If you want to achieve long-term success marketing your business online, be there every week is key.
It’s critical in your operations and your customer service as well as in your marketing.
Consistency is what separates the almost good from the great.
I watch NFL football, and I live in Wisconsin, which means I root for the Green Bay Packers. If you’re looking for consistency, look at the success of the Packers when Brett Favre was quarterback and now with Aaron Rogers.
Brett realized early on that he had to play every game, and he committed to doing that, which made him one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL. Aaron Rogers has been almost as consistent as Brett, and Green Bay’s success has continued.
Not only are quarterbacks key people in every offensive play, they are also leaders for their teams. When the team knows that the quarterback will be there all the time, playing at full capacity, the rest of the team lives up to that level. They thrive on the consistency.
Do your customers receive that consistency from you?
Do they receive it in your online marketing, including your website, e-mail marketing, and any social media marketing that you do?
Your website can be easy. You set it up once and make minimal changes. You can get by with that for some time.
Your e-mail and your social media, though, need care and attention regularly to nurture them.
If you send out messages and interact with your audience only when you have a sale or promotion, you will turn your audience off very quickly.
It is called social media for a reason. People expect you to interact and be a real person on a regular basis.
You’re developing friendships or an expert relationship, you’re seen as an expert because of all the good information you share, and you’re a friend because of what you share.
When you’re using traditional media—TV, radio, newspaper, and magazines—you can get away with only promoting when you have a sale going on. In social media, people want to hear from you on a more consistent basis.
When you take the time to strengthen your relationships before you try to sell anything, you’ll find that people approach you when they are ready to buy. You don’t have to sell them.
The challenge with doing all this work every week is that as businesspeople, we don’t like having to do that work up front without instant gratification.
My advice to you is to get over it.
In the future, you’re going to have to do more and more of this. The world won’t ever go back to the way it was.
The businesses that succeed long term are going to be the ones that take the time to build connections with their audiences and then offer them products and services to buy.
The work of connecting every day or week takes a consistent and disciplined effort. As you become better and better at it, you’ll see your business growth accelerate.
Have a great week!