September 14, 2022

If you’ve been finding it harder to market your business in 2022 – listen to this episode where I share details on my businesses and how they are affected by marketing this year.

  • Has marketing got harder in 2022?
  • What will 2023 be like?
  • And what will the future struggle be like?

In this juicy episode, I’ll be sharing hard facts about marketing impacts on my own businesses and how we put rock-solid foundations in place to create our own economic bubble. Plus, the key questions you need to ask yourself to market your business in 2022.

Is marketing harder in 2022?

All kudos to those sharing online how hard the past year has been and why they are closing down their business. However, I find it foolish to see marketing coaches saying how hard marketing is right now and closing their business down publicly on Facebook.

As an expert on positioning, unless you are going to close your business down, don’t say things like this. I had this discussion a few years ago about why people can’t be more honest when their business is doing badly. I am all up for being honest but if you’re up for being credible then the last thing a potential client needs to hear is how bad things are going.

There is a difference between having rose-tinted glasses and all is well and sharing all your bumps in the road. In the same way that you wouldn’t share information about arguments you have with your partner online, you don’t share all your information with your followers. You have certain people that you talk to about certain subjects.

Your financial gain from your business is usually not something you share. It has no bearing on your ability to teach or coach. When you do share negativity, you send the message that you struggle for clients and new leads will question why.

Stop moaning about how awful things are at the moment. It will not achieve anything.

If you’re struggling in business, speak to the people who will help you. Think about your visibility at all times.

You are not the only ones struggling

Marketing is an ever-evolving landscape. This has not changed and is nothing new. You should be adjusting your sales to this. However, this seems to have come as a shock to some businesses this year. It may be because many businesses are relying on social media to drive traffic to their business.

The way people are using the internet and social media is still changing. There is tiredness around using these things. People are ready to get out and meet people face-to-face. This doesn’t mean you need to stop using social media – and I’ll cover this in more depth in a moment – but you may notice a slowdown. Often when you notice a slow-down, you start to notice other events like people being on holiday.

Notice the patterns of buyer-behaviours

Do we need to plan for when our ideal client is on holiday? Many more people have gone on holiday this year. It’s almost like a muscle that we need to start using in our business to see patterns and buyer behaviours.

If you want to be the CEO of your business then you need to start recognising these patterns of buyer behaviour. You don’t need to get it right all the time. As much as possible, take stock every quarter or month and ponder on what’s coming up in the world and how it might affect your business.

At one end of the spectrum is to pay attention but also don’t get sucked into what’s going on out there. Bolster your own eco-system and create your own economy. Balance this with being aware of what is going aware outside. How are you helping to support your ideal client with what is going on in the wider world?

The fact is it has got tougher to market. Plus we had the Apple privacy changes. This affected our business dramatically. The Apple changes the cost to Meta was $13billion. This then filters down to those advertising on Facebook.

iOs changes

Our adventure travel company, EverTrek, runs Facebook ads throughout the year. On a good day, we have a 1.6-2% conversion rate. We are working on improving this. Then the Apple change came in.

If someone asks me to keep my information private, I will say no. I don’t want to be served adverts that have nothing to do with me. If this happens, it doesn’t mean Facebook will stop giving me adverts. Instead, it makes the ads less targeted.

The iOs changes have reduced the quality of our leads. We put in more money and get leads back that are less interested. They are not as targeted. So finding quality leads has become harder and our conversion rate has lowered to 1%.

We are still trying to figure it out. The money we put into Facebook ads does not always equal the return on investment. This is simply a fact of the world right now.

Change your marketing message

People are getting fed up with seeing the same marketing messages. Attention spans are going down, marketing platforms are harder to use than before and it is getting harder. Does this mean we stop using Facebook ads? Not at all. It brings less in but I’m not going to pack the business in as a result.

Instead of complaining about it, we need to accept that this is the way things are and decide what we’re going to do about it. For EverTrek, we run these campaigns every quarter, but we’ve made more of an effort with other campaigns. We are spreading out income streams from different areas including Google ads, exhibitions, and scaling our training weekends. This will keep business moving.

