Testing Theories: Marketing Experimentation


Advice is one thing but thought and research are still necessary.

Theory is another thing (I'm all for it) but experimentation is where the rubber hits the road (and many other analogies).

Now is a good time to try new things and figure out what works. It's the time to really consider what we want to spend our time doing. Maybe it's the time to give something up and see if it makes a difference. Or perhaps it's the time to dig deep and see what can be accomplished with more effort.

Like many of you, my business development plans got interrupted by a world pandemic at the beginning of March. Also like you, it caused me to think more creatively about my approach to sales and how I would spend my time. So I dug deep and eventually I arrived at: I'm going to have more conversations. (It was a no-brainer; I love to talk about small business marketing. What a great experiment!) Next came my go-to "how?" After that, it became fun to come up with ideas to create more opportunities for conversations - with people I know and with people I didn't know.

I was intentional about it. I stayed alert for "chat chances". I watched what others were doing to encourage conversations. I talked to friends about referrals. I used software to enable scheduling and follow-ups. I tried some more specific calls-to-action. And... too much to go into here more.

The result? In June I had 35 conversations and my best month of sales in over a year. This was a good experiment - one that I'll keep repeating.

Are you trying something new? If not, maybe it's time to experiment.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

We Must, We Must, Increase Our Trust

Image
You may not often think of trust in relation to productivity but there's a very direct correlation, especially for small businesses. What is trust in a business relationship? It can be quite different than in our personal lives, of course. I've recently weathered the end of a 16-year marriage which was quite a life lesson in trust. And, while we can certainly have business relationships longer than this, the trust element is not all-encompassing - it's limited to delivering on work-related promises. This means things like having clear expectations, establishing goals and deadlines and meeting them, respecting each other's time, being honest about feedback, keeping communication open and relevant, and, of course, doing good work or selling reliable products. “Trust is your willingness to be open, vulnerable and courageous based on positive expectations.” — Lea Brovedani Having established trusting relationships helps us be more efficient because our customer
Keep reading »

3 Questions That Need Answering: Lessons Learned From My Lunch and Learn

Image
(Guest post by Mike Tanner) I recently (like, earlier today) had the pleasure of speaking to a room full of close to 50 people on a topic near and dear to my heart: podcasting. Now I’m not going to sit here and give you a recap of that talk. If you want the VERY basic details you can find them on my website but you’ll never recapture the magic that we all shared in that room that day... Instead, I’d like to talk about three questions that I was asked during the talk and how they relate to running your own business, podcasting or otherwise. How Much Do You Charge Someone To Sponsor a Podcast? Pricing is complicated. It’s a fact. Ask anyone who does consulting or coaching or training or anything where there’s not a defined cost or supply and demand issue, and they will tell you that pricing is one of the most difficult things to figure out. Whether you’re trying to figure out how to price your course or how much to charge for web copy or how much to charge a sponsor to be a
Keep reading »

Content That Saves Time

Image
This is worth getting excited about - the best kind of content possible. That’s because content that saves you time also helps you meet so many other goals . How can taking the time to create content actually save you time? Well, you create content out of all the communication you do on a regular basis. You know, like when you write an email to explain something to a new client that you’ve already explained dozens of times in the past to previous clients. Your message becomes routine, maybe even boring, for you and your client. So why not prepare a succinct, compelling version of it to share with new clients? And, if it’s useful to your clients, I bet it’s useful to others. So turn it into a blog post. Add it to your website FAQs or resource page . Share it on social media. Put it in your newsletter. Not only does this kind of content save you time with your processes, it also provides great content that elevates you as an expert and builds your reputation. Your clients w
Keep reading »

Boost Your Expert Reputation with an Evergreen Series

Image
Writing a series of articles is a great way to connect related content together . It is also an attention-getter, encouraging readers to subscribe or return for the next installment in the series. And it can be a showcase for demonstrating your expertise on a particular topic. A topical series of blog posts should be planned in advance to maximize its effectiveness. Here’s why: The finished series will flow more easily from one post to the next when you’ve created and edited a bullet outline of the entire series in advance. You can determine your link strategy and execute it seamlessly. You can promote the upcoming series in advance to generate interest and anticipation. Suggested Workflow to Create Your Series Determine your topic and create your series outline. Create and post some teasers on social media with a call-to-action to subscribe. Determine your link strategy and gather all relevant links. Paste them into your outline or create a separate text doc to put
Keep reading »

