Here’s something most marketing gurus won’t tell you — most of their advice is meant for people and organizations with significantly deep pockets. And if you’re reading this post, chances are, their strategy won’t apply to you or your business. No offense to you, of course, I know my audience better. Even then, I won’t invest my money in digital marketing tactics.
Sure, one can make a killing leverage Facebook and Instagram’s algorithms. But the keyword is “can,” there is no guarantee you will, mainly if a 100 bucks is all you can spare for advertising per month. People need to understand that this is a game of volume. The more people you try to reach, the better chances you will find your audience. The problem is reaching out to more people costs more money. The CPC or CPM rates won’t matter if you’re bankrupt and struggling to make ends meet.
Can you get better at using these platforms? Absolutely! There are a bunch of online courses costing upwards of $1000 a pop! Feel free to pick any one of them. Too expensive? Don’t worry; they’ve got a payment plan as well. But do they work? I don’t know. The results aren’t typical, and you get to know that after you’ve bought the product, a little too late for a refund.
Is there a better option to market your services? Yes. But it’s probably not for you if patience isn’t one of your virtues. You see, the alternative that I recommend is called “minimal marketing.” It comprises of four core activities: writing, speaking, teaching, and accumulating testimonials.
The activities by themselves are self-explanatory, so, I woudln’t go into the details but in case you’re wondering, yeah, that is it! The idea is to get in front of the people who matter to you and, most importantly, will pay attention to what you have to say.
If you’re wondering, “how the hell am I going to scale my services,” this isn’t for you. The strategy works for solopreneurs and small businesses who aren’t eying to become a multi-billion dollar company or the next unicorn. And yes, minimal marketing (or MM) is way too “mechanical” compared to the digital tools at your disposal. But it works! It might take a little more time, a lot more effort, and a whole lot of faith on your part to keep doing it forever!
Here’s something I know — MM practitioners smash the modern-day wisdom of leveraging tools and subscriptions to reach potential clients “effectively” out of the park. The only metric they believe in is the number of conversions. And they do this by focusing on building lasting relationships and having quality value-driven conversations.
Sure, the numbers may run into tens or hundreds instead of thousands, but that’s the sustainable and repeatable growth most businesses aspire for but get distracted with all that glittery marketing jazz.