Priority Pursuit

Time-Saving Marketing Strategy for Small Businesses

February 13, 2024 Treefrog Marketing Episode 131
Time-Saving Marketing Strategy for Small Businesses
Priority Pursuit
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Priority Pursuit
Time-Saving Marketing Strategy for Small Businesses
Feb 13, 2024 Episode 131
Treefrog Marketing

The struggle to stay afloat in marketing while juggling a zillion small business tasks can feel like an uphill battle.

But what if I told you there's a strategy that spins your efforts into continuous results with less push over time?

We're diving deep today, sharing time-saving tips, content batching hacks, and the lowdown on how four straightforward steps can transform your marketing strategy from stagnant to stellar. We’re not just talking theory here – we're bringing you the real deal, a proven strategy that Treefrog has perfected for businesses like yours.

So if you're ready to put your marketing on autopilot and reclaim hours in your day, grab your headphones, and let’s get this show on the road. The only thing you’ve got to lose is the marketing overwhelm.

Specifically, this episode highlights the following themes:

  • Building a low-maintenance, high-impact marketing flywheel
  • Essential components of an effective sales funnel
  • Time-saving tips for content creation and social media strategy

Other Mentioned Links & Resources

Listen to episode 104: How to Build a Lead-Generating Website:
https://www.treefrogmarketing.com/how-build-lead-generating-website

Listen to episode 110: A Proven Content Marketing Strategy for Small Businesses:
https://www.treefrogmarketing.com/proven-content-marketing-strategy-small-businesses

Listen to episode 114: How to Build a Sales Funnel as a Small Business:
https://www.treefrogmarketing.com/how-build-sales-funnel-small-business

Listen to episode 115: How to Use Google Ads as a Small Business:
https://www.treefrogmarketing.com/how-use-google-ads-small-business

Get a Free PDF Guide: The Most Effective Marketing Strategy for Small Businesses: The Flywheel Marketing Method
https://treefrogmarketing.com/most-effective-marketing-strategy-small-businsses

Learn more about flywheel marketing:
https://treefrogmarketing.com/digital-marketing-agency-small-businesses

Save $20 on your first order from InstaCart
https://www.treefrogmarketing.com/instacart-coupon-code

Join the Priority Pursuit Podcast Facebook Community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/179106264013426

Follow Treefrog on Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/treefroggers

Follow or DM Victoria on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/victorialrayburn

Show Notes Transcript Chapter Markers

The struggle to stay afloat in marketing while juggling a zillion small business tasks can feel like an uphill battle.

But what if I told you there's a strategy that spins your efforts into continuous results with less push over time?

We're diving deep today, sharing time-saving tips, content batching hacks, and the lowdown on how four straightforward steps can transform your marketing strategy from stagnant to stellar. We’re not just talking theory here – we're bringing you the real deal, a proven strategy that Treefrog has perfected for businesses like yours.

So if you're ready to put your marketing on autopilot and reclaim hours in your day, grab your headphones, and let’s get this show on the road. The only thing you’ve got to lose is the marketing overwhelm.

Specifically, this episode highlights the following themes:

  • Building a low-maintenance, high-impact marketing flywheel
  • Essential components of an effective sales funnel
  • Time-saving tips for content creation and social media strategy

Other Mentioned Links & Resources

Listen to episode 104: How to Build a Lead-Generating Website:
https://www.treefrogmarketing.com/how-build-lead-generating-website

Listen to episode 110: A Proven Content Marketing Strategy for Small Businesses:
https://www.treefrogmarketing.com/proven-content-marketing-strategy-small-businesses

Listen to episode 114: How to Build a Sales Funnel as a Small Business:
https://www.treefrogmarketing.com/how-build-sales-funnel-small-business

Listen to episode 115: How to Use Google Ads as a Small Business:
https://www.treefrogmarketing.com/how-use-google-ads-small-business

Get a Free PDF Guide: The Most Effective Marketing Strategy for Small Businesses: The Flywheel Marketing Method
https://treefrogmarketing.com/most-effective-marketing-strategy-small-businsses