25 Ways to Help Another Small Business Owner

Image
This list was inspired by 25 Ways to Help a Fellow Human Being Today and co-authored by my Twitter colleague @LinosVersion . When we help each other, we all grow stronger! Give them a testimonial. Make it social and do it on LinkedIn or Twitter. Tell someone about their business and products/services. Shop at their store, online or off. Offer some free advice or constructive feedback. Offer to mentor a newbie. Check out futurpreneur.ca . Welcome new business owners to your community - stop by with donuts. Send an inspirational or congratulatory card by snail mail. Introduce two business owners who may benefit from the connection. Promote 'Shop Local' and feature local small businesses. Write a blog about something you learned from another business owner and give them a shout-out. Put on a free learning event, such as a lunch and learn, and invite local business owners. On Facebook, share their business page with a shout-out. Retweet messages from small busine
Keep reading »

Top 10 Strategic Benefits of an eNewsletter

Image
Is email marketing an untapped component of your marketing strategy? Here’s what an eNewsletter can do for you. It can... Enhance your reputation. Increase lead generation. Provide invaluable information about who is interested in what, so you can follow up with contacts in a more strategic way. Be a very cost-effective communication channel with your clients, customers, colleagues and prospects. Quickly identify obsolete contact information, so you know to re-connect to get an update. Leverage your other marketing efforts: website, social media, blog, etc. Provide immediate measurable results. Give your contacts the opportunity to easily and immediately interact with you. Provide a higher response rate because it is being sent to a receptive audience. Be more cost-efficient and environment-friendly than a printed newsletter - no printing or mailing costs.  Which of these benefits are important to you? Click to Tweet this Article
Keep reading »

4 Tips for Summer Newsletter Success

Image
photo by Linda Daley It might be tempting to take a vacation from your newsletter over the summer. What excuse are you telling yourself to justify this? You can take vacation without putting your email marketing on hiatus too. Tweet this Here are some suggestions: Prepare in advance and use scheduling functionality.  If you're using a bulk email service provider (ESP), you likely have the ability to schedule your newsletters. That means you have no excuse - you can prepare several issues in advance and stick to your regular schedule. (You might even find that this is better time management!) Send out a brief issue instead of your usual format. Cut back on the quantity of content, but not the value . Half a newsletter is better than no newsletter. Solicit guest articles. Ask your clients and colleagues to write articles - or scan their blogs for appropriate content that you can 'borrow'. Ensure you request permission and give proper credit. Re-purpose c
Keep reading »

Gratitude Yields Results in Many Ways: An eMail Marketing Success Story

Image
Steve Foran is my hero. While he deserves that label for many reasons to do with his altruistic message and goal to make his community a better place, he’s also my hero because of his email marketing practices . First, some background. Steve works with leaders across North America to shift culture and help teams bring more gratitude into the workplace. He’s been on the leading edge of gratitude-based research, writing, and teaching for over a decade and his science-based strategy, Gratitude At Work , is a simple, yet innovative approach to business growth. When I first met Steve I was excited to talk to him because he was running an email campaign that put his name into people’s inboxes every day. To me, as an email marketer, that seemed to be the ultimate success story. I may have even disconcerted Steve a little with my enthusiasm - “You have permission to email people every single day !” Now over 4 years later I’m still receiving Steve’s daily messages reminding me to be gra
Keep reading »

What's Your Value Proposition? Really.

Image
The words that make my heart sing are only sometimes the same words that make my potential clients' hearts sing. And I've learned that I can be quite wrong about what I think is the value I bring to each relationship. For instance, nagging can be a competitive advantage ... but I certainly never planned to be a nagger. Part of starting and growing any business is defining our 'value proposition'. Talk about trying to hit a moving target! The longer you're in business and developing your expertise, the more different types of value you'll have to draw on... and offer to others. A big inventory of value propositions! What little pieces of feedback (formal or subtle) do you receive every day that can help to shape a new value proposition based on people's needs... instead of what you think ? What problems do your customers and prospects wish you could solve for them? I'm going to start an inventory... will you join me in this experiment? My fir
Keep reading »

A Great Newsletter is like a Gift

Image
It’s opened with anticipation . It’s personal and speaks to your recipient. It’s about your recipient’s wants and needs , not yours. It’s appreciated because it brings something of value . It’s attractively packaged . It’s delivered directly to your recipient. photo by HalinaV / Flickr Click to Tweet this Article
Keep reading »