I love snow. I’m often in the minority here – most people agree with me that they love it too, and then follow that with a variety of statements which then negate their original one, such as “Yes, I love snow too, except when I have to go out in it”, or “except when I’m driving” or “except when it’s in my country”, that kind of thing. But I genuinely love it. I love the beauty, the sparkle, the individuality of snowflakes, the sudden reappearance of people walking on the streets. My favourite kind of snow is the thick, heavily-falling kind, where the whole world becomes suddenly very quiet and thoughtful, and everything around you gets a little snow-cap: gates, fences, bins, garden gnomes, statues, even people who have stood around too long.
So the other day when it started snowing outside my window, I watched it, enthralled, for a few minutes….only to discover to my disappointment that the snow was very half-hearted. This was no ‘proper’ snow – it was little flurries, snowflakes that could hardly be called flakes as they were more like miniature powder puffs, swirling about with no real purpose or intent. I watched it “fall” for a few minutes, and then gave up in discouragement and figured that was it.
The next morning, to my surprise, I woke up to a half an inch or so of snow covering the ground.
And it struck me (as these various life issues often do) that the same applies to your marketing.
In marketing, you might think you’re not doing very much. You send a few emails here and there, and a newsletter, and attend a networking event or two, and you begin to get discouraged. It’s all very half-hearted, and it swirls about but you don’t really see much, and you figure you may as well give up.
Don’t give up.
You may be getting a half an inch of snow from your light, swirling, half-hearted marketing efforts. Of course there’s more you can do, and it would be lovely to have a nice thick snowfall with the beautiful results you dream of, but it’s absolutely true that small and half-hearted marketing efforts are better than none.
So here are a few things to encourage you in your half-hearted efforts:
Keep connected with your prospects. We all know it takes 7-8 ‘touches’ before a prospect makes a purchase…and that’s the average. It could be more in your industry. Send an email. Send a letter or a postcard. Make a phone call. Hold a networking event. Host a webinar. Just keep doing things that put you before the mind of your prospects, and when they’re ready to buy you will reach them at just the right time.
Keep sending emails. It’s another way to stay connected with both prospects and clients. You may want to review what you send them, where you direct them, and what calls to action you have, so that you get better results…but don’t give up entirely.
Keep blogging. (Or start.) According to HubSpot’s recent blog statistics, B2B companies that blog get 67% more leads than those who don’t…and if you blog 16-20 times a month, you get twice as much traffic as those who post 4 times a month. Blogging makes your website more visible. If you’re not blogging at all, start. Better one post a month than none.
Remember the lurkers. I wrote a marketing tip on this years ago, and the principle is still true. There are people who read your blog, follow you on social media, read your emails, download your free e-books, peruse your website, and more…without ever getting in touch. Eventually they will be ready to buy, and you will be there waiting. Just because you’re getting no comments or retweets or email replies doesn’t mean no one is paying attention.
Get those little projects done one at a time. It’s amazing how things come together when you do one little thing after another. You don’t have to complete massive, major marketing tasks all at once: just get the new logo designed. Then look at website options. Start blogging. Write that e-book you’ve been thinking about. One by one by one until suddenly you discover that you’ve got a fantastic new website with clear calls to action for free downloads and content, resulting in great new leads on a regular basis. It all happens one step at a time – just do the small things one by one.
It doesn’t have to be perfect. If your website isn’t the glorious work of art you wish it was, add a few landing pages for now to get started. Or make sure you have blogging capability. Or record a few videos or get some professional image shots taken of you and your team. Or get a new email marketing system so you’ll be ready to direct people to the great new site. We’ve had clients who have been considering a new website for ages, but got a lot done in the meantime while they were preparing for that change.
If you’re not able to deliver a full-scale snowstorm, start with the little swirls of snowflakes that you can do. You’ll be surprised at the result.