We’ve gone big in implementing campaigns between the peaks and troughs. The way we work is different and we evolve as a business. We’ve gone from a business where everyone piled in on every task when it got busy to having departments. In the pandemic with two employees and grew throughout the pandemic.

We managed to thrive when there was zero travel capability. When we adjust our sales and approach the problem, we find different ways to serve our clients. If you’re struggling with your marketing, speak to an expert about it. Get in touch with the right people than getting bogged down.

If you’re running a business, you need to take responsibility for its success. You might not have the answers so you need to use experts who can help.

Yes, it has got harder, but what are you going to do about it? What decisions are you going to make?

What is your positioning like?

Your position is key. During a time when people are bored with the same marketing messages and everyone is tightening their belts, what is your positioning? What is your credibility like? If your credibility in your personal and business branding is lacking, people will question if they want to spend their money on your business.

How wanted are you making your products? There is a difference between a good product and a well-marketed product. Most people have a great product. If not, I’ve helped people craft their product so it’s as wanted as possible because if you don’t have that and have not articulated it then you will miss out on sales.

If your product is not wanted, who will you pivot your business? And put your expertise into something else?

Get the basics right

Get your niche right and become the expert in helping a particular ideal client. This is the best way to hike your position.

Then understand what your client wants – this is your USP – what is special about your product? Why come to you rather than go elsewhere? For EverTrek this is our support system so their journey starts the moment they book. So they don’t have to worry about all the little details. It takes away a fear for our customers.

What are the objections?

If you find people saying they want your product but this is a problem – what is that problem? What is their objection? Why can’t they buy? If you know this, you can help people.

There might be situations out of your control. One of the objections we have to buy a trip from EverTrek is the cost of flights. We don’t include flights in the package and people are worrying about the cost of flights. We provide content that explains why we don’t provide flights – and why it’s better for our customers – and how to find the cheapest flights.

What are the reasons people give for not buying? How can you respond to this? And overcome the objection? You can create content head-on through your emails, posts and over the phone. It’s about helping people to overcome them with support unless it’s not the right fit.

Where do your customers hang out?

If you’re finding that your leads are drying up, where else can you be? Think about where you focus your energies. Is the reason your leads are drying up because they left the platform? Or has something else changed? Are they using it differently?

This depends on your ideal client. Look at how they are using the platform if they are on there or moved elsewhere.

For EverTrek, we are still on Facebook but we’re expanding into TikTok, live events and festivals. We showed at Gone Wild Festival and handed out our promo material including our EverTrek buffs. Everyone had the buff on and it drew more people into the stand. It helped reach new audiences and nurture people there. And the best thing is we were the only adventure travel company at that festival. No other company had booked into it.

This is why the niche is so important so you can fine-tune and stand out.

Go hard on your brand

At EverTrek, we look after our brand. We work really hard to give everyone in the company a personal brand. Our customers know who they are talking to and know they are speaking to an expert. You also need a business brand, which is your product.

All of these are important to make your marketing easier. When you get this right, you can dominate your niche and industry. While we are impacted, it doesn’t knock us down. We have lost out on money from certain areas but we’ve adjusted and made it up in other areas.

When you have the foundations in place and work on the basics, you will find marketing becomes a lot easier.

Useful links: 

Book a Call with Jen  – bit.ly/claritycallpodcast

Download my FREE Seven Figure Market Leader Roadmap  –http://www.marketleaderleague.com/marketleaderroadmap/

Send your emails to jen@jen-hall.com

Available on Apple iTunes, Spotify & Stitcher (Just search Expert Unrivalled Podcast)

About the author 

Jennifer Hall

Jen Hall is Business Clarity Coach for Coaches, Consultants & Experts who want to become Unrivalled Go-To Experts.

Jen not only gets you clear on your micro-niche, message and what makes you unique and desirable, but she helps you to define what makes you an irrefutable offer to the market so you can position yourself as a high-end 'must have' option for your prospects.

She is a Multi-Award Winning Speaker and Best Selling Author of Expert Unrivalled.

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