Learn more about flywheel marketing:
https://treefrogmarketing.com/digital-marketing-agency-small-businesses

Save $20 on your first order from InstaCart
https://www.treefrogmarketing.com/instacart-coupon-code

Join the Priority Pursuit Podcast Facebook Community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/179106264013426

Follow Treefrog on Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/treefroggers

Follow or DM Victoria on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/victorialrayburn

Victoria Rayburn [00:00:00]:
Basically, when you know who you're talking to and what they need to hear, you and or your marketing team will be able to use your time and marketing resources more effectively because you'll know exactly what to say to convert prospects into customers. Hey there. You're listening to the Priority Pursuit podcast, a podcast dedicated to helping small business owners and leaders define, maintain and pursue both their personal and business priorities so they can build lives and businesses they love. I'm your host, Victoria Rayburn, and today I have a question for you. Is time holding you back and preventing you from marketing your business? Well, if so, I get it. I mean, between serving your clients, managing your team and doing the million and one other things it takes to run a small business, you have a lot on your plate. And y'all, this doesn't even include all the responsibilities that you have at home. With so many pressing things to take care of, something will inevitably get pushed to the back burner.

Victoria Rayburn [00:01:04]:
And for most small businesses, the first thing that tends to go is marketing. I mean, I hear small business owners and leaders say things like, oh yeah, we've been meaning to update our marketing strategy, but we just haven't gotten around to it. Or we've been wanting to try social media ads, but we just don't have the time to learn how to run them all the time. Well, I can absolutely understand and empathize with a packed schedule. The fact of the matter is that unless you're already happy with where your business is and you don't want to see business growth, marketing needs to be a priority. Because in all honesty, guys, the fact of the matter is that most small businesses plateau or fail to get to the next level simply because their marketing isn't equipped to take them any further. Thankfully though, there is a marketing strategy that is proven to deliver results and save time. The flywheel marketing method.

Victoria Rayburn [00:02:02]:
Now, we have talked about the flywheel marketing strategy and the results we've seen it deliver for our clients in multiple, multiple past episodes. However, today I want to focus on the time saving aspects of the flywheel method. But before we get into that, for those of you who aren't familiar with the flywheel marketing strategy, or in case you've forgotten, I want to give a brief overview. Simply put, the flywheel marketing method is a marketing strategy where your website and your online marketing efforts are in sync and function as a flywheel to continually produce results. Now, in case you aren't mechanically inclined, which is AoK, a flywheel is a mechanical device used to store rotational energy. A flywheel includes a heavy wheel or disc that is mounted on an axle. And in order to understand this marketing analogy, it's important to know that flywheels are different from regular wheels in that flywheels store energy. This allows them to rotate and function from their built up energy reserve even when new energy isn't being applied.

Victoria Rayburn [00:03:08]:
So just as an example, think about a hand crank flashlight. When you rotate the crank, you give the flywheel energy, which it stores. As a result, when you need to use the flashlight, you don't have to crank the wheel to keep the light on. Instead, the flashlight uses its stored energy from its flywheel to power the flashlight's bulb. With a hand crank flashlight, if you apply energy up front, you'll have light for a long time. The longer you crank it, the longer you'll have light. And in the same way, when you use the flywheel marketing method, you or your marketing team will need to put in quite a bit of work up front. But then your marketing will more or less continue to work on its own and just require some maintenance.

Victoria Rayburn [00:03:52]:
So you see, setting up the flywheel marketing strategy, just want to emphasize the fact that it does take quite a bit of work up front. I don't want to catch you off guard, I don't want to surprise you, but once your flywheel is built, your marketing will essentially continue to work on its own. And as a result, the flywheel marketing strategy is ideal for small businesses that are notoriously busy. And also, again, in past episodes, we've talked a lot about the results of the flywheel marketing method and just how to set it up and all of the moving pieces. And again, I know I've said this multiple times, but I just want to reiterate, the first couple of steps do really do take a lot of time. But I want to emphasize the fact that the investment of time and money in the beginning are worth it. Because once every piece is in place, your marketing, like a flywheel, will continue to run on its own and will just require minimal maintenance, and then will continue to generate new leads and sales while you focus on other important aspects of your small business. Okay, so in this episode, I am going to briefly walk through the four phases of the Flywheel marketing method so you can see how this strategy truly does save small businesses time.

