Finding Your Ideal Customer: The Key to Business Survival and Success
If your answer to “What are your ideal customer profiles?” is “all of them,” then we have some bad news – you might be reaching none of them at all.
It’s a common trap, but one that can lead to scattered marketing, wasted resources, and, ultimately, lackluster results. In this Content Box Podcast, we tell you how to find the ideal customer persona.
It’s natural to want your product or service to appeal to the masses; at the end of the day, your business is like your child.
However, aiming your message to a too large audience only dilutes it and makes it hard to connect with anyone on a deeper level.
Imagine trying to have a meaningful conversation with a crowd of thousands – it’s just not possible.
The Whiskey Experts
Take the example of a luxury whiskey brand we worked with. They were pouring their marketing efforts into social media but weren’t seeing the sales they expected. Why? Their followers were mostly friends and family, not the high-end clientele their product was aimed at.
Their marketing was misaligned with their ideal customer, leading to frustration and missed opportunities.
What is the Ideal Customer Profile?
So, what’s the solution? It all starts with defining your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP). This is a detailed representation of your perfect customer. It’s about understanding their demographics, pain points, aspirations, and even their favorite TV shows and snacks.
A well-crafted ICP focuses your marketing efforts on the people most likely to become loyal customers. It’s about creating the “1 in a million” connection, where your message resonates so deeply that it feels like it your communication made just for them.
Benefits of a Well-Defined Customer Profile
When you know who you’re talking to, you can stop wasting money on ineffective campaigns and channels and grow your Return Over Investment.
Better understanding of customer needs: An ICP helps you get inside your customers’ head, so you can tailor your products and services to their exact needs.
Improved messaging and communication: Speak directly to your ideal customer’s pain points and desires, thenwatch your conversions soar.
Stronger customer relationships: When your customers feel understood, they’re more likely to stick around for the long haul.
Finding Your Ideal Customer: A Step-by-Step Guide
Ready to pinpoint your perfect match? Let’s dive into the process of creating your Ideal Customer Profile.
Step 1: Identify the Problem You Solve
Every successful business addresses a specific need or pain point. What problem does your product or service solve? This is where your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) starts.
Knowing the problem helps you narrow down your target audience and identify potential customers who are actively seeking a solution like yours.
Step 2: Ask “Who Needs This Solution?”
Get specific about the type of person or business that would benefit most from what you offer. Consider their demographics, industry, and challenges.
Step 3: Get Specific with Your Ideal Customer Persona
It’s time to create a detailed avatar of your ideal customer. Give them a name, a backstory, and even a favorite hobby.
The more details you include, the more clearly you’ll see them in your mind’s eye.
Tips to Craft a Compelling Persona
Describe Your Ideal Customer as You Would Yourself: Don’t just list generic demographics. Paint a vivid picture of this person, their lifestyle, and their motivations.
Don’t Fear Alienating Others: Remember, niching down doesn’t mean turning away business. It means attracting the right kind of business – the kind that values what you offer and is most likely to become a loyal customer.
Look at Your Current Customers: What do your most successful clients have in common? Use their characteristics to inform your ideal customer profile.
Focus on Your Most Profitable Products/Services: Consider who is buying those and why. This can provide valuable clues about your ideal customer.
Finding Your Ideal Customer Persona: it’s Only the First Step
Defining your ideal customer isn’t just a marketing exercise; it’s a foundational step in building a successful business.
When you know who you’re talking to, your marketing becomes more effective, your messaging more compelling, and your customer relationships more meaningful.
Take the first step today and download our free worksheet. You’ll be amazed at the clarity and focus it brings to your marketing efforts.
The Power Of The Content Box
We know it sounds like a lot, but trust us, the Content Box system is designed to be manageable, even for the busiest entrepreneur. It’s all about taking a strategic, streamlined approach to content marketing that delivers real results.
Do you still have questions? Schedule a free strategy call with our team, and let’s explore how we can help you take your content marketing to the next level.
Building Succes With a Micro-Influencer Marketing Strategy
In today’s digital market, traditional methods are losing their luster, and influencer and micro-influencer marketing is gaining momentum.
Billboards and newspaper ads might have worked in the past, but today’s consumers are turning to social media and online communities for information and recommendations.
This shift has opened up a world of opportunity for entrepreneurs willing to embrace these strategies. This is how you can leverage influencer marketing to reach a new level of success.
Micro-influencer marketing leverages the influence of individuals with a smaller yet highly engaged audience on social media platforms.
By partnering with micro-influencers who align with your brand’s values and resonate with your target audience, you can drive engagement, build trust, and ultimately achieve your marketing goals.
What is Micro-Influencer Marketing?
Micro-influencers are individuals who have a smaller but highly engaged following on social media platforms. Unlike mega-influencers with millions of followers, micro-influencers typically have between 1,000 and 100,000 followers.
The real power of micro-influencer marketing lies in their authenticity and strong connection with their audience. These influencers are seen as trusted friends and advisors, making their recommendations more influential than those of celebrities or macro-influencers.
In recent years, micro-influencer marketing has shifted from a pay-for-popularity model to a pay-for-performance model.
This means that brands are now more focused on results and ROI, rather than simply the number of followers an influencer has.
Finding the Right Micro-Influencers for Your Brand
The first step to successful micro-influencer marketing is identifying the right influencers for your brand. Start by understanding your target audience.
This is because the influencer you choose should align with your audience’s interests, values, and demographics. This will help ensure that your influencer marketing campaign is effective and reaches the right people.
Who are your ideal clients?
What are their interests and demographics?
Which social media platforms do they frequent?
Once you have a clear picture of your target audience, you can begin searching for micro-influencers who align with your brand values and appeal to your ideal clients. Look for influencers who create high-quality content, have a strong engagement rate, and share your passion for real estate.
Remember, the goal is to find influencers who genuinely believe in your brand and can authentically promote your services to their followers.
Building Relationships with Micro-Influencers
Building strong relationships with micro-influencers is crucial for long-term success. Here are a few tips for fostering mutually beneficial partnerships:
Be Authentic and Engaging
Approach influencers with genuine interest and respect. Engage with their content, leave thoughtful comments, and show appreciation for their work.
Building a genuine connection with influencers will make them more likely to collaborate with you and promote your brand.
Offer something of value in return, such as free access to your services or products, exclusive content, or discounts for their followers.
Offer Fair Compensation
While some micro-influencers may be willing to work for free products or services, most expect to be compensated for their time and effort. Consider offering a combination of monetary payment and other incentives, such as exclusive access to events or early access to new listings.
Collaborate and Co-Create
Work together with micro-influencers to develop content that aligns with both your brand messaging and their unique voice. This will ensure that your message resonates with their audience and feels authentic.
Marketing with Local Micro-Influencers
Micro-influencers can be valuable for any company looking to connect with potential clients and build their brand. Especially when we are talking on a local level.
Partner with local micro-influencers who have a deep understanding of your market and can share valuable insights about neighborhoods, schools, and amenities.
Micro-influencers often have a loyal and engaged following who trust their opinions and recommendations. This credibility allows them to serve as effective brand ambassadors, advocating for products or services in a genuine and authentic manner.
Influencer Marketing Services: A Helping Hand for Busy Professionals
Navigating the world of micro-influencer marketing can be a daunting task, especially for busy real estate professionals. That’s where influencer marketing services come in. These specialized agencies can help you streamline your efforts and maximize your return on investment (ROI).
What Do Influencer Marketing Services Offer?
Influencer marketing services can range from simple consultation to full-fledged campaign management. Common services include:
Influencer Identification: Agencies can help you find the right micro-influencers for your brand, based on your target audience, budget, and goals.
Campaign Strategy Development: Experts can develop a comprehensive influencer marketing strategy tailored to your specific needs.
Content Creation and Management: Agencies can create and manage engaging content for your micro-influencer campaigns, ensuring a cohesive brand message.
