic consultants"?
never. from
No, they ask people they already know - their trusted advisors. Or they contact people who have written books or delivered speeches at national conferences. They seek credibility.
Once they find someone, they will look at the consultant's website. As a result, some levels of online marketing start at the back end of the marketing process, but not at the front end.
That's why it's important to have a beautifully designed and well-written website. The prospects will definitely check you out, and if it hits all the right notes, it increases their chances of working with you.
One of my clients, Mark T., is the strategic consultant I am talking about. He only works with the company and only at the C level. His engagement is worth $100,000 or more.
Mark told me today that he never let a CEO call him because they saw his website online. All of his business comes from high-end presentations in recommendations and conferences.
Another of my clients, Keith H., is a senior business coach. Although he has a great website, he does not rely on new customers. Most of his clients are connected to the Young Presidents Organization [YPO].
If you are a professional who provides services to large companies, what kind of online marketing should you do?
Yes, there is something you should not do. I will discuss them in this article.
First of all, what online marketing is a waste of time?
1. Any activity that makes your website visible. from
why? Because you don't care if your customers find you online because they know they can't find you there until they first get to know you through other channels. Search engine optimization strategies and endless adjustments to your keywords won't help you much.
2. Facebook. from
If your customer is from a big company, this platform won't give you any help. Facebook advertising? Forget about it. Your ideal client won't be hanging out there.
3. Instagram. from
really? It's a waste of time.
Ok, what is the use?
1. A well-designed and well-written website. from
As mentioned earlier, this is critical to credit once you've got the attention of the ideal customer.
2. Personalized email. from
Email is the most powerful online marketing tool for independent professionals. I discussed this issue in detail in my e-magazine last week.
3. Content marketing. from
Basically, write an article and post it on your blog or other online website and send it to your list. This is useful at any level, even if you have a small list. You want everyone on the network to know what you are thinking about and what you are doing. It keeps you visible and relevant. Once you get the attention of your ideal customer, you can use your article to showcase your expertise.
Writing makes you a smarter, more effective professional. It can greatly increase your credibility. At least, write a good, basic article every month. Publishing it on LinkedIn and Medium sometimes attracts extra attention and registers with your list.
If you want to learn about the most popular business topics of the past, you may want to check out BuzzSumo.
4. LinkedIn. from
LinkedIn is a social media platform that makes sense for independent professionals. Having a good LinkedIn profile is as important as your site, because people who know you will check you and see who you are with.
But what LinkedIn really excels is as a prospecting tool. In a flash, you can get to know the ideal customers, their location in the company and who can contact you. I will explore this further in a future article, because LinkedIn is a powerful tool and few people know how to make the most of it.
5. Twitter. from
Posting tweets about what you're working on and the articles you post will let your network know, but won't directly promote your business.
Today, it's easy to fall into the nowhere online marketing campaign. It doesn't make good use of your time and energy. It is often passive rather than active.
If you sell professional services directly to a large enterprise, your ideal customer will not be looking for you online. So don't waste a lot of time there.
Instead, you want to use online marketing tools like email, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc. to support your main marketing campaigns: web [personal relationships and meetings], presentations [conference presentations, etc.] and writing [articles, blogs], e-magazines, etc.]
Cheers, Robert
Orignal From: Why most online marketing is a waste of time - what is the opposite?
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