Victoria Rayburn [00:05:02]:
However, if you want a full breakdown of the flywheel marketing strategy, I highly recommend going back and listening to episode 103, the best marketing strategy for small businesses. The Flywheel marketing method. We will link to this episode in the show notes. You can also find it wherever you listen to podcasts. Again, that's episode 103. But then I also want to encourage you to check out our guide, the most effective marketing strategy for small businesses, the Flywheel marketing method. This guide walks you through how to implement the flywheel marketing method step by step and includes examples and checklists that you can use to implement this strategy on your own. So we will be sure to link to that guide in the show notes as well.

Victoria Rayburn [00:05:44]:
And you can also find it@treefrogmarketing.com flywheel but anyway, the flywheel marketing system includes four phases. First, understanding your audience and creating clear messaging. Second, building a strong foundation with a strategically built, SEO optimized website. Third, creating content and a sales funnel that serve your ideal client well. And then fourth, promoting your products, services and content. Again, I will break down each of these phases briefly, but I do want to note that these phases are meant to be completed in order. The flywheel marketing method starts by creating a firm foundation, and then with every step you complete, you'll both increase the effectiveness of your marketing and enable yourself to create systems that save time. Okay, so if you've listened to any episode of priority pursuit, you likely already know the importance of understanding your audience and creating clear messaging.

Victoria Rayburn [00:06:42]:
This is absolutely the most important step in marketing and something small businesses often fail to do. After all, if you want to convert prospects into paying customers, you have to know who you're talking to and what to say to make them want to do business with you. Guys. That's kind of just marketing 101. So to complete this first step of the flywheel marketing method, you need to just identify who your ideal customers are and work to truly understand them and then write your marketing guiding statements. Okay, so let's start with identifying and understanding your audience. To truly understand your best customers so that you can build your flywheel marketing system around them, you need to complete six steps. First, you need to learn who your ideal client is.

Victoria Rayburn [00:07:26]:
What's their age? What's their income? What's their gender? Work to understand what they value and what their opinions are and what they're interested in. You'll also need to determine where they live or determine if that even matters. If you're just an online business, where they live might not matter one bit. Also, how do they like to be communicated with? Are they on social media? Do they prefer email? How about asking questions via a chat? Basically, learn as much about your ideal customer as possible so that they feel like a real person, so that you can think about them as you create each and every piece of your marketing strategy. And if you've already worked with your ideal customer, you can absolutely use them for this process as well if you personally know this person even better. Next, determine what your ideal customer wants to accomplish. Do they want to make a difference? Do they want to save money, save time? Have the best manicured lawn in the neighborhood? What is the thing they really want? Help finding or achieving? The third step to understanding your audience is to identify what problems your ideal customer is facing. Most people put stumbling blocks in their own path when it comes to solving a problem or getting involved.

Victoria Rayburn [00:08:40]:
For some, it's a lack of time, a lack of knowledge, lack of confidence, fear of spending too much money, or having to break a societal stigma of some kind. You need to figure out what is the most pressing issue your ideal customers.

Victoria Rayburn [00:08:55]:
Have in relation to your products or.

Victoria Rayburn [00:08:57]:
Services so you can help them solve their problem. Next, you need to understand how this problem makes your ideal customer feel because when you know how their problem makes them feel, you get the opportunity to help them overcome their challenges, allowing you to become their trusted guide. The fifth step is then to create a clear solution for your ideal customer's problem.

Victoria Rayburn [00:09:21]:
In other words, how can your products.

