12 Must-Have Marketing Proficiencies
As a business owner, there are many ‘faces’ of marketing; here is a list of the proficiencies (which go beyond specific tools or techniques) you need to help you market your products and services effectively.
1. Passion
This comes from your soul’s calling and is the power that pulls you forward when everything is looking bleak. Your passion affects everything you do and expressing it brings joy to you through your business. And your passion underlies the value that you bring to your clients – if it’s something you care about, you’re going to do your best.
2. Vision
Know what you want the effect of your business to be in the world and where you want your business to take you. Bonus: having a clear vision means that others can see where you’re going and can support you in achieving that.
3. Clarity
Clarity is power, and affects your ability to manifest your most viable business. Be clear about who you are working with, what problems you’re solving for them and your methodology in doing it. And having clarity in your business priorities saves you time, energy and resources.
4. Mindset
Your own attitude is the best predictor of your success. Your business can grow only as fast as you do, so ensure that your mind is focused on creating and enjoying your wins.
5. Secret Sauce
Your secret sauce is what makes you unique and should be woven throughout your marketing messages. If someone else can take your messages and put them in their marketing materials and sound good, your secret sauce is missing. Claim your secret sauce proudly and publicly as your key differentiator.
6. Strategic Focus
Your business grows by forecasting your outcomes, and to achieve those means focusing on what strategically makes sense for your business. You may have to weigh the opportunity costs of pursuing, or not pursuing, certain initiatives and evaluate the ‘distraction factor’. Learn to think and act strategically so you can optimize all the opportunities that come your way.
7. Marketing Message
If you can’t describe what you do and for who, then no one else will be able to either. Make sure your message is clear, simple, memorable, descriptive and benefit-focused (vs. features).
8. Consistency
Your marketing message, brand, elements of your platform, look and feel, personal presentation and anything else that represents your business should be consistent with what you are communicating and delivering through your business.
9. Connections
Your clients are the lifeblood of your business. Make sure that you connect with them and what matters to them to celebrate their milestones and successes in an authentic way.
10. Systems
Automating your marketing is a key to leveraging your time and getting results. Make sure you put systems in place to help you generate leads, follow-through with potential clients, measure your success, handle written proposals and other documents, and, ideally, your sales process. Having systems in place also makes it easier to train members of your team, whether in-person or virtual.
11. Tools
Having tools to use in your marketing means anything from articles to presentations, webinars and teleclasses, from your website to a podcast to your ezine. Make sure your toolbox is ready to go with current, relevant marketing tools to help you grow the visibility of your business.
12. Team
You may start your business as a one-stop shop, but know that you can’t do everything. At some point, you will need additional expertise and support. Build your team and delegate everything that someone else can do with the insight that you are helping them to grow themselves and their business too.