At Pearl Collective, we generally recommend spending at least 10 hours weekly on marketing. After all, how else can you guarantee you’ll have a new project waiting for you after you finish your current one? In this article, we will cover what marketing tasks are most important, how to prioritize them, and what groundwork you need to lay first.
Start with a Plan
But first, step back and create your Strategic Marketing Plan. This plan includes your marketing strategy, budget and tactics, including your calendar and execution plan. When addressing the bare minimum marketing you should be doing, it is important to clarify your brand and start with a plan. Understand that you can’t do it all immediately but you can prioritize.
Create a plan where all of your marketing elements work together to attract your ideal clients. Each part builds on the others. This approach is much more likely to get faster results than one-dimensional marketing. You need to have a clear plan so that you are not just throwing time and money at different tactics without an overall strategy. Otherwise, how do you measure success? You always want to be able to measure your ROI (Return on Investment). And that means an investment of time, money and personnel.
Develop Your Brand
Your brand should be reflected in everything you do. And your messaging should be consistent in all of your marketing materials.
It should include your Client Relationship Strategy. How do you handle clients? How important is clear communication and listening? These are the kinds of things you want to convey in your marketing. Another important part of effective marketing is to ask yourself if your personal values align with the people to whom you are marketing? If not, you will find it very difficult to attract these clients.
As in other parts of your business, come up with SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Ambitious, Relevant, and Time-bound). Vague goals don’t usually come to fruition, because they were unclear. Be sure your marketing goals align with and support your business objectives. Decide what you want to accomplish and then create a plan to get there. Lay out a twelve-month plan for yourself based on what is the easiest to most difficult, least expensive to most expensive, and quickest results to long-term results. It will help you decide what tactics to use and in what order.
Then set your budget – we recommended that you budget between 3-12% of your current or target gross sales for Advertising, Marketing & PR. So, calculate that number, divide it by 12, and that’s your monthly marketing budget. Identify what resources and vendors you need (web designer, graphic designer, photographer, etc.) and be sure that fits into the budget.
The Bare Minumum Marketing
With all that in mind, even when addressing the bare minimum you should block out 10 hours per week for marketing. This may seem overwhelming for some, but remember that marketing can include lunch with a former client, meeting with a possible referral partner, working on your blog, or attending events that can promote your business. It doesn’t have to be boring.
Think of what you can realistically afford and what gives you the best ROI. As far as your skill set, focus on what you are really good at rather than trying to master something you are not comfortable with. The best marketing strategy for you will depend on your business situation and goals, your resources, and current skills. If you are in need of marketing efforts that don’t match your skills, consider outsourcing these tasks.
Website
Don’t hold off until you can afford your “ideal” website. You need a website for people to find you, learn about you and your brand, offer FAQ’s to help screen ideal clients and so much more. Don’t worry if you are not yet able to afford to photograph as much as you’d like. Identify several key projects and photographs you feel best showcase your work. Think about photographing vignettes as that may increase visuals on your website but at a lesser cost.
Give visitors the opportunity to find out how you work, what makes your firm unique and sets you apart. Share what is in it for them, as if you are talking directly to your prospect (tag line can be very effective here). Be sure to have an Opt-in Form and Call to Action. This gives them the opportunity to receive information from you such as a newsletter if you offer one. You need to have a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) software system to keep in touch regularly. This is a must-have marketing expense!
A website offers high visibility and effectiveness, high perceived value with a medium time commitment. It can also be a high cost item but it is worth investing and putting money in your marketing budget to keep expanding it as you are able. Luckily, it is also easy to create a basic yet good-looking website in a short amount of time. This will be better than having nothing at all!
Networking and Events
Network with people in and adjacent to your industry directly. This might be one of the most time-consuming ways to market your firm but personal connections can build long-lasting relationships. Not only are you looking to connect with your ideal clients but also those who know and may already work with your ideal clients. Finding referral partners who share your culture and values is a very effective way to develop your reputation and expand your connections. So many professionals could benefit from knowing an interior designer they could recommend to their clients – realtors, architects, painters, kitchen designers, etc. These partners can include past and current clients and people in the local business community. While building these relationships may take time, it can pay off in the long run. You also might want to consider developing a Referral Program so that happy clients can recommend you to their friends.
Blogging
Blogging can offer high visibility, can be highly effective and with medium time commitment and low cost. It is a great link to your website and offers the opportunity to develop followers who are drawn to what you offer. Just be sure to focus on what would be of interest to your ideal clients and commit to a definite schedule that you can live with. It can’t be hit and miss or you will lose momentum. If you don’t feel you want to commit to writing as often, consider investing in a writer who can write in your voice. That will obviously move it up from “low cost” but it might be worth it. Also consider finding guest bloggers to mix into your schedule. Or you might want to be a guest blogger yourself. Guest blogging is a great way to find new, relevant audiences.
Public Speaking
Although public speaking is not everyone’s strength, it is an effective way to become known as an expert and reach both your ideal clients and referral partners. First identify which local groups your ideal clients and/or ideal referral partners are involved with and then find out if they need speakers. Develop presentations that will capture their interest and are unique. Be prepared with a way to capture the names and contact information of those attending.
Also investigate speaking engagements at conferences and trade shows – even if the first few are smaller events. Again it’s a way for you to become known as an authority in your field and get in front of new people. The opportunity for visibility is high, as is the effectiveness with a low time commitment and low to medium cost. You can re-use or slightly tweak effective presentations if speaking to a new group. So you don’t need to worry about having too much homework!
Podcasts
If you are not comfortable with public speaking you might work into it by first being a guest speaker on a podcast. It doesn’t have to be just interior design podcasts, either! But do think about who will be listening and if they are your ideal clients. Podcasters are often looking for guests, especially if you can bring a unique angle. Then you might move into developing your own podcast. It’s another opportunity for prospective ideal clients and ideal referral partners to get to know you.
Social Media
Understand which social media platform or platforms best fits your business. This will likely be the place where your ideal clients spend their time. Make sure your ideal client profiles are very clear so you will know what will catch their interest and what content they would like to see.
Hopefully the above list gives you a variety of options and will help you commit to at least a bare minimum of marketing. And you may find that you enjoy it some of the tasks!