Performance Tracking and Analysis: Services often include tracking and analyzing campaign performance data to measure ROI and optimize future efforts.
Benefits of Outsourcing Your Influencer Marketing
Partnering with an influencer marketing service can offer several advantages. Outsourcing frees up your valuable time to focus on your core business activities, such as building client relationships and closing deals.
Agencies have specialized knowledge and experience in influencer marketing, ensuring that your campaigns are effective and efficient.
Maximize ROI
By leveraging data-driven insights and proven strategies, agencies can help you achieve a higher return on your influencer marketing investment.
Choosing the Right Influencer Marketing Partner
When selecting an influencer marketing service, consider the following factors:
Experience in Your Industry: Look for agencies that have a proven track record of working with real estate brands or similar industries.
Transparent Pricing: Ensure that the agency’s pricing structure is clear and upfront, with no hidden fees.
Data-Driven Approach: Choose an agency that uses data and analytics to inform their strategies and measure results.
Strong Communication and Collaboration: Effective communication and collaboration are essential for a successful partnership. Look for an agency that is responsive and open to feedback.
The Role of an Influencer Marketing Manager
For larger real estate firms or those with extensive marketing budgets, hiring an influencer marketing manager can be a valuable investment. This dedicated professional will oversee your influencer marketing strategy, manage relationships with influencers, and track campaign performance.
The ideal influencer marketing manager will possess:
Strong Communication and Negotiation Skills: They should be able to build rapport with influencers and negotiate mutually beneficial partnerships.
Data Analysis Skills: They should be able to track and analyze campaign performance data to optimize future efforts.
Creativity and Strategic Thinking: They should be able to develop innovative influencer marketing campaigns that align with your brand goals.
An influencer marketing manager can be a valuable asset, ensuring that your influencer marketing efforts are aligned with your overall marketing strategy and deliver measurable results.
Tim Rexius’s Micro-Influencers Strategy
Tim Rexius’s experience with both macro and micro-influencers highlights the importance of testing and experimentation.
He found that while some macro-influencers with millions of followers may not deliver significant results, micro-influencers with smaller but highly engaged audiences can often drive more meaningful engagement and conversions.
This underscores the importance of testing different types of influencers and tracking the results to determine which partnerships are most effective for your brand.
The 20% Rule: Finding the Right Fit
Rexius also observed a “20% rule” in influencer marketing, where roughly 20% of influencers generate a profitable ROI. This means that finding the right influencers for your brand is crucial.
It’s not just about the number of followers, but also about their audience demographics, engagement levels, and alignment with your brand values.
Don’t be afraid to experiment and try different approaches. By testing various influencers and tracking the results, you can identify the partnerships that deliver the best results for your real estate business.
Platforms for Finding Micro-Influencers
There are several platforms that can help you connect with potential micro-influencers.
Join Brands: This platform allows you to post influencer campaigns and receive applications from interested influencers.
Collabstr: This platform simplifies the process of finding and collaborating with micro-influencers.
By utilizing these platforms and tools, you can streamline your search for the perfect micro-influencers to represent your brand and reach your target audience
Start Growing Your Digital Reach with Influencer Marketing
Boos a Free strategy call with Two Brothers Creative to learn more about our marketing services.
We’ll work with you to craft a compelling narrative that resonates with your ideal clients and sets you apart from the competition.
Interested in boosting your business through successful local advertising? It’s important to learn what strategies work and what to avoid.
Join us in this installment of the Midwest Mindset Podcast where hosts Matt and Austin welcome Chad Dodd, collaborator on the Two Brothers Creative team and owner of Klar Inc.
In this discussion, we dive into crafting a local advertising approach that delivers results. We’ll explore effective strategies, common pitfalls, and also touch upon the Nebraska Tourism Department’s advertising efforts.
If you live in the State of Nebraska, chances are you’ve seen the ads: “Visit Nebraska, Visit Nice” or “Nebraska. Honestly It’s Not For Everyone.”
Nebraska’s tourism marketing seems to be trying to be clever and unique, yet somehow really misses the mark.
Instead of exploiting the authentic charm and natural beauty that is Nebraska, they divert their focus, something that happens more often than we think with many brands and companies.
How do you avoid this from happening? How can you effectively convey your message to potential customers in your local area who might not be even aware of your existence?
This is precisely the challenge that Nebraska’s tourism department is trying to do: invite hundreds of passers-by to pause their journey, stay for a few hours or days, and enjoy what Nebraska has to offer.
Don’t worry if this is happening to you; there’s effective ways to communicate and resonate with an audience that’s yet to discover you, and we will tell you how.
Effective Local Advertising is About Clarity
Being clear and straightforward is the core of effective local advertising; Say it like it is, and don’t overcomplicate things. A lot of the time, meaning gets lost or buried in a phony or unrelated marketing strategy.
Instead, let your message resonate with simplicity and directness.
Creativity with Structure for Effective Local Advertising
While creativity and innovation are valuable assets in marketing, they shouldn’t overshadow the essence of your message.
Without a solid plan or strategy, even the most creative ideas might fall flat. There’s a reason certain strategies work.
They’ve been tried, tested, and proven successful. So, when it comes to your local advertising, it’s wise to follow a winning formula.
Now, how exactly do you create and follow a formula?
The Formula for Effective Local Advertising
There are a lot of marketing formulas for local advertising out there, and while we encourage you to try and test to find what’s good for your business, we also recommend that your strategy always include the following winning points.
Identifying Your Buyer Persona
The first step in any effective marketing strategy is understanding who your customer is. To do this, you need to create a comprehensive buyer persona.
This persona should include at least the following:
Demographic information
Interests
Buying behaviors
Pain points
Online behaviors.
By identifying this persona, you can tailor your messaging to resonate with them more effectively.
A Resonant Message
Once you’ve identified your target audience, the next step is to craft a message that speaks directly to them.
This message needs to address those needs, wants, and pain points.
It should evoke emotion and action. A message that is relatable and compelling, making your audience feel understood and valued.
Simplicity and Clarity
In an age of information overload, simplicity and clarity are essential! People don’t want to read overcomplicated messages that don’t go straight to the point.
Your message should be easy to understand and remember. Avoid complex language. Instead, focus on conveying a clear core message that won’t get lost in other meanings.
Authenticity
Marketing today is all about being authentic and caring for your audience, especially since the pandemic.
Consumers today are savvy and quickly sense when a brand is being disingenuous or trying too hard.
Be true to your values. Don’t attempt to be something you’re not or adopt trends that don’t align with your identity.
Embrace Your Identity
Of course, to be true to your identity, you need to know what your identity is and what you stand for.
Each business has a unique identity that sets it apart. Embrace this identity in your local advertising. Whether it’s your origin story, your commitment to sustainable practices, or your exceptional customer service, highlight what makes you unique.
Understanding Your ‘Why’
Finally, it’s crucial to understand and communicate your “why” and “what.”
Why does your business exist? What problem are you trying to solve? What value do you bring to your customers?
Understanding your ‘why’ and ‘what’ gives purpose to your work and helps you connect with customers on a deeper level.
Start Effective Local Advertising
By following these points and creating an effective marketing strategy for local results, you will not be compared with the Nebraska Tourism department.
Need some help? We are here to help you craft the perfect strategy for business visibility and success.
Legacy vs. Likes: Mike Smith’s Guide to Honesty in Social Media
Legacy vs. likes, what’s more important? For business, this can be a tough question to answer because, sure, we all want to leave a legacy and make the world a better place, but likes and recognition are also super important to have a successful enterprise, right?
What if we told you that likes are not a direct reflection of your business’s visibility or success? And that legacy can be achieved while still having a compelling but honest marketing strategy?
