Permission to Stay in Your Own Marketing Lane

Have you been tempted to try out Threads? It’s the new social media platform launched last week by Meta (Facebook and Instagram) in competition with Twitter.

My inbox is full this week of people who have already taken the ‘expert’ position (after having access to it for a whole week – seriously ??!!) and are now telling me with authority how to use it and what it can do for my business.

Whilst it could be the best next thing, is it the right thing, right now?

Shiny Object Syndrome

Threads is a perfect example of a new shiny marketing object Shiny object syndrome happens when you’re working away on your marketing and suddenly something new and seemingly much more interesting appears. It’s very easy to get side-tracked and start playing with the exciting new thing, convinced it’s the answer to your marketing success.

Do you remember Clubhouse? It was launched in 2020 and was different from other platforms – audio-based social media where people gathered in chatrooms for discussions and talks. I lost count of how many times I was invited to join by my peers, and how often I was told it was the place to be and I had to join. Where is Clubhouse now? It’s still there, but for most people, it’s a dim and distant memory.

Be Selective Over Your Activities

Marketing is a marathon, not a sprint, so you need to be consistent with your chosen strategies. Dipping in and out of different activities isn’t a good way to build relationships and find clients.

There are different considerations when deciding on the right activities for you:

Do they work to your communication strengths? If you pick activities based on your strengths and how you find it easiest to communicate, you’ll save time and energy and you’re more likely to be consistent with it.

Is it something your clients enjoy consuming? If you enjoy making short videos and putting them on TikTok but your clients aren’t there, you’re wasting your time. Instead, if your clients use LinkedIn, create your videos for that platform instead.

Is it something you know how to do, and have the resources to do? Whilst there’s always the opportunity to learn new marketing skills, start where you are and with the resources you have. Once you’ve got some marketing working for you, you can add to it – don’t use having to learn new skills as the reason not to let prospective clients know how you can help them.

Where does it fit with your current activities? Is it something you’re adding, or will it replace a different activity?

Does it feel right for you? Just because your peers and competitors are jumping on board with a new marketing activity, it doesn’t make it right for you. Does it fit with your values, feel ethical and allow you to show up in the way you want to?

Limit the Number of Marketing Activities

It’s easy to think you need to be everywhere and on everything, but unless you have a team supporting you, keep it simple. Learn how to do one thing well and then add to it when you’re ready. You don’t have to be everywhere and doing everything - you’ll achieve better results by focussing.

Ask Yourself Why…

Next time you find yourself drawn to doing something new to market your holistic business, stop and ask why. Think about what you want to achieve from the activity and whether it is the best use of your time and resources right now.

A good trick is to ask yourself why out loud as it will help you to put things into perspective. Sometimes you just need to talk things through with a trusted peer or coach to get the right answer for you.

You may have to delve a little deeper by asking yourself why a few times. But eventually, you’ll get to the reasoning behind it and will then be able to make a considered decision that’s right for you.

Understand What’s Working

Whilst you need to be consistent with your marketing, you need to understand if it’s working. By understanding what activities are attracting enquiries and clients to your door, you can focus on doing more of them and letting things that aren’t working go.

The best way to understand what’s working is to ask every enquiry and new client where they heard about you – you’ll soon know what activities are paying off for you. For more ways to understand what’s working, check out my blog – Understanding Where to Focus Your Marketing Efforts.

Stay in Your Lane

It can be difficult at times to stay focused, especially if things aren’t working out as fast as you want them to. And when you see other holistic practitioners doing all the things you don’t, you can easily start to assume that they’re doing so much better than you. This is purely an illusion and your interpretation of their success, rather than their reality.

Give yourself permission to stay in your lane and focus on what you’re doing and do it well. Regularly review how it’s working and adapt as necessary.

And, if you love the speed and chat on Twitter, and have the capacity to do more marketing, check out Threads. If not, you won’t be the only one not getting sucked into all the launch hype – I’m certainly not getting side-tracked by it for now!

If you’re struggling with your marketing, it’s time you got support – book a discovery call with me, and let’s have a chat about how I can help you.