This episode delves into the debate around the obsolescence of social media agencies in light of digital marketing's fast-paced evolution. The speakers discuss their frustrations with clickbait in digital marketing and the importance of ethical messaging. They explore how social media marketing has shifted from technical, replicable tactics to strategies focused on quality content and audience connection. Emphasizing adaptability, the discussion covers the need for a more holistic campaign-style marketing approach, aligning closely with broader business objectives and embracing an omnichannel strategy to ensure cohesive, goal-driven campaigns. The conversation also touches on the challenges of continuously adapting to marketing trends and concludes with the idea that social media agencies are not dead but must evolve to meet the current demands of the marketplace effectively.
Key Topics
00:00 Introduction: The Debate on Social Media Agencies
00:15 The Frustration with Clickbait in Digital Marketing
01:02 The Evolution of Social Media Marketing
01:35 The Importance of Adapting to Marketing Changes
02:18 The Challenges of Keeping Up with Marketing Trends
02:22 The Shift in Social Media Marketing Strategies
02:25 The Role of Social Media in Your Marketing Plan
02:29 The Future of Social Media Marketing
02:32 The Balance Between Authenticity and Strategy in Content Creation
02:36 The Concept of Campaign Style Marketing
02:39 The Importance of a Comprehensive Marketing Strategy
02:42 The Role of Social Media in Omni-Channel Marketing
02:46 Conclusion: The Evolution of Social Media Agencies
Is your business just not the vibe right now and you can't seem to get it going, even though you feel like you're doing #AllTheThings? Fill out the linked audit form to give us the inside scoop on your current situation, challenges, and goals. That way we can spot your strengths, opportunities, and outline next steps, keeping a sustainable & scalable business in mind.
This episode delves into the debate around the obsolescence of social media agencies in light of digital marketing's fast-paced evolution. The speakers discuss their frustrations with clickbait in digital marketing and the importance of ethical messaging. They explore how social media marketing has shifted from technical, replicable tactics to strategies focused on quality content and audience connection. Emphasizing adaptability, the discussion covers the need for a more holistic campaign-style marketing approach, aligning closely with broader business objectives and embracing an omnichannel strategy to ensure cohesive, goal-driven campaigns. The conversation also touches on the challenges of continuously adapting to marketing trends and concludes with the idea that social media agencies are not dead but must evolve to meet the current demands of the marketplace effectively.
Key Topics
00:00 Introduction: The Debate on Social Media Agencies
00:15 The Frustration with Clickbait in Digital Marketing
01:02 The Evolution of Social Media Marketing
01:35 The Importance of Adapting to Marketing Changes
02:18 The Challenges of Keeping Up with Marketing Trends
02:22 The Shift in Social Media Marketing Strategies
02:25 The Role of Social Media in Your Marketing Plan
02:29 The Future of Social Media Marketing
02:32 The Balance Between Authenticity and Strategy in Content Creation
02:36 The Concept of Campaign Style Marketing
02:39 The Importance of a Comprehensive Marketing Strategy
02:42 The Role of Social Media in Omni-Channel Marketing
02:46 Conclusion: The Evolution of Social Media Agencies
Is your business just not the vibe right now and you can't seem to get it going, even though you feel like you're doing #AllTheThings? Fill out the linked audit form to give us the inside scoop on your current situation, challenges, and goals. That way we can spot your strengths, opportunities, and outline next steps, keeping a sustainable & scalable business in mind.