In this Mindwest Mindset podcast episode, Matt and Ben are joined by Mike Smith, storyteller, community builder, guide, and author of “Legacy vs. Likes,” to discuss the world of social media and the possible harm of validation through likes.
So, how did Mike’s book come about? “Legacy vs. Likes” explores the social media vortex, highlighting the issues that come along with it, especially for younger people.
Mike has spotted a worrying trend – the way we’re getting sucked into social media and how it’s altering our behavior.
And with more adults hopping onto the social media train than ever before, the desire to become influencers isn’t just a childish idea; it’s an adult’s dream as well.
A lot of the adults online right now have grown with the influence of social media, so it’s no surprise that current young adults and new parents want to be influencers and are, in some way or another, influencers of social media.
The Internet has changed the game of how we see each other and everything around us. It paints a picture of what’s cool, what’s acceptable, and what’s beautiful. However, this is a very distorted, unreal image.
The New Generation
With the internet and social media being an integral part of their daily lives, Gen Z has a unique way of interacting and connecting with the world.
They see these platforms not merely as a medium to showcase their lives but as a tool to engage, learn, and express themselves.
This doesn’t exclude them from the toxic behavior of social media and “likes” driven interaction.
They are also more aware of brands’ values and the legacy they intend to leave in the world, making it harder for businesses to stay relevant across different generations.
So, how can we make sure to stay relevant across all generations while still making an impact?
First, we need to understand something: Like are not that important
Legacy vs. Likes
In today’s landscape, it’s easy to get caught up in the numbers game. The number of likes, shares, and followers can seem like an equivalent of success.
And while they might look impressive on the surface, they don’t necessarily translate into real-world results or long-term success.
A legacy is about making a lasting impact that goes beyond our lifetimes. It’s about building authenticity, consistency, and true values and making our content reflect that.
That’s how we leave a legacy.
Entertainment vs. Quality
We live in an age where social media platforms are evolving into entertainment powerhouses; much like TV channels or Netflix, brands are looking for ways to stay relevant.
This shift has driven brands to pump out high volumes of content to keep their audiences hooked. However, this rush for relevance often sacrifices quality for quantity, and on many occasions, users won’t stick to receiving poor-quality content.
While entertaining content might capture attention, it’s the quality that keeps audiences coming back for more.
Legacy vs. Likes: How to Build a Legacy
Now comes the million-dollar question: Can we build a legacy online? In a space full of fake influencers and photoshopped pictures, how do we carve out a lasting presence?
To build a lasting legacy, brands must focus on targeting the right people with quality content and maintaining consistency, But how can we achieve it?
More Legacy and Less Likes
Here are some key steps to building a true and honest social media presence that will keep your audience hooked.
Self-awareness
Knowing who you are and what you stand for is the first step; have a clear vision of what you offer and how you help others.
Are you selling a product or service? Are you reaching out to people who genuinely benefit from what you offer?
These questions can help you align your social media strategy with your purpose.
Core Values
Identify your brand’s core values and ensure they are reflected in every aspect of your social media presence.
These values act as your guiding principles and will help you stay true to your brand.
At Two Brothers Creative, for example, we believe that everyone deserves affordable and efficient marketing.
Know Your Audience
Who are you trying to help or engage with?
Understanding your target audience is crucial for effective communication. Are your posts reaching them? If not, it might be time to revisit your content strategy or explore different platforms.
Website Quality
Think of your website as your digital storefront. If someone stumbles upon it, what will their impression be?
Is it easy to navigate? Does it provide useful information?
A quality website not only reflects positively on your brand but also helps in lead generation and conversions.
Content Quality
In the rush to stay relevant, quality often takes a backseat.
But remember, content is everything. High-quality content that resonates with your audience can drive engagement, foster loyalty, and elevate your brand above the competition.
The True Power of Authenticity on “Legacy vs. Likes”
Mike emphasizes the need for authenticity and staying true to one’s values, even in the face of fleeting trends and the constant pursuit of likes.
Remember, it’s impossible to please everyone. Instead, focus on resonating with the right people – those who align with your values and appreciate your authenticity and honesty, those who actually find your content valuable and useful.
While likes and shares provide instant gratification, they are fleeting and don’t necessarily translate into a lasting impact.
Turning Failures into Legacy
Now, let’s talk about failure; it happens to the best of us. But here’s the thing – failure isn’t the end of the world. In fact, it’s an important part of the journey.
Mistakes will happen, it’s what you do after you’ve stumbled that really counts. So, dust yourself off, learn from it, and get back in the game.
The way you react to setbacks will talk about who you are as a business. After all, it’s not about how many times you fall but how many times you get back up.
Legacy vs. Likes: The Two Brothers Case
For us, what defines us is a real wish to help companies; we believe marketing should be affordable and easy to understand.
We don’t believe in marketing companies that overcharge to present results that most people won’t understand.
Our dream? To build a company that’s in the business of helping other businesses. We’re not just here to make a quick buck. We want to help your business flourish through awesome content that makes a real impact.
Our legacy and quality content? From our podcast, free PDFs, blogs, and everything we do, we do it to inform and make a better environment for entrepreneurs looking to expand their marketing.
The Easy Box
Looking for ways to grow your business? Don’t spend unnecessary time on marketing; focus on becoming a better leader and entrepreneur; leave the rest to us!
With the Easy Box, you give us only 30 minutes of your time, and we give you 30 days’ worth of content.
Forget all about long hours and marketing failure; this is marketing made easy.
Relationships and Business: The Stages of a Buyer’s Journey
What do the three stages of a buyer’s journey and your love life have in common? It’s probably more than you think.
Having loyal and recurring customers takes time, energy, and investment, kind of like having a long-life partner, right?
In this Midwest Mindset episode, the Two Brothers Creative crew is together again to share their love life secrets and explain why our dating life relates to the buyer’s journey.
This is the initial stage where potential customers recognize your business and begin to search for solutions to their problems.
Stage 2: Enlightenment
Customers begin exploring different options, educating themselves about possible remedies, and weighing the pros and cons of each.
By providing valuable information, demonstrating your expertise, and showcasing how your offering meets their needs, you can guide your potential customers toward choosing your business over others.
Stage 3: Decision
The final stage involves the customer deciding to make a purchase. It’s crucial your business ensures a smooth transaction process and aims for customer satisfaction to keep that customer.
Love and Business
Now that you understand the three main steps on the buyer’s journey, you might be wondering: what does that even have to do with my love life?
Think of your business relationships with customers as a budding lasting romance.
You don’t just rush in and ask someone out the first time that you see them; that’s not how that works. In the first stage, it’s all about catching their eye, making your presence known, and presenting yourself as an attractive prospect.
You subtly show your interest, gradually getting closer to the person you fancy until you ask them to date you. Well, the same thing happens in the business. It’s important to create a solid relationship before asking for a purchase.
How to Pick Curiosity the Right Way
When Ben first met his future wife, he didn’t know he had to pique her interest; fortunately for him, he didn’t have to. There was this video of himself drawing a not-so-flattering self-portrait on his profile.
It was quirky, it was funny, and it worked. She was intrigued; they started chatting, and the rest is history.
Did we mention that they met on a dating app? They were both already matched, thanks to their shared interests, values, hobbies, and dreams.
Sure, there are no dating apps for businesses and customers (yet), but there’s a target audience out there searching for your product or service.
Your job is to find them, grab their attention, and keep them engaged.
Just as in love, showcasing your unique qualities can help attract the right people to your business.
First Impressions Last Forever
Remember, first impressions truly do last forever. They’re imprinted on people’s minds, shaping their views and opinions about you and your business for a long time.
Make this first impression last by being interesting, connecting authentically, showing appreciation, and communicating effectively.
Enlightenment Stage
Once you already picked your audience’s curiosity, you can now move to the enlightenment stage. But how do you achieve this?
