You’re working on a blog, a website, or social media (maybe all three?) and you’re not sure if they’re all necessary for your business. Let’s talk about how each one can help you keep in touch with your ideal clients. I call this the Online Marketing Feedback Loop, and it is a straight-forward way to build relationships with your ideal clients as part of an online marketing strategy.
Website
A website isn’t necessary for every business. I’ve seen successful companies launched without a site and some never actually need a website to do their business. However, if you’re going to do an online business, then you should probably consider a site.
Your website will act as your hub of information. Your homepage is often the first big impression you’ll give your prospective clients, and you want them to feel inspired to see more of your site. If you’re an entrepreneur, your homepage should have:
- An image of someone smiling, preferably you (if your business is just you).
- A succinct message about what you do or the results you get for your clients.
- A link to get your clients learning more about you by either a free item to download, a free consultation, a page to get started on, or merely a link to your services page.
Websites should have the core components that every business needs: a homepage, an about page, a services/product page, and a contact page. Once you’ve been in business for a while, add a testimonials page.
Blog
Your blog is where you can let your expertise genuinely shine, show your personality, and give examples of the results you get for your clients. A few topic ideas that tend to work for most service-based businesses:
- Client before and after story with testimonial on your work
- Your story: make it a before and after for perspective
- Debunking myths around your industry
- Why you chose this line of work
- What motivates you to continue your work
I recently happened upon a site with a blog that was so personal, and it brought tears to my eyes (yes, that doesn’t take much, but her writing was compelling and extremely personal). She did it so well, and it fits perfectly into her work with clients!
Your blog should continue to grow with posts frequently which doesn’t need to be daily. A weekly post is closer to the ideal for most business types. If you’re like most people and you are periodically inspired to create a bunch of posts at a time then save some as drafts and publish them one at a time. Keep the posting consistent even if you’re not consistently inspired to write.
Social Media
The social media that fits your business and your ideal clients won’t be the same for every business. Once you find the social channel that works best for your business and your ideal clients, you’re ready to use that as the third part of your marketing feedback loop – where you get to hear DIRECTLY from your ideal clients. It doesn’t get much better than that!
Share pieces of each blog post to your social media, take a few minutes to pull out the main points of the blog then use examples as posts to social. Be sure to link it back to your blog post.
When you’re there, listen to what your followers say on your social media posts. Do they ask questions? Do they have opinions to share? Do they share how your post helped them? Take all of this down – it’ll be food for your next posts.
The Cycle
All three pieces of this loop come together to create an evolving site which gives your readers (and prospective clients) a reason to visit. Here’s how the cycle may look for your loop:
- Create a blog post on frequently asked questions from your clients.
- Share the ideas of your blog post one at a time in social media posts throughout the week.
- Interact with others on your chosen social channels daily to share a link to your post, suggest they read it and answer comments about your post. (This can be done in an hour a day spread out during the day.)
- Revisit your initial blog post a few months later to give updates on the feedback you received…then start to share the updated post on your social channels again!
Once you’ve found the key questions that your clients ask you and the most interesting items for your blog, find ways to work them into your site. If they’re pieces of your personal story of why you built your business, add them to your about page. If they’re important pieces of the process that you use to help clients work through their problems, add that to how you describe the services you offer clients. If you find the one common item that all of your clients ask for: add that to how you describe your business and to your homepage.
This process is a great way to stay engaged with your clients online while also keeping your site fresh. Updating your site as you grow your business keeps them in sync, which makes future site updates much easier.
How About Your Marketing?
I’d love to hear if this article helps you as you create your next marketing initiatives! Catch up with me to share your wins or how you’re stumped: I’d like to hear either! You can email me at kristina@truebluemarketing.co, and I’ll personally respond.
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