Mathew Beeche spoke with HerBusiness in the Marketing on a Shoestring webinar. Mathew shared his favourite marketing techniques.
Become an authority on what you do
“Perception is reality”
Most of the people you see talking on television (the experts on your radio and in the magazines), they are people who have created a perception of themselves as an authority. There may well be other people out there who know more and are more qualified, but these people have built an identity for themselves that establishes them as the people who are ‘in the know’, and whose opinion matters. Write it, blog it, podcast it. Put your opinion out there. Whether it’s on your personal blog, a contribution on someone else’s blog, site content, interviews, podcasts, anything…
“It’s really easy to start your own podcast, you just need a mic and your computer connected to the internet.”
Money follows the perceived expert in the field. Once you start to build this reputation for yourself, then the people will come to you.
“It’s always important to approach your marketing in the way that you want to be seen. Think big.”
Build your tribe
You have to think about the community you are building around your business because they are the ones who are going to buy from you, spread your name, and market your products. A key word is ‘polarisation’. Usually this has negative connotations but it can actually be a good thing. Polarisation, in its simplest form, means “this is my group of people, this is who I am talking to. We’re likeminded people.” Polarisation is about gathering similar people together for a common cause. But before you can even build your tribe, you have to know who you are and who your business is:
“You have an identity, your business has an identity. You really need to get to the bottom of that.”
The important thing to remember is: not everyone is, or should be, your customer. Don’t waste time marketing to people who will never give you money. You have to know who your tribe is, and build an identity to attract it. “When you have all of those things lined up the money will come flowing in.” To attract your tribe, you have to build a corresponding identity for your business that is authentic and engaging.
“People can see through lies and fibs, so just be 100 percent genuine in everything that you do.”
Be willing to be open and vulnerable to your customers. At the end of the day, everybody’s human and people buy from people — they don’t buy from the marketing message. They want to do business with you because they want to do business with you.
Use strategic partnerships
Strategic partnerships work for the mutual benefit of each party. They allow your business to connect to another company and access their tribe. Provide your partners with something in order to attract their audience, and induce them to have a look at what you’re doing. The first question you need to ask yourself when building a strategic partnership is: “What companies already have access to your target customers?” Look at what another company has that you need, and apply this vice versa. They will promote you, and in turn, you them. Building strategic partnerships is the easiest way to double your numbers and audience base. But never approach someone to form a strategic partnership unless you have a clear goal. Always think about what it is that you want to get out of it.
“A partnership should be about two wins for the bigger company, one win for you. It’s always got to be a win/win situation. You’re more likely to close a strategic partnership if they’re getting more out of it than you are and you are really specific about what you’re getting out of it.”
This article is based on the Marketing on a Shoestring webinar. You can access the webinar recording through our Online Learning Centre. Premium Members get free access to this and over 90 other online seminars.