Enlightening your audience is all about showcasing your values and demonstrating that you genuinely care about them. Just like spending quality time with your partner to understand their likes, dreams, and passions, you should strive to understand and cater to your audience’s needs and interests.
There are a few strategies that will help enlighten your audience: By delivering valuable content that resonates with them. This could be in the form of a free PDF guide, an informative video, or an insightful podcast episode.
Note: The key is not to sell immediately but to provide value first. Don’t scare them away.
Dating isn’t just about presenting your physical appearance; you also show off your personality traits. So, demonstrate to your audience that you’re more than just another business with a pretty logo. You have something unique and useful to offer.
Know Who You Are
You can’t really provide value and enlighten your audience if you don’t know how you are; Similarly, you won’t be able to find a long-time partner if you aren’t sure of what you´re looking for. Do you want to have kids? Do you want to get married?
Many businesses struggle because they’re not clear about their core principles, goals, and values.
To establish a deep and meaningful connection with your audience, you first need to understand who you are as a business and what your ideal audience looks like.
Ask yourself: What makes your business unique? What values do you stand for? What are your long-term goals?
These answers will help shape your business identity and guide you in attracting the right audience.
Be Patient
Don’t commit the mistake of hurrying into selling your product or service.
People usually aren’t ready to commit right away; they need time to trust and understand the value you bring. So, patience is key here.
Commitment: The Winning Stages of a Buyer’s Journey
Finally comes the decision stage of a buyer’s journey. This is the stage where your audience decides you are the right fit for them and makes a purchase, expecting to get a long-term solution to their problem, like saying “yes” to a marriage proposal.
One effective way to do this is by having a clear and compelling Call to Action (CTA) for your customers to click on whenever they are ready.
A CTA is your final nudge to the audience, urging them to make a move. This could be pegasus like “buy now,” “don’t miss this amazing deal,” or “schedule a discovery call.”
However, remember this golden rule: the decision to commit should always be theirs, not yours. It’s essential to make your audience feel comfortable and in control of their decisions.
By following the tips provided in each stage of a buyer’s journey, you will be on your way to love and business success!
The Stages of a Buyer’s Journey: Leave it to Us
We’re here to help. Our goal is to help you create the best marketing strategy to make your audience commit to your business. We’re experts on peaking interest with authentic, engaging, and memorable content.
If you want to learn more about how to grow and build your marketing strategy, download our free 6-step Marketing Plan pdf.
The Easy Box
On a Budget? Don’t Worry! With the Easy Box, you give us only 30 minutes of your time, and we give you 30 days’ worth of content.
Forget all about long hours and marketing failure; this is marketing made easy.
How can you use YouTube for business and actually make some money off of it? Is it even possible? YouTube is an unexplored tool for a lot of business owners and left out of a lot of marketing strategies, but the reality is that YouTube is a secret weapon for content marketing, SEO, and monetization! Today, we will tell you all about it.
In this Midwest Mindset (The Omaha Podcast) episode, we’re joined once again by Walt Sanders and Michael Murphy of Omaha’s WMK Media to explore how businesses can make money, generate leads and improve their content strategy with the power of YouTube.
How to Use YouTube for Business: What Does it Take?
Starting your YouTube business venture might seem like a piece of cake at first glance, but it’s more than just hitting the ‘upload’ button every now and then. It’s about crafting a well-thought-out strategy, staying consistent, and dedicating time.
The YouTube game is not a one-and-done deal; it requires consistent and dedicated effort. Consistency is what will keep your audience coming back for more and boost your visibility in YouTube’s algorithm.
Remember that YouTube isn’t just a video platform; it’s a social media space, and people want to connect with your brand. Engage with your viewers by responding to comments, asking for their opinions, and even involving them in your decision-making process.
The first way to YouTube can help you make some money is to use Search Engine Optimization (Video SEO) for people to find you and do business with you.
Remember that Google owns YouTube and is constantly used for search queries, so this is a golden opportunity for your videos to rank on youtube search results.
The first and most essential step in your is keyword research. This process involves identifying target keywords and phrases that people use when searching for content like yours. These keywords should be relevant to your business and have a decent search volume.
Consistency is king on YouTube. Uploading two to three videos per week keeps your channel active and signals to YouTube that you’re a consistent content provider. This will significantly improve your channel’s SEO over time and increase visibility.
How to Use YouTube for Business and Grow Your Audience: Pro Tips
Once you have mastered the art of SEO on youtube and are keeping a consistent schedule, you can move on to more specific tips and techniques to implement in your videos; here are the proven strategies that Walt and Murphy use for their video content creation.
Have a Creative Team
Having a network with other content creators will make your YouTube path more successful. Assemble a creative team that includes other content creators to ensure a constant flow of fresh ideas.
Draft a content map and develop a weekly and monthly plan to create videos. Establish an ecosystem for feedback and mutual assistance, which will not only improve your content but also foster a supportive community among creators.
Be Specific
Carve out your niche on YouTube by clearly defining your channel’s name, brand, and purpose. What’s the core message you want to convey? What kind of content will you create?
The more specific and focused you are, the easier it will be for viewers to understand what you’re all about and relate. Having a specific target audience and topic will also make your content way easier to find in search results.
Networking
YouTube is a fantastic platform for networking. Feature partners and industry peers in your videos to spotlight their work and strengthen relationships. This not only boosts your channel’s credibility but also expands your reach to potential customers.
Featuring your colleagues on your page is a Win-Win situation for them and for your SEO efforts since it’s more likely for your content to get reported and shared. So don’t be afraid to ask people related to your industry to join your YouTube videos.
Having valuable content
The real secret to YouTube’s success lies in delivering valuable content. If you want to stand out and grow, you need to provide something of true worth to your audience.
What challenges can you help them overcome? What unique insights can you offer? By adding value to the YouTube ecosystem, you’ll attract viewers who are seeking the answers you can provide.
Strive to create content that not only addresses these issues but also presents solutions in an engaging and accessible way. This could be through tutorials, expert interviews, behind-the-scenes looks, or even storytelling.
Engage: The First 10 Seconds Matter
The first few moments of your video are the digital equivalent of a first impression. It’s your golden opportunity to pique interest, spark curiosity and draw your viewers in. According to research, you have approximately 10 seconds to engage your audience before they decide whether to continue watching or move on.
To optimize these crucial seconds, start by sparking curiosity. Pose a thought-provoking question, share an intriguing fact, or tease a compelling piece of content that’s coming later in the video.
How to Use YouTube for Business: Be Authentic
The last and probably the most important tip for making money on youtube is to be authentic. Authenticity it’s a fundamental principle for success. Being genuine in your content isn’t just about being honest; it’s about presenting your true self, showcasing your personality, and letting your unique voice shine through.
When you’re authentic, viewers can sense it. They are more likely to feel a connection with you, trust your message, and engage with your content.
So, how do you authentically present yourself on YouTube? Start by embracing your individuality. Each person has a unique perspective and story to tell, so don’t shy away from sharing yours.
Two Brothers Creative: Content in a Box
Together we’ll identify actionable steps you need to take, from selecting channels that best capture your audience’s attention to creating memorable storylines that keep them engaged. Say goodbye to confusion, wasted time, and financial underperformance with Two Brothers Creative.
Matt Tompkins: Let me ask you a question. Why aren’t you making money from your YouTube channel? Why is it every business making money monetizing their YouTube channel? Many businesses overlook or dismiss YouTube entirely. That is a mistake because YouTube is the number one social media platform on planet Earth. It regularly falls only behind Google as the top visited website globally.
The reason most business owners aren’t using YouTube to grow their business is simple. They just don’t know how. Today we’re going to change that. We have our returning champions, the masters of monetization Murphy and Walt of Wmbc Media back on the podcast. Youtube has become an essential tool for growing your small business. And today you’re going to find out how your business can make money on YouTube.
