3 Tips to Keep Up with the Future of Marketing
What is the future of marketing? Wouldn’t it be great if you knew where it was going and then you could tailor your business to fit that mold? Well, I have a few predictions along with 3 tips to keep up with the future of marketing that should help!
A little while ago it was my daughter Scarlett’s birthday. And if you’ve been around for a while, you know Scarlett is full of fun and sass, so needless to say it being her birthday was a big deal. On her birthday, I checked her out of school early because I got a call that Scarlett was in the nurses’ office. She was pretty upset about leaving early, so I went to the Chick-fil-a drive-thru to help cheer her up. As we were waiting in line, Scarlett’s window was rolled down, and was wearing a birthday crown her teacher gave her.
The Chick-fil-a employee noticed her crown and asked Scarlett if it was her birthday. By the time we went around the drive-thru lane, several other employees wished Scarlett a happy birthday. And one of the managers even came out of the restaurant and gave Scarlett a stuffed cow. How amazing is that? Can you believe the measures Chick-fil-a took to make my daughter feel special on her birthday?
We can learn from Chick-fil-a’s example and treat our clients and/or followers the same way. I believe the future of marketing comes down to two things:
- Personalization
- Automation
People LOVE to feel special, and there are several ways to do this for our customers. And when your customers feel special they will stay loyal to you and your business. And you’ll be in a really good place when you can get to the point of automating some of those personalized techniques.
3 Tips to Keep Up with the Future of Marketing
Marketing Tip #1: Create Personalization in Your Business
What do I mean exactly when I say to create personalization in your business? I mean treating your audience like you are talking to one person at a time. This could look like using each person’s name when you send them an email or a dm, or including a comment that helps them know you care about them and what they’re going through.
There are several ways you can create personalization in your business. Here’s a quick list to give you some ideas:
- Text marketing (I recommend using the app Community. You can learn more about how to get started here.)
- Responding to DMs on Instagram
- Replying to people’s comments on your posts, using their name if possible
- Giving surprises to audience members (e.g. a shoutout on Instagram, sending something in the mail, etc.)
All of these things will help your audience members feel like, “Oh! You remembered me.” That is exactly what you want. Creating that personalization with your audience will help your marketing improve almost naturally. People are drawn to those who see them and care about them, and this tip is something you can easily implement into your marketing strategy starting today.
Marketing Tip #2: Set up Systems so People Feel Taken Care of
There are a few systems you can set in place to help your audience feel taken care of. For example, email marketing. As soon as someone joins your email list, you can have a welcome email sequence already set in place that will help that person feel welcomed and like they’re getting to know you better.
When a potential client fills out the questionnaire on my website, I have it set up so they are immediately sent a confirmation email with a questionnaire, a link to set up a coaching call, an invoice, and a contract. This is something I’ve automated, so this is taken care of without me having to do a single thing. Automating systems that will help your people feel seen and heard is one of the smartest ways to help your business.
It can be tricky to keep track of all your subscribers on your email or text marketing, so you need to have a place where you can see which part of the customer journey they are on. I use Honeybook for my client management system. To help see which level your people have responded to in your email or text marketing, Honeybook allows you to put different people in different sections to help organize your audience.
For example, you can move people to the next section as they move forward in your onboarding process to help you keep track of who you’ve talked to. This feature is a game-changer because the biggest thing with clients is communication and making sure they know what to expect.
Marketing Tip #3: Set Yourself Up for Success
Setting yourself up for success means setting your systems up that will establish your brand to those you serve and make you money. As I said earlier, automating your onboarding process is a great example of what system to automate in your business.
Setting this system up will take some time, but it will make a huge difference. It will help you make sure your new clients know every step of the process. Along with knowing exactly what you’re going to do and what they are going to do. You want things to be as clear as possible when someone is giving you their money in return for your services.
You can also set yourself up for success by speaking directly to your audience with words they understand. This goes back to knowing your audience (what words they use, what their worries are, etc.)
You never want to accidentally talk down to your audience. This could happen if you use big industry words they don’t understand or phrases that don’t make sense. That will make them feel like they don’t belong and they will leave. This scenario is very far from where you want to be, anyway.
You want to be in a place where people know that you get it. And that you have a product that is really going to solve their problem. Along with them knowing you really care about them and figuring out how to help them.
3 Tips to Keep Up with the Future of Marketing
Alright, what did you think of my 3 tips to keep up with the future of marketing? Send me a dm over on Instagram @iammichellegifford and let me know your thoughts! If you want more details on this topic, listen to the full podcast episode here. If you’re ready to implement some of these systems into your business, but need a little more guidance, join my Money Makers Coaching Group. I will give you everything you need to know to get started and stay motivated!
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