Making Your Marketing INTENTIONAL in 2023

It's a New Year. A time when many individual humans are looking at what they can do differently to get the results they want. People are hitting the gym, changing their diets, reading more and doing more of what is meaningful to them. But what about on a business front?

Marketing (and Sales, to be honest) always seem to fall into the "more of the same" category. We're going to go to the same tradeshows as last year (even though we only convert one lead every two years). We're going to keep posting on social media every day (even though it did nothing for lead generation last year). We're going to keep making 125 calls per week (even though no one books a meeting).

And it might even be worse than that. Let's go to MORE tradeshows that don't convert. Let's post MORE content on social media that doesn't drive a conversation. Let's hire more sales people to make calls but not book meetings.

[insert face palm here]

We've gotten so comfortable doing the same things, even though they don't work, that we don't even bother to try something new that MIGHT work.

Let's be honest...your current marketing program is sitting on the couch eating potato chips. IT'S NOT DOING ANYTHING. And as long as you let it do that, it will keep right on doing it. But is that really what you want?

Even small businesses are spending $100,000's of dollars on marketing in a year. And if you were paying a sales person that and they didn't close any business, would you really keep them on staff indefinitely?

Of course not. So why are we letting Marketing get away with it?

It's time to get your marketing program off the couch and into the gym to bulk up in 2023. And I've put together a routine for you to get started.

A New "Workout" Routine for Your Marketing

I've taught my Cardio Dance class for years and there are a lot of things I've learned about effective workout routines. So today, we're going to look at how the same principles apply to your marketing program.

Step One: Show Up with Intention

The simplest step, but the one people most often don't take.

Showing up at the gym is all fine and dandy, but if you don't know why you're there, then you're not going to get the most out of the offerings.

Maybe you want to build strength. Maybe you'd like to improve your endurance. Maybe you want to fit into your wedding dress again. Maybe you just want to have some fun with some awesome peeps while moving.

All of these are legitimate intentions. None of them are right or wrong. But they DO have to be aligned with you and what you're looking to accomplish.

The same thing applies in marketing. Most companies just show up, look around the gym, and then get overwhelmed by all the options; and that's precisely because they haven't set an intention with which everyone in the team can align.

So one person heads over to the weights and starts lifting, while someone else starts running around the track. One person is over in the corner stretching and one person is going to town on the treadmill. None of these activities are inherently bad, and they're certainly checking a lot of boxes. They just aren't contributing to the same thing at the end of the day.

So, for 2023, what's your marketing intention? To generate leads? To start conversations? To become a thought leader in your industry? To create trust? To build relationships?

Again, there is no right or wrong answer. But if you don't know YOUR answer...Do Not Pass Go. Do Not Collect $200.

Step Two: Stay Committed to the Intention

Just like there are so many different machines you can use at the gym, there are so many different marketing strategies and tactics you can use. Some will contribute to your intention, and some won't. And sometimes, it can be difficult to know that in advance.

There's a process for exploring what is the right fit for you.

The same goes for marketing your brand.

Let's say your 2023 Marketing Intention is to start conversations. Which you measure by counting the number of active conversations your social content is generating.

If your social content ISN'T currently generating conversations, you're on the wrong machine. And as long as you stay on that machine, you can expect it to give you the same results.

So...you need to try another machine.

It doesn't mean that social CAN'T create conversations, it just means that your current strategy isn't generating conversations.

So you try another machine. And if that one doesn't work, you try another one. Until you find the combination that helps you build the muscle you're trying to build.

Warning: if you start changing your intention with every machine, you're back in the same arena as everyone doing their own exercises 😉

Step Three: Stay Committed to the Process

Just like you can't achieve the strength to lift in the Olympics without dedicated practice, nor can you expect to achieve your marketing goals with a single lift.

The challenge here is that marketers are CONSTANTLY selling you immediate results.

Just buy some digital ads and all the business you'll ever need will come to you.

It sounds good, but how many times is it true? Just based on your own experience?

Marketing doesn't work like that.

Marketing is about igniting a relationship to nurture.

And nurturing a relationship NEVER happens with one touch.

It's an on-going lift. Just like building physical strength, it takes commitment. It takes time, effort, and energy. Probably even money. And it also includes an on-going assessment of how those investments are paying off.

If you want to be the world's best dancer, you don't take one dance class and assume you're the best. You take LOTS of dance classes, and do lots of practicing on your own to get to be the best. And then you have to SHOW people what you know...otherwise you're the best dancer at home in your basement only.

It's the same with marketing. You don't post one ad, or one social post, and become your industry's thought-leader. You have to KEEP learning. KEEP growing and evolving. And you have to KEEP showing up to show people what you know.

Step Four: Celebrate Your Intentional Achievements

If your gym goal was to "increase your strength", and now you can lift 120lbs when before you could only lift 40lbs, that's cause for celebration. Why? Because you are doing MORE of what you went there to do.

But if your goal was to swim 10 laps without stopping, and you celebrate making a new friend in the change room...

It's the same in marketing. If your goal is to get into MORE conversations, and you're in 2 conversations this month when you were in NO conversations last month, that's a cause for celebration.

But all too often we measure what DOESN'T matter, which includes celebrating things that don't matter. We'll measure and celebrate that we posted every day in a month. But if that posting strategy didn't lead towards our goal, then it's not worth celebrating. It's not even worth measuring really.

If our goal was to get leads, and we didn't get any leads, why should we celebrate writing 4 blog posts? If our goal was to start conversations, why should we celebrate the number of email opens?

It's not about having something to "check the box" about. It's about seeing results. And celebrating those results because THAT is what's meaningful.

Is Your 2023 Marketing Program About Results?

For too long, Marketing hasn't been about seeing results. It's become about checking boxes for marketing activities to say we did something.

We're LETTING our Marketing Programs off the hook too easily. We're letting them hang out in the corner of the gym for 30 days and then giving them a pass straight back to the couch. And then we spend time trying to convince other people that it's "working".

Working towards WHAT is the question we should all be asking.

Only once we define that, and put in the work, can we finally get our marketing programs off the couch. And building your brand muscle online.

If you're ready to work out YOUR Brand Experience Muscle online, let's chat!