Hello and welcome back to Midwest Mindset, the podcast that makes marketing easy to understand and simple to do. I’m your host, Matt Tompkins of two brothers Creative, where we passionately believe every business deserves affordable and effective marketing.
There have been a select handful of gifts from the marketing gods, if you will, over especially recent years. I mean, social media being probably a big one there and many, many different ways.
I think the advent of TikTok, which changed the algorithm and changed the network based social media platform, the way things have been done that led to the current state of of Instagram and Facebook reels and YouTube shorts where your video as a business owner, your video is placed in front of new people who don’t already like and follow you.
It is an incredible opportunity today for small businesses who are looking to market and grow their their company and have little to no budget. It really is more realistic and doable.
It’s more feasible today, I think, than ever before. And so I’m always surprised, yet excited At the same time, I’m surprised to see more businesses have refused to embrace or even use in the slightest degree their YouTube channel. But it’s also exciting because there is nothing but potential and I know it can happen.
We’ve seen what can happen in the first 30 days of implementing a strategy where you simply post one vertical video short per day for 30 days.
Matt Tompkins: Do it on YouTube shorts. We’ve done it on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok. The results are astounding. You can actually click on the link in the show notes. We put this case study together featuring three of our clients and us first 30 days of implementing this strategy.
The results are so outrageously good across the board. In every instance where we have done this and implemented this strategy, it’s kind of hard to believe. I don’t want to say it’s a guarantee. There are no guarantees in life, but this is as close to a sure thing as you can get in the digital world. There are so many benefits YouTube brings to your business.
Boosting your organic SEO. Establishing you as an authority in video format, reaching tens of thousands of new people who weren’t already familiar with you. Following you subscribe to your channel, who will discover you and your business simply by using those YouTube shorts? One of the highest valued assets there is today for your marketing. So it all sounds great, right? But how do we do it? Well, that’s what today’s episode is all about. So the first thing I had to ask the monetization maestros why aren’t businesses making money from their YouTube channel?
Walt Sanders: It takes a long time and a lot of consistency to really monetize a YouTube channel and it takes a dedicated effort and a lot of companies are scared of a long term investment that they honestly don’t know if it’s going to like. You don’t know if it’s going to work or not. Well, there’s.
Michael Murphy: Too many sure things in their pocket. You know, they’re able to rely on that 0.5% click through rate on the email campaigns. They’re running right. Or their Google ads are performing at a 1% click through rate. And they know if they spend ten grand, they make 12 grand. So there’s a lot of consistent things out there that they think are performing well enough, but they haven’t seen what we’ve seen. We haven’t they haven’t seen, you know, the behind the scenes analytics that kind of show like, look, a company can grow their brand awareness very well through YouTube.
Matt Tompkins: Way back in 2008, my brother Ben and I, we did this comedy video, this music video called You Can’t Say College World Series Today. And it went viral locally. Now, this was in 2008 when to go viral locally, you only needed about 5000 views on YouTube. Obviously, that’s not the case today. The audience has gotten bigger and YouTube has adapted. It’s not just videos. There are a lot of other tools and resources you can use to build your tribe, your community on YouTube today.
Michael Murphy: Something I think a lot of companies or just people in general don’t realize is along with having a YouTube channel, it gives you the opportunity to have a community wall where you’re able to post just like you would on Facebook. You can you can post a poll. So now you have an audience that you know is interested in your industry and you can directly poll them on like, what do you like better this t shirt or that t shirt and get the direct feedback and make better business decisions. So just like you said, I love that it is like the stepchild of social media. Nobody considers it in that same realm, but it’s the second most used search.
Matt Tompkins: Site on the planet. Yeah, I think one of the main things that YouTube has over its social media competitors is SEO search engine optimization. Youtube is owned by Google. Everybody’s competing on Google to show up on page one organically. Just naturally let people find us.
That’s how we’re going to grow. And if you’re a business, you don’t have thousands of dollars to spend every month on a pay per click Google ads campaign. Then you need organic SEO growth. Youtube is a secret weapon. It is a lightning bolt. Use the same principles for SEO that you use for a blog article and apply them to a video on YouTube and you will see that video leapfrogged to the top of the search results. Because most businesses are not thinking this way. They’re not thinking of applying SEO blog tactics to a video on YouTube. They’re not even doing videos in the first place.
Michael Murphy: If you’re paying for SEO, you’d be better off paying for having a YouTube channel. Yeah. So to be honest, because these shorts that you can be putting out on a consistent basis are the new blog article that bumps up SEO. We have one specific client that does no SEO. They don’t write any blog articles. We’ve been posting for 60 days for them on YouTube shorts. If you search that a loosely specific term about what they do, they’re now number one on the Google rankings.
Matt Tompkins: Hosting a daily YouTube short and posting at least 2 to 3 widescreen format, you know, 2 to 5 minute ish videos on YouTube applying the same principles you apply to the written word for SEO to the videos on YouTube is going to see incredible results. It really is. It’s organic. It’s going to take time.
You’re going to have to stick to it and be consistent, but it will pay off far more than any paid advertising you could do. In fact, they released a report that organic SEO, which these YouTube videos fall into 38% higher ROI than pay per click and Google ads. It’s just nobody wants to do it because it takes longer. You got to commit to it. You got to have patience, right? That’s just a couple tips that we got into with with Walt and Murphy of Wjmk. Let’s get to Walt’s number one tip on how to grow your YouTube channel.
Walt Sanders: I think the number one tip and trick that we found now is like creating with a group of other content creators and mapping out. So we have a group of four content creators who every week we get together map out. Our shoots. So we’re all helping shoot each other’s contents and everybody has their shorts for the week and we have long form content that we post together and both individually, um, having that kind of ecosystem for accountability, but also for help and critique and just knowing like, okay, maybe, maybe you shouldn’t post this one because the font looks like trash or like you should, like you have that group of people that you can can bounce off of. And as each channel blows up, like then it’s almost like it gives access to the other channels.
So you have the ability to stand up multiple monetized channels at once. If you do it with that group kind of approach, kind of.
Matt Tompkins: Rising, Tide lifts all the boats and.
Michael Murphy: Then and then you need to start and take very seriously what you’re going to name your channel, what the branding of the channel is going to be on that cover page and what the profile photo is going to look like, and then also be laser focused on what it is your channel is going to be putting out. So it’s like, okay, I’m going to be a gamer, right? So my main content is me playing video games.
And then the second piece of content is a montage of me playing video games. And then the third one could just be me being a talking head, talking about, Hey, did you hear about the latest releases that are coming out? So you want to have multiple prongs that are pushing that same that same message all the way through.
Matt Tompkins: One of the most daunting aspects of starting maintaining a YouTube channel is that we think, I couldn’t do this. Where am I going to come up with all these ideas? How am I have to learn how to edit? I have to learn this, I have to write scripts. I got to learn special effects. I don’t have time to do this. Keep it simple, stupid.
Michael Murphy: Why doesn’t a business have a YouTube channel and why isn’t it monetized? You got to look at your your business partners too. Yeah. So now as a business, you’re going to have your own YouTube channel. What better way to thank a partner than to feature them? Yeah, we’re working with a funeral home. We went to their preferred partner in a florist and featured their florist talking about different flower arrangements and what their what a rose means. That’s white and pink and what these different meanings are. So now you’re shining the light on your partnerships, strengthening relationships that are very important and vital to your business while building new relationships with potential customers. So it is a you’re winning in all areas. It’s a win win situation.
Matt Tompkins: Yeah. Another tip is try not to get hung up on the view count. If it’s a podcast, don’t get hung up on how many downloads you have. Okay. Your podcast downloads are like your bench press. You’re the only one who knows how much you can bench and you’re the only one who cares.
Trust me, it is purely ego driven. So set that aside and focus on how you can leverage a podcast or a video or a show on YouTube for your business. And one of the ways that we do this is we have our clients.