Welcome to the business millennials podcast. This show brings you strategic insights through raw and unfiltered real world advice to accelerate your business growth for longterm success. I'm Safa Harris and I'm Ashley Drager. We're the founders of scale and thrive co a full service marketing and business development firm, helping visionary companies scale sustainably. Expect us to have the uncomfortable conversations that no one else is having. We'll break down what it really takes to grow and scale your business beyond six. Seven or even eight figures, as well as inspiring interviews with diverse leaders across marketing, product development, sales, and more via fly on the wall as we conduct strategy sessions with business owners, experiencing issues such as plateaued income, burnout, and generally dropping the ball, giving you the tools and resources to break through your own roadblocks, but also personal development methods to grow you as a balanced conscious leader amidst business growth. Let's jump into this week's episode. What have you been loving lately? Like what has been your just go to product? This is okay. So, you know, the chili crunch thing that's big on tick tock. No, I'll have to look up the blank, the brand, but so it went viral on tick tock as a cucumber, sweet pepper. Salad, so it's, it's in, it's like in hot, it's in oil and it's got like crunch and chili and it is spicy and they have like, they have like spicy, even more spicy, whatever it may be. And I think it's like a momo fo poco or something. If people are interested, we can put it in the show of what it is. And I tried it for the cucumber salad and I was like, this is so good. And I was like, Like every day multiple times a day for like weeks. I would eat this salad. It's so good It would have cucumber sweet peppers this chili crunch salt and then everything bagel seasoning and then a ginger sesame seasoning dressing and It was really good. And then last night I air fried some asparagus And I was like, you know, and I've been out of cucumbers and sweet peppers, and I haven't had the salad in a while, but I was like, I really want that taste. I was like, let me put that same ingredients, the same mixture on my asparagus and then air fry it. And it was so good. I was like, I am obsessed with this. Recipe and just put it on all your veggies and obviously the salad's uncooked and cold But I air fried it on the asparagus and it was still really good. I was like i'm just gonna put this on like broccoli Like, anything, all, all roast veggies, like, literally anything. So, that is what I'm obsessed with right now. It's a chili crunch thing. It's like a, like a, like a jar, like a sauce? Yeah, it's like a sauce, like a jar, yeah, it has like chili in it, and it's in oil, so it's like an oil, it's like an infused oil, I guess, and it has like, something, I have no idea what the crunch is, but there's like a crunch thing, and then it has like, Chili flakes in it, like red crushed pepper. Okay, I'm going to have to look into that because I have been loving spicy foods lately. Like for the last, I guess I shouldn't say lately. I mean, this has been for like a solid 18 months. It's not like a hot sauce to try and kick, but yeah, no, that sounds really good. Yeah, and it tastes like a solid veggie. Exactly. Exactly. So, you know, love volume eating and like anything that'll get you to eat like two tons of broccoli, this, this. And I think it's like the, from what I hear on, on Tik TOK is that it is this chili crunch thing is really, really good. And I think there's a trader Joe's version of it too. But from what I hear, like this crunch thing, people use it in a lot of different things, but this one's particular recipe went viral, which is true. But I think for me particularly, yes, it's the chili crunch, but also the everything bagel seasoning and the ginger dressing, all of it together is just like chef's kiss. I would never have thought to put those three together in a combination. The chili, the ginger, everything bagel. I just want to say, if you guys aren't on food TikTok, and like recipe TikTok, like that's where you need to be. It's like, I no longer go to Pinterest for recipes. I'm like, let me see what's going viral on TikTok. And like, the cottage cheese trend, this chili crunch thing, it has put me on to a lot of good stuff. I, I go to TikTok for pretty much everything now. I don't remember the last time I actually used Pinterest. Isn't that, I mean, I, I, I will add that Pinterest has always been very annoying in that I'll find a pin and I'm like, Oh, this would be great. Let me, let me learn more about this. And then it goes to something either completely unrelated or the link is broken. Kind of like, it's just, Oh yeah. Waste of my breath is now a TikTok. I could just do the video and know within a couple of seconds, is this what I'm looking for? Pinterest recipes that irritate me the most. And then maybe this is some tips for people that are in Pinterest marketing, like don't do this, is when I'll click on a recipe and it'll be like, Oh, whatever it is. And then I go, and then it's actually like a, what is those? You'll know what it is. Those posts that are like 10 recipes instead. And I have to like, scroll through and find the one that I'm looking for. I'm like, that's not what I wanted. Can I, can you just take, like, I get it's strategic and it's smart and whatever, but to the consumer, it's very annoying. But then also because half the time it's late, and then you have to go to another webpage the full recipe. Yeah. For that one. Yeah, and it's just like, I don't want, like, to go to this digest, I just want to go to the thing you, picture you showed me. I think Pinterest used to be really hot and heavy, and it, like, had great conversions, and I don't know if people are still converting. The way it used to for people, and I know it works really well for certain industries and things like that. And it's again, being strategic on your marketing and what you're picking, but it's just, yeah, I don't use Pinterest as much as I, as I used to for things like this. I think it works really well for me personally, like when I'm trying to figure out like an aesthetic. Yeah. Being like trying to figure out like vibes or anything like that, just to kind of see the visual of certain keywords or things like that. To figure that out, but not necessarily diving in for information. Yeah, totally. Trying to come up with a, like you said, the aesthetic so that I can better describe what it is that I'm searching for. It's totally how I use Pinterest now too. Yeah. When I do occasionally go on Pinterest. Which that leads us perfectly to today's episode. Well, let's dive in.
safa-harris_2_02-26-2024_111059:
So apparently the internet is saying that social media agencies are dead.
Track 1:
A, apparently this is a very hot take and it's a very interesting one'cause there's a lot of things that I agree with and there's a lot of things that I disagree with. I just first have to say that it's really annoying that social media marketing or just really digital marketing is so click. Like why can't we just
safa-harris_2_02-26-2024_111059:
Yeah.