Victoria Rayburn [00:09:23]:
Or services help them and make their lives better? The final step in understanding your audience is to define what will happen when a prospect follows your advice. If someone chooses to buy from you or work with you, what will they get in return? Maybe it's more time, more confidence, more money. Answer the question, what's in it for me? By reminding prospects what success will look like if they follow your advice. Now I know that was a lot to cover quickly, but we're not done with this phase of the flywheel marketing method yet. You see, once you understand your audience, you need to create clear messaging for them, which is simply communication that your ideal customers can understand quickly and easily. Again, if you have listened to just about any episode of priority pursuit, you know that the key to successful marketing is clear messaging. This is because people don't always support or purchase the best businesses or invest. They don't always support the best businesses or invest in the best products or services.

Victoria Rayburn [00:10:26]:
Instead, they typically purchase the products and services they can most easily understand. It's always fun, by the way, when you stumble over your words while talking about clear messaging. Super, super ironic. But anyway, to ensure your message is clear and customer focused, you might need to create what we like to call your five marketing guiding statements, which include your talking points, your one liner, your story pitch, your why and your sales script. Now, in case you have no idea what these items are or how to write them. We have a free mini course that walks you through exactly what each of these elements are and how to create them. I'll explain where you can find this course in just a moment, but first, I want to clarify that your marketing guiding statements are part of the first phase of the flywheel marketing method because they are the gps of your marketing efforts. Meaning once you have these statements written, you're going to know exactly what to say on your website and your content and your social media posts, and even directly to prospects to convert them into paying customers.

Victoria Rayburn [00:11:26]:
Now, we've already done several episodes about marketing guiding statements, so yours may already be done, but in case you've yet to complete this very critical step, we put together a free mini course, breaking down exactly how to write your marketing guidance statements, and you can access this mini course at the link in the show notes or by going to treefrogmarketing.com marketingguidingstatements that's all one word. No hyphens, no spaces, no fancy characters. Treefrogmarketing.com marketingguidingstatements now, before we move on to step two, the flywheel marketing method, I want to explain how taking the time to understand your audience and write your marketing guiding statements will save you time. You see, so often small businesses fail to complete this critical step and instead most try to piece together the latest marketing tactics and social media trends in hopes that something leads to results. However, here's the thing. You can try all the marketing tactics and do all of the marketing things that you are, quote unquote, supposed to do. However, all of these efforts are a waste of time, money and resources if you don't know who you're talking to or what to say. As a result, when you take the time to truly understand your audience and write clear messaging specifically for them, you can save yourself hours upon hours of time by giving yourself all of the communication assets you need to write effective web copy, social media posts, ads, email campaigns, and copy for any and all of your marketing efforts.

Victoria Rayburn [00:12:59]:
Basically, when you know who you're talking to and what they need to hear, you and or your marketing team will be able to use your time and marketing resources more effectively because you'll know exactly what to say to convert prospects into customers. And again, if you would like sorry, if you'd like help completing step one of the flywheel marketing method, check out our free mini course, the first step to effective marketing for small businesses. Writing your marketing guiding statements. This course breaks down exactly how to identify your audience and write your marketing guiding statements. And you can access this mini course at the link in the show notes or by going to treefrogmarketing.com. Marketingguidingstatements okay, so that's the first step of creating your marketing flywheel. Now let's move on to step two, building a strong foundation with a strategically built, SEO optimized website. Your website is the foundation of all of your marketing and communication efforts and is by far your small business's most powerful marketing tool.

Victoria Rayburn [00:14:13]:
That said, it is not enough just to have a website. Your website needs to serve your ideal clients well by helping them quickly and easily understand what you offer, how you can help solve their problem, and how they can work with you. And your website needs to be able to be able to easily be found when prospects are actively looking for your products or services on Google. Now, we already have an entire episode about how to build an effective website for your small business. So for the sake of time, I am not going to dive into all things websites in this episode. However, I do want to encourage you to go back and listen to episode 104, how to build a lead generating website. This episode walks you through every step our team takes to write, build and design high converting websites for our agency clients and you can find this episode via the link in the show notes or wherever you listen to podcasts. While you can learn more about website development in episode 104.