They will reach out to those those partners, those collaborators, that that dream client that you would otherwise have no chance of ever being in the same room with. And invite them to be a guest on your YouTube show, on your video podcast. They’re going to say yes and think about the impression you’re going to leave that first impression with that ideal dream client that you’ve always wanted to do business with. So we got into some more tips and the biggest differentiators which Walt talks about here between those YouTube channels that make it and those that don’t.
Walt Sanders: What actually is the differentiator between a channel that makes it and a channel that doesn’t?
Matt Tompkins: That’s a good question.
Walt Sanders: For me, it’s that are you providing are you giving more than you’re taking to the ecosystem? What are you giving? Because if you have content that’s focused on I’m going to teach you something, I’m going to give you something, I’m going to provide a platform for my partners. I’m going to make this incubator for everybody else to benefit, including, you know, it always benefits the whole group. What if you ended up just making selfish content? What happens in that? Like if you just make self-centered and the only thing you’re doing is saying, Hey, come buy this? Yeah, nobody’s going to follow that. Like, give.
Matt Tompkins: People something of true.
Walt Sanders: Value. Yeah. What are you actually giving? Authentic.
Matt Tompkins: Authentic value. Always be striving to give people something of true value. It’s kind of like our Midwest mindset here, helping other people without expecting anything in return. Ironically, in business, it ends up having the highest return of all. We’re going to get to WMC’s secret sauce to success on YouTube here in a minute. But first we talked about. The biggest fails. The biggest mistakes that they see other YouTube channels make. That you definitely want to avoid directly.
Michael Murphy: Just thinking of it as constantly being a commercial or a sales pitch. You got to give value outside of just talking about your own company. I mean, that goes back to the selfish thing. I would say also starting and stopping and starting and stopping, you’re.
Matt Tompkins: Basically starting from scratch.
Walt Sanders: So as you gain five followers, you lose seven. Yeah, yeah.
Matt Tompkins: Yeah, exactly.
Walt Sanders: Yeah.
Matt Tompkins: And last but certainly not least, WMC’s secret sauce to YouTube success.
Walt Sanders: Secret Sauce Alert. Secret sauce alert. Hey. All right. Hey, we are in America right now. Okay. We have access to a small percentage of the world’s population. There is an entire world of people that love to watch us react to their culture. Like, I swear to God, if you if you go on there and you. You react to, like, look for different stuff in other cultures and just watch their videos and film yourself reacting to it. Yeah. Secret sauce, Secret sauce. Go blow your channel up. Watch it. Watch it happen. Be authentic. Yeah.
Michael Murphy: Don’t fake your reaction. Yeah, yeah. If you didn’t like what you just saw, say it.
Walt Sanders: Yeah, for.
Michael Murphy: Sure. Get some hate.
Matt Tompkins: But also, you can’t have the woke filter going on.
Walt Sanders: You got to be authentic. Yeah, you.
Matt Tompkins: Got to be authentic.
Walt Sanders: Correct? Yeah, because they’ll see through that shit. They’ll be able to see like, Oh, this guy’s just on here trying to make some money. They want you to actually engage with their culture. Yeah, but.
Michael Murphy: The first thing you want to do to start growing it fast is be consistent. And if you can afford to do it post 6 to 8 times a day, 6 to 8 times on shorts.
Matt Tompkins: On shorts. This is one that’s hard, I think, for a lot of people to kind of wrap their heads around. And I understand why we’re so used to the old school linear timeline model for social media platforms, reels, TikTok, YouTube shorts, stories. They’re all self-contained in their own little categories. And you can’t over post. Now there are techniques and strategies that Murphy’s going to share here in just a second on what you should do, but you could post 6 to 8 times a day. Like you said, we’ve posted as many as ten at once and reached wildly different audiences with every single video because they are now tailored to who is best suited to be engaged with each video based on its content.
Michael Murphy: Never within an hour of each other. Okay. And two sweet spots that exist for all channels is 3:11 a.m. and 3 a.m. no matter the time zone, 11.
Walt Sanders: A.m. and 3 p.m.. 11 a.m., 3.
Michael Murphy: P.m., 11 a.m., 3 p.m. No matter what time zone you’re in, make yourself do that.
Matt Tompkins: One last tip is to maintain that attention through the entire video.
Michael Murphy: Just try to tease people all the way through the first 10s of the video. And I mean that from the beginning. When you’re thinking of the title, tease them. When you’re thinking of the thumbnail, tease them like build curiosity in their mind in some form or fashion. And then right at the beginning of the video, get on the verge of answering the question that you built Curiosity about, cut it off and say you got to stick to the end of the video to watch it. Yeah, do your whole video.
Matt Tompkins: That drives me nuts when I watch those. Because you do you get sucked in? Yeah, Yeah. It’s like, come on, get.
Michael Murphy: That’s the funniest thing about studying the way that we all three do. Yeah. Is that like, it gets to a point where you think you’re studying, but really, you’re just the. You know what I mean? Like, you’re the they got you.
Matt Tompkins: It’s like on social media, you are the study because you’re the product.
Walt Sanders: It’s like it’s like.
Michael Murphy: Yeah, I clicked on one video and six hours later I’m there with a bag of popcorn and a hangover.
Walt Sanders: Like, Yeah.
Michael Murphy: Just watch.
Matt Tompkins: What happened in my life.
Michael Murphy: Got me from one thumbnail.
Walt Sanders: Yeah, Authenticity is still king and interpersonal relationships. So when you’re when you’re posting this stuff, you’re talking to real people and like, connecting with that audience and giving them something tangible, whether it’s, you know, some a feeling, a good feeling you gave them during the day or just some imprint their emotions through your through your channel, whatever that is. Youtube, Instagram. Now this the other tip is YouTube is king. Like if you’re going to pick one, pick one social media, do YouTube double down. We’ve doubled down our entire business on YouTube and.
Michael Murphy: I would keep an eye on Twitter.
Walt Sanders: Yeah, Twitter.
Michael Murphy: Elon is going Elon is already said he’s going to make a monetized version of for content creators just like you like YouTube but.
Walt Sanders: Better so and you can have up to like an hour you can post up to an hour right.
Michael Murphy: Like right now you can. But like he’s going to create a Twitter partner program like the YouTube partner program so that when ads are run and you’re even going to be able to run ads on comment replies, I don’t know if you know this, but on Twitter, like the best way to get traction is to be in the comments. Yeah, like if you’re starting off. Yeah. So starting to just so have your reply ready. Be like oh no on this topic. Actually this is my opinion on it. Post it in there and you’ll be able to monetize that.
Matt Tompkins: That’s a huge thanks to Walt and Murphy of for coming back on the podcast here today. I know we’ll have them on again and again. Just because I love nerding out about this stuff. I could talk about it for hours. I honestly just think it is so cool that there is a free tool called YouTube. It doesn’t cost you anything. That you can set up along with another free tool, your Google business profile and the many others Google gives you.
But you can use YouTube and your Google business profile and you can take these free tools with all of this free knowledge that we have just given you here today on this episode and in so many past episodes and in so many other books and podcasts and resources you can find on. I don’t know, say, YouTube. Y
ou can take the free knowledge with the free tool and you can make money. You can grow your business. You can organically grow your business. You can do your own digital marketing. It is organic. It takes time. It takes commitment, but it’s not going to cost you a dollar. It’s only going to make you dollars.
All it takes at this point is time, commitment and effort. If you want to check out that link to the case, studies that I mentioned earlier show you those incredible results. After just the first 30 days of implementing this daily YouTube shorts strategy. The link is in the show notes. Also got the details on how to get Ahold of them. If you want help with your YouTube channel. They are the pros. Who knows? I don’t know.