Track 1:
be on the same page of. This is my point. This is what I'm gonna talk about, not let me try to draw you in with something that's only half true so that I could actually tell you what I wanna say. I hate that Drives me nuts. I mean, it's effective, but still.
safa-harris_2_02-26-2024_111059:
yeah, I think it has to do with how we're consuming content though, right? Like. Like, because there's so much noise and it's about standing out in that noise, it's like, oh, well I'm a human and I need this thing to be enticing for me to watch it. So self-inflicted. We did it to ourselves,
Track 1:
I totally did it to ourselves.
safa-harris_2_02-26-2024_111059:
Yeah, but it is really frustrating, especially I know for both of us and a lot of the people that we surround ourselves with. Being ethical in our messaging and our business is really, really important. So that I personally have a really hard time. Making content that is that way, because I feel like, well, I'm not trying to be, I'm trying to be honest. I'm trying to be transparent. I'm trying to provide value, trying to do all these things, and then it feels inauthentic trying to find that click Beatty hook. But all that click Beatty hook content better and. Essentially that does make our marketing slower, even though it might be more genuine, more value filled than the click baiting thing. And it, it does get very frustrating and it's kind of trying to find the balance there.
Track 1:
So for context, we came across some content. The hook was that social media marketing agencies were dead in 2024, and they were the worst business to have or start going into this year. That's not the, he did say that the social media marketing agencies were dead and that this was a terrible business to have. But I don't, the other than.
safa-harris_2_02-26-2024_111059:
Yeah, that was the generalist. But yeah, he did specifically say that social media angels disease are dead, and the concept and the idea is like. They're different. And essentially he did stick to his main point. Yeah. That they're dead. It's a bad decision. Don't start a social media agency. And while I see what he was getting at, don't think Ashley and I exactly agree, but we do agree with the essence that social media is different now than it used to be and what it should be used for. As a strategic tool in your business and your marketing.
Track 1:
Yeah, so in 2020, what worked really well in social media and what got you those viral like results in 20 20, 20 21, maybe even early 2022, don't work anymore, right? Like it used to be hashtags. It used to be very specific. Types of content. It used to be very specific post times during the day, days of the week, et cetera. Those very easy to replicate, easy to monitor tactics for social media channels, and that's no longer the case. It's very much a guessing game on what's gonna perform well and when. And it really comes down to the quality of the content and connecting with your audience and going back to. The roots of what social media was intended to be. So yes, if you're going to operate your social media agency or you manage your social media in the same way as you did 20 19, 20 20, very much, your account is gonna be dead. It's not gonna work. It's not, we're we're not. In the same time, and this is where I always come back to saying marketing is constantly evolving. You, you need to be on top of it all the time because it's buying behavior is gonna change. Marketing strategies are gonna change, tactics are gonna change, platforms are gonna change. It's never gonna be static. So you can't plan on whatever is working really well. Now that's just your golden ticket to a successful business forever. You're gonna need to be able to pivot and. Adjust whatever your strategy is to keep up with what's performing well in the marketplace.
safa-harris_2_02-26-2024_111059:
Just a side note on this in relation to you and marketing involving you are constantly learning, you are constantly consuming marketing changes and all of those updates and things like that. And I'm like, I like, this is why I'm not in mar like marketing's not my strong suit. Like I know enough to like be dangerous, but I am definitely an ops person because I'm like, I could not keep up with constantly having to. Be educated and updated and the changes and all of that all the time, which I know you are actively doing because you tell me about it and you tell me about the podcast you're consuming and the courses you're doing, and it's like all the time. I'm like, that's exhausting. is exhausting. But like, I'm glad you're doing it for our agency,
Track 1:
Yeah. I mean, don't get wrong. It is.
safa-harris_2_02-26-2024_111059:
of it.
Track 1:
It is a lot. It is a lot. But thankfully I find it very fascinating. I've always found marketing and business to be a very fascinating topic and just looking at how businesses put out content, their advertisements, whatever their marketing material is, and seeing how that's working, how society is responding to it. I've always found it just an interesting thing to observe. So that definitely helps.
safa-harris_2_02-26-2024_111059:
Which back to the original point. Yeah. So before it used to be very like technical, like, do this and then this will work, do this and this will work. And that's not the case anymore. And I would say, so I guess question to you on that. So we see that it is definitely more. Kind of guess and check trial and error. What's gonna work for you? What's gonna work for your brand, and finding the right fit and then continuously having to have that continuous improvement over it. Looking at your data changing, tweaking, and working and trying to find that fit there. And would you say that that co. I, well, I think you're gonna say that yes, that applies to all marketing, but particularly in social media marketing now that's definitely what's going on. And then it needs to be more data driven and all of that. But how do you more effectively use social media in your larger marketing scheme right now versus what it used to be?
Track 1:
Yeah,
safa-harris_2_02-26-2024_111059:
of how social media needs to fit in your marketing plan.
