I confidently say everyone needs to know these principles. Why everyone? If you have your own business or you’re seeking a new job opportunity you are actually marketing yourself, so these tips will help you.
I’m not just talking about digital marketers, branding experts, or people that are marketing in their company. I’m talking about anyone.
Digital marketing since the early 2000s has changed a lot in peoples’ lives, and social media platforms have changed, hashtags are here to stay, strategies that worked a few years ago won’t work this month.
But there are a few tactical approaches to marketing that you can do right now to make sure you stand out as a brilliant marketer. You can build some positive relationships, foster and manage those relationships, gain essential skills, and be a better you if you follow these 3 tips.
1. Learn to network like a pro
I can’t tell you how important this is for myself and for my business. I work really hard to make sure I’m starting up new relationships.
This is what it looks like:
You post in a Facebook group that you are a part of and give a shout out like, “Hey I’m looking for this” or “Hey, I do this, does anybody else do this?”
Make sure you follow up with every person that likes, reacts, shares or comments on that post. Why?
You will build your credibility and space
You can learn from those people
You will be better for it.
When was the last time you posted on a message board or something like that, and you never heard back from anyone? That totally stinks right?
Be that person, make sure you follow up, it might be uncomfortable but go for it. I put together a response or reaction every single time I post in a group,
A short little message such as “Hey, met you on such and such group, saw you do this, I’d love to talk and learn from you” and then I send them a friend request.
Make sure you are networking all the time like a pro.
2. Focus and strengthen those relationships that you are building when you are not working.
The last time you went to a conference or event and you handed someone your business card and they handed their business card back, what did you do with it? Probably nothing.
This can be embarrassing as a marketer and as a business owner. As a networker you should be doing something with that business card; whether going to their social media accounts and following them or sending them an email. Even if it’s about adding them to your mailing list, so they can get your emails monthly, bi weekly etc.
It can be as simple as this:
“Hey we met here, would love to go for coffee sometime”
All of those things can help foster those relationships. But when done poorly it looks like you are “exploiting” the other person vs building that relationship, you want to be opening cross promotion efforts and collaborations, you want to develop relationship, not immediately sell.
Think of it this way, you want to connect on a human level. You wouldn’t say something to someone sitting across from you at a coffee shop or desk, then not say it online; that makes no sense.
Act like they are sitting right across from you. Make sure you are connecting on a human level. That you are turning competitors into friends because that will also form new connections for you, maybe they run on bandwidth, and they need help or something like that.
It’s very helpful if you can continue to build those relationships; it’s going to help you move forward as a marketer, to really get those people going.
3. Use your network and relationships the right way
Like I said earlier, if they are sitting across from you and you wouldn’t say something out loud to them then why are you saying it out loud to them now online?
Once you’ve built that strong relationship, you need to avoid one common mistake; many people burn and churn through the relationships, especially since we are in the digital world. It’s easy to find another person. You are not the only person that does x, y and z.
You want to make sure these relationships are mutually beneficial.
If you do a collaboration, such as going on their podcast or write on their blog, make sure you find a way to reciprocate that. Whether that’s posting on social media, thanking them, liking or sharing their blog; do something.
Eventually you’ll get a chance to use them again, and make sure you are building that.
I have personally built my agency off of personal introductions, I literally never run an ad for my services, and that is something I think is really big. I try really hard to continue to foster my relationships with people, so when they think “oh I need content help” or “I have questions about Instagram, Facebook or Pinterest,” that’s who I’m going to ask and that’s what I want for my relationships.
I want a $0 ad feature; $0 spent on ads. And if I do spend it on ads, it’s something I can’t foster into a relationship.
Most people don’t realize I built my agency like that; marketing is never a one-man show. It requires teamwork and you need to get things done.
Tactics are consistently changing, so are algorithms; but building those relationships and following those 3 principles will never change.
To succeed, you need to focus on networking, maintaining your connections, and being a person of value, I know you’ll hear people saying over and over again “oh your content needs to add value”, “oh I posted out in the group and I got a reply of what they wanted”, well not everyone has a group but we all have a network of people that we know.
This might be someone that has done something with you or taken a course for your services.
Try to get back to them and inquire about who they are. Here is an example:
“What is your favorite or least favorite thing about what you are doing?”
I know that’s one way I am building my network right now as I continue to build my agency.
I hope these tips helped you but you have to go out there and make it happen. There are so many ways for you to succeed.
Join my awesome entrepreneur community on Facebook, where businesses thrive together the link is here, I’d love for you guys to be part of that and continue to network.
If any of this was helpful, leave a comment below and let me know.