Starting to rhyme something there. It didn’t really flow well, so they know what they’re doing. I’m not going to. That’s the last time I try ending this podcast with a rhyme. I am not a rhinoceros. On that note, thank you so much for joining us here today on Midwest Mindset. My name is Matt Tompkins and we’ll see you on the next episode.
Succeed in Digital Marketing Through Your Failures
How do we succeed in digital marketing and grow from our failures in this rapidly changing digital world? Well, marketing failures are more common occurrences than many of us realize, especially for small businesses starting out.
While it’s easy to feel disheartened and overwhelmed by these setbacks, we can grow stronger to develop effective content marketing strategies. In this Midwest Mindset for Marketing (The Omaha Podcast), a CEO, and co-founder, shares her fair share of marketing failures and how she overcame them.
This woman, a dedicated business owner, was determined to prioritize her company’s operations and nurture the relationships she had with her clients. As a result, she found herself with little time to devote to marketing. Believing that the task was too large to handle on her own, and her team decided to hire a marketing agency.
As time passed, shef noticed that her business growth primarily stemmed from referrals and networking rather than any tangible results from the marketing agency’s efforts. This realization led her to conclude that her marketing strategy was failing and providing no return on investment (ROI).
And after investing a considerable sum of money in a Google ad campaign that fell flat, her team felt disheartened; and to make matters worse, the marketing agency she worked with was deceptive and failed to explain the results correctly.
However, her experience taught her a crucial lesson that she wouldn’t have learned otherwise: marketing should not be that hard; it should be easy to understand and accessible, not an opportunity for agencies to take advantage of your business.
Through this experience, she knew she needed to find a strategy that she and the team could understand, track, supervise, and work on. But more importantly, she understood that marketing failures are a normal part of a business journey.
Do You Need to Be a Marketing Expert?
Turning marketing failures into success doesn’t necessarily require you to become an expert in the field. Instead, it’s about understanding the basics of your audience and continually evaluating its performance. By doing so, you can identify areas for improvement and build on what’s working well.
Her journey serves as a prime example of this approach. After realizing that her marketing efforts were failing, she decided to take a more hands-on role in her company’s marketing strategy.
So, how do you turn your marketing failures into success? You need a basic grasp of who your audience is and how your marketing strategy is performing, to keep doing what’s working and improving what’s not.
This basic information, like your target audience, buyer persona, and social media presence will push your digital marketing forward.
However, If you’re struggling with a content marketing agency that isn’t fully explaining or gatekeeping information, don’t worry that much; you can always change strategy. Believe us, even the most experienced and successful organizations have had this problem.
This shouldn’t be taken as a step back or failure but rather an opportunity to change and invest in a strategy that will pay off and that your business can learn from,
How to Succeed in Digital Marketing: Be Patient and Embrace the Cringe
Marketing can be a slow process, and while it’s easy to become impatient or discouraged when results don’t materialize immediately, it’s crucial to remember that many aspects of digital marketing take time to show significant results.
One prime example is Search Engine Optimization (SEO). SEO is a critical component of any digital marketing strategy, but it can take months of consistent effort before tangible results become evident.
Don’t be afraid to make a fool of yourself or experiment with unconventional ideas. The truth is, some of your boldest attempts might not resonate with your audience, but they will undoubtedly teach you valuable lessons about what works and what doesn’t.
Embracing the cringe means making content out of your comfort zone, but it also means being open to feedback, both positive and negative. Constructive criticism can help you identify areas for improvement and refine your digital marketing strategy.
Remember: Success in digital marketing is often the result of learning from setbacks, refining your approach, and continually adapting to the ever-evolving landscape.
Keep pushing forward, and embrace the lessons that failure teaches. With time and persistence, you’ll unlock the perfect formula for digital marketing success.
Choose a Transparent Company That Shares Information and Tools
If you hire a marketing company for your content strategy, when selecting an agency, look for one that is easy to talk to and transparent about what they do.
A genuine marketing agency will share all the tools and insights on what is working for your company. Transparency and open communication are essential for fostering a healthy and productive relationship between your business and the agency.
Tips for Marketing Success:
So, now that we have gone through all this information, here is a recap on tips to transform failure into success
Know where your leads are coming from: This insight helps recognize what your marketing strategy needs and should look like; for our guest, this meant shifting her focus and resources to the channels that were generating results.
Monitor your marketing performance: She learned the importance of regularly tracking the performance of her marketing campaigns. By doing so, she could identify which tactics were effective and which needed improvement.
Adapt and refine your strategy: Become involved in her marketing efforts, and start experimenting with different strategies and techniques. This will allow you to fine-tune her marketing approach and optimize it for better results.
Collaborate with trustworthy partners: transparent professionals who genuinely care about their client’s success are the people you want to surround yourself with. Avoid scammy marketing agencies that only want your money.
Maintain open communication: Establish clear lines of communication with your team and external partners. This allows you to stay informed about her marketing campaigns’ progress and make data-driven decisions.
Marketing Failures Are the Way to Succeed
Lastly, patience, perseverance, and a willingness to learn from mistakes are crucial ingredients for turning marketing failure into success.
So go ahead, embrace the cringe, and watch your business flourish with the support of a transparent and communicative marketing agency.
In the end, marketing can be about having fun and embracing the embarrassment that comes with making wild ideas into reality. Sure, it’s also about perseverance, persistence, and data, but with a little bit of fun and letting your imagination run free, it can also be a very fun and fulfilling experience.
From free weekly marketing resources on our podcast, Midwest Mindset for Marketing, to professional coaching and consulting, to having us do all of the work for you at Two Brothers, we believe every business deserves affordable and effective marketing.
If you need help with your marketing, we are here for you. At Two Brothers, we are passionate about helping entrepreneurs and business owners like you because we believe every business deserves affordable and effective marketing.
Marketing accountability is the key to creating a more fun, productive, and profitable business. Most marketing businesses struggling with productivity and profit are missing one important thing: accountability. With accountability, you can make sure to improve your business results.
To succeed, you need to be professional, which means having a plan and following through with it, not just having it on paper. Tracy guides us into the step of building a roadmap to being a professional business person.
To really understand how to implement an EOS and have a profitable business, we first need to understand what accountability is and why it is so important.
In simple terms, accountability is the responsibility or obligation to complete tasks, meet expectations, and own the consequences of one’s actions. In the context of a marketing business, accountability plays a vital role in ensuring that each team member delivers on their commitments and contributes to the company’s overall success.
Team members are more likely to stay focused and work diligently to meet deadlines when they are held accountable for their tasks and responsibilities.
What is EOS and Why is It Important for Accountability?
As Tracy puts it: EOS, or the Entrepreneurial Operating System, is a comprehensive set of tools and concepts designed to help businesses establish strong organizational systems for improved efficiency and success.
These tools are pretty simple, but that doesn´t mean they are easy to implement. Implementing them effectively requires dedication, discipline, and a lot of accountability to follow up on goals and tasks.
By incorporating EOS into your business operations, you can streamline processes, enhance communication, and promote accountability among team members, ultimately leading to a well-organized, high-performing organization.
Top Business Problems That Marketing Accountability Can Fix
Most of the time, we think of marketing as the fun and creative part of a business, and although it can be all that, it first needs to be a data and structure-driven process. This is why a lot of companies run into marketing problems right away.
The good news is that EOS is excellent for solving the two most common problems that businesses always have.
Underperformers
EOS is grated because it works under a metric-based structure, so it’s easier to identify underperformers or problems that are making your team not as productive and take necessary and needed action.
Streamline Processes
Entrepreneurial Operating System establishes processed, step-by-step guides, KPIs, and other valuables data-driven tools that can help your business create an environment of Accountability.
EOS Core Values for Accountability
EOS has six core values that every team member must follow to reach top productivity and performance. Having this in mind will help your team reach their goals faster and in a more effective manner.
Vision
A clear and cohesive vision is essential for any business to thrive. EOS emphasizes the importance of not only defining your company’s vision but also sharing it with all team members. This enables everyone to work collectively towards common objectives.