Victoria Rayburn [00:15:16]:
Before we move on to the third step of the Flywheel method, I want to clarify how creating a strategic SEO optimized website saves time. First, when your website serves your prospective customers well, by quickly answering their questions and giving them clear guidance, your website can serve you as a 24/7 salesperson for your small business. It can help prospects decide if your products or services are right for them and as a result, rather than having to spend hours and hours on sales calls or in meetings or answering emails and dms to make sales, your website, if built effectively, can give you quality leads and or make direct sales day in and day out. For this reason, your website, again, is by far your most powerful marketing tool. And when you take the time to optimize your website for search engines, you could make it even more powerful by getting your website in front of prospects who are actively looking for your products and services. You see 97% of people use Google when they're in need of a product or service. As a result, if you can get your website and business to rank on the first page of Google, you can get your information in front of prospects who are actively searching for and even likely ready to purchase exactly what you have to offer. Basically, when your website ranks at the top of Google search results, you don't have to spend so much of your time going after new leads.

Victoria Rayburn [00:16:43]:
Instead, many of your strongest leads will start coming to you through Google, because again, they're looking for whatever it is you have to offer. Now, there are a lot of moving parts to a successful SEO strategy, and for the sake of time, we aren't going to get into all of that in this episode, even though if you have listened to a single episode of Priority Pursuit, you know that I do love SEO. However, if you would like to learn more and are ready to take your small business's SEO strategy seriously, I want to encourage you to tune into episode 106, how to optimize your website for search engines via the link in the show notes or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Victoria Rayburn [00:17:23]:
As a small business owner, you probably have a seemingly endless to do list, but I can almost promise that there are things on your list that can be outsourced. Like grocery shopping. I mean, as a wedding photographer, the last thing I wanted to do after shooting a weding on a Saturday was to spend my Sunday in a grocery store. So I am forever thankful that a friend told me about Instacart. Instacart is a grocery delivery service. Basically, you use the Instacart app to make your shopping list. Then a personal shopper goes to your preferred store, selects your groceries for you and delivers them to you, typically all within just a few hours. You can also schedule your delivery time.

Victoria Rayburn [00:18:01]:
Personally, I will sing Instacart's praises forever because one, it has saved me countless hours. And two, Instacart employs local personal shoppers, meaning with every Instacart purchase, you are putting money directly back into your local economy. While Instacart does charge a delivery fee, when you upgrade to Instacart plus, for just $99 a year, you'll receive free, unlimited deliveries for all orders over $35. Considering the time and frustration you'll save, that's $99 well spent.

Victoria Rayburn [00:18:28]:
If you'd like to avoid going to.

Victoria Rayburn [00:18:29]:
The grocery store and save $20 on.

Victoria Rayburn [00:18:31]:
Your first order from Instacart of $35.

Victoria Rayburn [00:18:34]:
Or more, visit treefrogmarketing.com instacart. Again, if you'd like $20 off your first Instacart order of $35 or more, visit treefrogmarketing.com instacart.

Kelly Rice [00:18:45]:
Many small businesses don't have an effective marketing strategy, and because of this they try one tactic after another without seeing results. This not only prevents consistent business growth, it makes managing marketing efforts more difficult than it should be. As a marketing agency for small businesses, we understand how frustrating it can be when hard work doesn't deliver the results that you want. Because of this, Treefrog has developed a proven four step marketing system that will help any small business grow. On our website. You can also schedule a 30 minutes discovery call to discuss working with Treefrog to build a marketing strategy that will allow your small business to finally see the growth you've been working so hard to achieve.

Victoria Rayburn [00:19:23]:
Now, the first two steps of the flywheel marketing method are steps that you more or less need to complete just one time. I mean, as you learn more about your ideal customer, you may need to tweak your messaging and website. And as technology changes, you will eventually need to update your website like quick side note it's typically best to get a new site every three to four years simply because of how quickly web technology changes. You want to make sure that all of that is up to date and super user friendly, but completing these steps will take time upfront, like we talked about already. However, once you have completed steps one and two, you're going to have a firm marketing foundation. Basically, if you think back to the hand crank flashlight analogy we discussed, by completing these steps, you'll give your marketing strategy a lot of stored energy, like you've really cranked it up. Then steps three and four of the final marketing method focus more on the maintenance side of your marketing strategy, as these steps are going to require occasional work which will make more sense as we go through them. But in the next step of building your flywheel marketing method is to create content in a sales funnel that serve your ideal customer well and encourage prospects to engage with your business.

Victoria Rayburn [00:20:37]:
Now, getting a prospective customer into your buyer's journey starts with content marketing. In case you aren't familiar with content marketing, content marketing is a marketing strategy where small businesses create and distribute valuable, relevant and engaging content to attract their ideal clients. And for the record, when I say content, I mean blog posts, videos, podcast episodes, infographics, organic social media posts and just any other medium that allows you to share a message and engage with your audience. And a sales funnel is simply a content marketing framework that converts potential customers into paying customers. Essentially, a sales funnel allows you to serve your prospects, build trust with them and help them see that your product or service is the answer to the problem they're facing. Now, to complete this phase of the flywheel marketing strategy, you need to develop five marketing pieces one, awareness content two, a consideration landing page, which is also sometimes called an opt in page three, a lead generating offer four, an automated follow up email campaign and five, a decision landing page. Again, I really want to keep this episode short and sweet for you, so we aren't going to dive into the ins and outs of all of these elements. However, if you would like to learn more about each of these pieces and how to create a content marketing strategy in sales funnel, visit the link in the show notes or go to treefrogmarketing.com flywheel to access our free guide, the most effective marketing strategy for small businesses, the flywheel marketing method.

Victoria Rayburn [00:22:13]:
We're going to talk more about this guide in a bit, but this guide does walk you through exactly how to develop the five marketing pieces we just discussed with examples. So I hope it makes your life so much easier. So again, if you'd like to learn more about each of these pieces and how to create a content marketing strategy in sales funnel, visit the link in the show notes or go to treefrogmarketing.com flywheel to access our free guide. Now, when you hear that there are five things you need to create, you're likely thinking, all right, that's a lot of work, like how the heck is this step going to save my business time? I get it. And while you will want to be releasing new awareness content such as blog posts and organic social media posts regularly, you only need to complete the other listed elements one time. Well, one time per sales funnel. If you offer multiple products or services, you'll likely need multiple sales funnel. But for a single sales funnel, you will only need to create your consideration landing page, lead generating offer, automated email, campaign and decision landing page one time.

Victoria Rayburn [00:23:19]:
Now, if you want to be an overachiever and AP test some things, you could do too. But per product or service, you technically need one sales funnel. Then, once all of these items are completed, you could use your awareness content to lead prospects to these resources, collect their email addresses and put prospective customers into your sales funnel. Then, once you have great content and a sales funnel in place, you'll be able to serve prospects well and continuously generate new leads. Now, just to clarify, you will need to publish new awareness content on a regular basis. This is where the maintenance part of the flywheel method comes in. Now, in case you aren't familiar with what I mean by awareness content, this is simply content that helps prospects through the awareness phase of the buyer's journey. And that's the phase where ideal customer has a problem but doesn't know what to do about it.

Victoria Rayburn [00:24:13]:
It's at the very, very beginning of the journey for them. Awareness content can include blog posts, videos, podcast episodes, infographics, organic social media posts, and any other medium that allows you to share a message and engage with your audience. That said, blogging does tend to be the easiest option for small businesses and the one we most recommend, especially for those just getting started with their content marketing strategy. Now, the more quality content you can create, the better. However, at the absolute minimum, we recommend that small businesses publish one new blog post per month and that they implement a consistent social media strategy. Now, I know for many listening that even the minimum can sound like a lot, especially if you aren't already prioritizing content marketing. However, the good news is that much of your awareness content can be batched. For example, if you or your marketing team have a slower season, you can easily use this season to write twelve blog posts, meaning you would have one new blog post to share every month for the next year.