People
The right people are the backbone of any successful business. EOS focuses on attracting, retaining, and nurturing the best talent that aligns with your marketing company. Happy people make an accountable and successful business.
Data
Data-driven decision-making is crucial for businesses to stay ahead in today’s competitive landscape. EOS encourages organizations to leverage data to track performance, identify trends, and uncover potential issues. Use clear metrics to ensure that your EOS is working.
Issues
Addressing issues head-on is paramount to maintaining a healthy organization. EOS promotes a proactive approach to identifying, discussing, and resolving problems before they escalate. Try to ask your team regularly if they feel uneasy or find any problems and how you can help.
Process
Streamlined and efficient processes are the foundation of any well-functioning business. EOS helps companies identify, document, and refine their core processes to eliminate bottlenecks and inefficiencies. Companies can improve productivity and ensure consistent delivery of high-quality products or services by continuously optimizing processes.
Traction
Traction is the ability to execute your vision effectively and consistently. EOS strongly emphasizes setting realistic goals and implementing actionable steps to achieve them. By regularly monitoring progress and adjusting strategies as needed, businesses can build steadily advance towards their objectives.
How to Implement EOS for Marketing Accountability
Know that you know all of Tracy´s secrets and about EOS; how do you implement it in your business? Where do you start?
The first step is having clear goals and writing down a plan. Start with a 3-year vision of where you want to be. Then brake it down into a year plan; what do you want to accomplish in this first year that gets you closer to your 3-year vision goal?
Then, focus on the right metrics. These metrics, scorecards, or KPS, will depend on your business’s online presence and goals. It can be things like leads, engagement, likes, shares, etc.
The next set will be to create rocks; these are quarterly goals, usually between 3 to 7 rocks, so that you can brake your yearly plan into smaller steps. Each team member needs to have their own rocks.
Know it is time to create an issues list, what is bothering all the team, and what they feel can be improved, or that is slowing down their productivity. Having this list will help you solve this problem one by one.
Lastly starts with the vision traction and organizer. Think of this as a checklist to see that everybody’s efforts are working as expected.
Remember that having clear goals and expectations for everyone will help your team to stay accountable for their work.
The Key to Accountability: Keep It Interesting
To finish talking about accountability, it’s essential to remember that working with people that you like and believe in makes all the difference for you as a leader and for your employees as a team.
Having a group of people that likes their work is the easiest way to reach a responsible team and have a better workflow.
If your clients or team is not a good fit for your company, then maybe it is time to let them go since this can limit the potential growth for both parties,
Start Your Content Marketing Today
Most business owners struggle with marketing because they don’t have the time, budget, or expertise to manage it all themselves. If you need help with your marketing, we are here for you.
From free weekly marketing resources on our podcast, Midwest Mindset for Marketing, to professional coaching and consulting, to having us do all of the work for you at Two Brothers, we believe every business deserves affordable and effective marketing.
AI Marketing Tools: What You Need for Your Business
Are AI Marketing Tools what you need for your business success? We know that for small business owners like us, it can be a struggle to create a compelling marketing strategy without breaking the bank and still focusing on the other aspects of our company. Trust us; we’ve been there and know how challenging it gets.
But what if we tell you that there is a powerful and cheap tool that can help your business marketing strategy and is also very easy to use? In this Midwest Mindset for Marketing episode, we cover valuable insights on harnessing AI’s (Artificial Intelligence) power for marketing.
For this episode, the actual two brothers of Two Brothers Creative, Matt and Ben, came together to discuss how AI tools can be the secret to improving your content marketing.
AI is changing the business world and revolutionizing the way companies make content; whether you’re a small business owner or part of a larger organization, incorporating AI into your marketing strategy is necessary if you want to survive in this fast-paced business world.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is the ability of a computer system to simulate intelligent behavior. It involves the use of advanced algorithms and techniques to create machines that can think, solve problems, and make decisions in a similar way that humans do.
Types of AI
Artificial intelligence, a rapidly advancing field in technology, is commonly classified into two primary categories – narrow and general AI. Although both are helpful in tackling everyday tasks for marketing and content creation, General AI is much more useful because it can actually learn our business voice and tone, creating personalized and more effective content.
Narrow AI
Also known as weak AI, it is designed to perform specific tasks without possessing consciousness or self-awareness. Examples include virtual personal assistants like Siri and Alexa, facial recognition software, and self-driving cars. These AI systems are good at handling particular tasks but lack the ability to understand or learn beyond their designated roles.
Narrow AI can be used in marketing for the initial customer services process, like char bots or virtual agents, or for specific and technical things like customer segmentation.
General AI
Also called strong AI, it refers to AI systems that can perform any intellectual task that a human being can do. General AI has human-like cognitive abilities, such as understanding language, recognizing patterns, solving problems, and learning from experience.
General AI can be more beneficial for marketing purposes compared to narrow AI due to its human-like cognitive abilities and versatility. While narrow AI excels at specific tasks, general AI can adapt and perform a wide range of intellectual tasks that a human can do. This tool can handle tasks like copywriting, video making, content creation, product development, and more.
The Benefits of AI Marketing
If you haven´t tried Artificial intelligence, you might be wondering what is so great about it; well, AI offers numerous benefits, but for marketing and business sakes, here is what we think are the top benefits of using IA:
Efficiency
AI can streamline tasks such as organizing projects, analyzing social media metrics, and creating a copy. This lets you focus on the message you want to convey rather than getting bogged down in the technical details and formats of social media and other platforms.
Speed
Smaller businesses may not have the resources for extensive marketing teams, and it usually takes a lot of time for one person to get all marketing content done, from writing to recording to editing and posting; AI can speed up content creation, allowing you to stay competitive in today’s fast-paced market.
SEO Optimization
AI can help your content rank higher in Google searches by assisting with keyword research, generating unique content ideas, and creating an article outline with your specific keywords.
How to Use AI Marketing Tools to Create Content
While AI is a game changer, there are some potential risks if used too much or too heavenly. Google and other search engines can tell you when something seems fake, plagiarized, or artificial. It’s essential to balance automation and human input to have a healthy website and content. Here are some tips for using AI effectively for your marketing content
Use AI for transcription: If you have audio or video content, AI can quickly transcribe it into a blog post or copy for repurposing across various platforms.
Ask AI for prompts: If you’re struggling with writer’s block, use AI to generate content ideas and then refine them to match your brand voice and style.
Don’t let AI replace the human touch: Remember that AI is a tool, not an employee. It can optimize tasks and save you time, but it shouldn’t be responsible for all aspects of your marketing strategy.
Avoid robotic content: Ensure that your content doesn’t sound artificial. Use AI to create a framework or outline, but infuse it with your unique voice and perspective.
AI Marketing Tools and Human Connection
While AI is an incredibly powerful tool, it can never fully replace the human element that lies at the heart of marketing. The primary objective of marketing is to forge emotional connections with your audience and establish meaningful relationships that drive consumer loyalty and trust.
AI is an invaluable tool for optimizing your content and streamlining processes, but it can’t replace the human element that makes marketing so powerful.
In today’s fast-paced digital world, getting swept up in the latest technological advancements is easy. Artificial intelligence (AI) has undoubtedly become a hot topic in marketing and for good reason. It offers remarkable capabilities to save time, increase efficiency, and revolutionize content creation. But it’s essential to remember one fundamental truth: at its core, marketing is human.
Content is Everything. We Make it Easy.
Most business owners struggle with marketing because they don’t have the time, budget, or expertise to manage it all themselves. If you need help with your marketing or AI content, we are here for you and you.
From free weekly marketing resources on our podcast, Midwest Mindset, to professional coaching and consulting, to having us do all of the work for you at Two Brothers, we believe every business deserves affordable and effective marketing.