Victoria Rayburn [00:25:19]:
In all honesty, when I was a weding photographer, that's exactly what I did during the winter months. I would work on batching that awareness content simply because in the midwest, not a lot of people tend to get married between December and March. It's just not a very pretty time of year. So that was a great time for me to write those blog posts. And even at Treefrog, we batch things all the time. So just as an example, we batched a whole lot of episodes before I was out for maternity leave, including this one. So if you can set aside some time, you can batch a lot of your awareness content. Now you can also batch your social media content.

Victoria Rayburn [00:25:56]:
So, for example, at Treefrog, our content department dedicates a day or two for writing and developing social media content for a full month in advance. Sure, we'll add the occasional reel or something in last minute if there's a trend or something that we want to utilize. But developing our content ahead of time allows us to be more thoughtful and consistent with what we're developing and also save time, since batching has proven to help us develop social media content more quickly and just give it better quality. So yes, data supports this. Our own experience supports this batching. It's great. Again, I know this step of the file marketing method can feel a little overwhelming, especially if you aren't familiar with the five pieces of content you need to create. To complete this step, however, our guide, the most effective marketing strategy for small businesses, the flywheel marketing method, walks you through how to create each of these pieces and you can find this guide in the show notes or at treefrogmarketing.com/flywheel or if you would rather listen than read, check out episode 110, a proven content marketing strategy for small businesses and episode 114, how to build a sales funnel as a small business, we will be sure to include links to these episodes in the show notes and you can also find them wherever you listen to podcasts.

Victoria Rayburn [00:27:22]:
While the guide dives deeper and has examples for you to follow, these episodes also break down the five elements needed to create a successful content marketing strategy and sales funnel. All right, the final phase of the flywheel marketing method is promotion. Basically, once you have a customer focused website, content and sales funnel, you need to promote these items. Now, you might be listening and thinking like got it, I'll just share about these things on social media and my flywheel method will be complete. However, organic social media isn't enough for most small businesses anymore, unfortunately. I mean, have you ever wondered why your social media posts don't drive new business? Many small businesses think that simply posting to their social media channels will be enough, but thanks to ever changing social media algorithms, that just isn't how it works anymore. In order to reach and connect with your ideal customers, you have to get your content in front of your audience. And since organic social media is no longer a dependable resource, this phase of the flywheel marketing method includes helping your audience find your website and content through social media ads.

Victoria Rayburn [00:28:32]:
Google Ads nurture email campaigns and targeted email campaigns. Now, if you'd like to learn more about running social media ads and Google Ads, go back and listen to episode 126, why small businesses should invest in social media ads, and episode 115, how to use Google Ads as a small business, which you can find at the link in the show notes or wherever you listen to podcasts. Now, truth be told, the final phase of the flywheel marketing strategy does require ongoing work. While steps one and two are more or less one time projects and much of step three can either be created once or batched at times that work well for you. Promoting your products, services and content is going to require more regular attention just simply because you're going to need to watch it closely and then likely need to make adjustments as you go. Now, just as an example, it probably doesn't make sense to run the same ads all year long, as you may need to focus on different products or services depending on the season or goals for a particular time period. For example, if you own an auto repair shop, it would make sense to run ads for new winter tires in the fall and winter, but this likely isn't a concern for your ideal customers in the spring and summer. Also, because you're putting money behind most of these promotion options and you want to get the most out of these tactics as possible, you need to be paying attention to the data and likely a b testing things like ad copy, subject lines, graphics and any and everything you can do to improve the effectiveness of your ads, emails and other promotion options.

Victoria Rayburn [00:30:14]:
Because again, you have money behind them and you want to get as much out of them as possible. That being said, the final step of the flywheel marketing method is the step that most small businesses fail to complete. Many see this phase as overwhelming, so they just ignore it, and this causes small businesses to miss out on business. That said, if you commit to building and implementing the flagwheel marketing strategy, bulk of the work is completed in steps one through three. As a result, you or your marketing team can free up your time to focus on step four. And this is incredible because assuming that you have great content to share, step four is typically where small businesses see the most growth. They just have to actually have time to do it. Now guys, I know this episode has included a lot of information, but as a reminder, at Treefront, we highly recommend utilizing the flywheel marketing method for two reasons.

Victoria Rayburn [00:31:12]:
First of all, it's proven to work. Our clients have experienced up to 800% growth as a result of this exact strategy. And then second, it saves time while delivering big results. Once your flywheel system isn't built, your marketing is essentially going to work on its own. As a result, the strategy is ideal for busy smalls and businesses that want to see big, consistent results. That said, with so much on your plate already, there is a good chance you are thinking something like how the heck am I possibly going to find the time to implement or oversee the strategy? Or is it even possible for a single person or a small team to implement the flywheel marketing method on their own? And if that's the case, I completely understand. It's a very valid question. So at this point, I want to share a few resources and tips with you.

Victoria Rayburn [00:32:03]:
First of all, can you implement this strategy by yourself if you have the time, yes. Between drag and drop web builders like show it YouTube, how to videos, three sources we're committed to sharing with you via priority pursuit and@treefrugmarketing.com and just all the information available on the Internet, you can implement this strategy on your own. In fact, we, like I've already mentioned, have a guide that walks you through each and every step of developing the strategy. The guide is called the most effective marketing strategy for small businesses, the flywheel marketing method, and you can find this guide at the link in the show notes or by going to prefrogmarketing.com flywheel now guys. As a heads up this download this PDF is more of a book than a guide. It's pretty long, but again, it walks you through every step of implementation and it also includes examples for you to work from. That being said, as a small business owner or leader, handling every aspect of the strategy on your own likely isn't the best use of your time. After all, several skill sets and knowledge you may not currently have are going to be required.

Victoria Rayburn [00:33:12]:
And chances are the time needed to learn these new skill sets and the necessary information will take a lot of time, which is going to inhibit business growth because you're not going to be able to focus on other important aspects of your small business or life outside the office. With this in mind, I want to encourage you to do three things. First, commit to implementing the flywheel marketing method. Again, we are passionate about this strategy because we've seen it work for small businesses of all sizes and across countless industries. Next, take the flywheel method one step at a time. There's a reason. Again, this strategy is broken up into four phases. With every phase you're going to see bigger results.

Victoria Rayburn [00:33:55]:
Even if you can only focus on phases one and two, for now, you're still very likely to experience growth. And then last but not least, please consider outsourcing the development of your marketing flywheel, whether that be in full or just pieces of it. Again, implementing the flywheel method is a lot for a single person or even a small team to handle. That said, you can outsource some of, or even all of the strategy. For example, you could hire a web designer to build your website or work with a story brand certified guide to write your lead generation items. Or you can use our Flywheel marketing service at Treefrog to have your marketing flywheel created and implemented in bowl. To learn more about the service and schedule a discovery, call, visit treefrogmarketing.com. We work with our agency clients to get their flywheel marketing system set up in bowl so that they can focus on other important aspects of their businesses and life outside the office.

Victoria Rayburn [00:34:52]:
Again, I know this episode contained a lot of information and is starting to get on the water side, but considering how much time you'll save and business growth you'll gain with the flywheel marketing strategy, I do think tuning into this episode was worth your time on that note, and so you can get to work implementing your own flywheel. Thank you so much for tuning into another episode of the Priority Pursuit podcast. If you enjoyed this episode, we hope you'll take a moment to share it with your small business friends to leave us a review on Apple Podcasts, and that you'll join us next week for even more marketing boundary and priority driven tactics you can use to build a life in small business that you love.

Introduction
Flywheel marketing strategy saves small businesses time
Identify age, income, gender, values, preferences, location
Summary: Free mini course on marketing guiding statements
Strategic SEO saves time, serves as salesperson
Flywheel marketing method involves initial setup then maintenance
Content marketing creates sales funnel for clients
Plan and develop social media content in advance
Google Ads and email campaigns need attention
Implement marketing strategy on your own or not