Track 1:
that's a really interesting question. I think that social media is definitely the channel that changes the fastest compared to things like email marketing, ads, print marketing. You know, that type of thing. Influencer marketing is probably the next one because it's so closely tied to social media and how effective it is, the, the tactics that work, et cetera. But I think that right now, social media marketing I look at it primarily for brand awareness for your top of funnel tactic. To reach that larger audience to generate interest, but you have to move them further down into the funnel to convert them. Yes, there are a lot of businesses that convert like straight from social media, especially with TikTok shop right now, but I think over time, that's not going to be as successful as it is today, especially for TikTok. I mean, we're already seeing. People responding differently to TikTok shop, all of the TikTok ads, the sponsored posts. And in reality, when we're looking at, the bigger picture, the length of time that this is working for TikTok is gonna be very small, right? Probably six, 12 months max, before it really starts to, and we're already well into that six or 12 month timeline right before it starts to really see that that decline. So really just seeing it as one piece of the puzzle, as a way to move people into your sales funnel is really I think, how people should be looking at social media these days.
safa-harris_2_02-26-2024_111059:
So. I guess going back to needing that click, Beatty hook content on social media and as you're saying that, yeah, it's great. It's, you see it more for brand awareness. I. A lot of people are struggling with their brand awareness on social media, and it's hard to get the views and the reach and all of that because of the noise right now and how much it is doing the trial and error to find what's successful. And then again, it's gonna change. In like six weeks and you're gonna have to change again. And it's constant and it, it's exhausting. Do you think there could be a change of how social media is working now and are you seeing that shift now? How it is kind of shifting from not being this amazing tool that it used to be for brand awareness and being a different. that you're using for something different in your marketing, like yeah, you need it, but that's not really where you're getting the most ROI for your brand awareness on there, especially given one, how exhausting it is to brands and businesses and it's like just constant if you don't have a full-time person doing it. And two, how effective it is in actually getting your message out there, if. You're very good at being very click beatty.
Track 1:
Yeah, I think that there's a couple things that are, that play into it right now. I think that one, there's probably a good chance that there needs to be some optimization or some rework that needs to happen on the content strategy. I think that if you're struggling to generate brand awareness on social media, I think it comes back to the clarity around who you're targeting. What the unique value proposition is, why they care about your business, your product, your service, your offer, et cetera, and going, really going back to the roots. I think that one thing that used to work really well for social media is having a very strategically curated feed, and I don't think that that works the same way as it did in the past. I think that people, well, I know that people want to see a lot more authentic content. But it becomes very tricky to generate authentic, transparent content while being strategic and planning it out. Right? There's a very fine line between being too too strategic and having it too curated. You know, going back to a 2020 Instagram feed, right? And having that authentic connection that people are creating on social media these days. I think that when people go into social media, it's very important to have a plan for that specific channel. Understanding how your audience wants to consume content on that channel, and being able to really execute that and the execution is very tricky. We can have conversations about it all day, but it really comes down to that test, right. Something that I am really interested in seeing a lot of businesses do now is having more campaign style strategies for their social media. You know, instead of just looking at as a 30 day content calendar, which you know, has been very popular, really looking at it as this is the goal that we have, right? Brand awareness.'cause that's what we've already been talking about. We're going into this for brand awareness and planning out that campaign. Holistically, not specifically looking at it as this needs to fit within a 30 day window. Maybe it's seven weeks, maybe it's nine and a half weeks. I don't know. Depends on what your brand is, but looking at it more from that lens I think is going to do better than what are we gonna do for the next 30 days? Which is very different than what everybody's talking about. What all the other marketers, all the other marketing coaches, all the other business coaches, and that's something that I had included in my course when I launched that last year. That's already outdated information. That's how quickly marketing changes.
safa-harris_2_02-26-2024_111059:
So I know we do, when we do launches and planning for our clients, you definitely lean in with the team on. More because when we go in and we quote them, we're like, okay, yeah, we're gonna need to do this for seven, eight weeks before we even think about you getting leads or sales or anything like this, and this is how we're gonna do it. And you definitely lean into having that more campaign style Just like a quick plug, if anybody needs a campaign content calendar, us know. But so. you're saying that that's different than just like a 30 day, so how does that, I guess one, can you define what a campaign is a little bit more and then how does that help a business still be authentic? and have more of that authentic content that people are going to wanna see, but then also balance that with our business initiatives and STR strategy that we're looking to push and like essentially move into sales.
Track 1:
Yeah, so a campaign is a, I like to think of it as a mini marketing strategy focused on one singular goal or one main outcome that you're looking to achieve, and I. Within that, it encompasses all of your marketing channels. So I know we're talking specifically about social media, but ideally that social media would, whatever you're doing on social media, would play into another marketing channel, right? Like we talked about, they need to get moved further into the funnel. So yes, it starts, it would probably start with social media. So. But when we're talking about what a campaign is, it's gonna encompass all of them. This is not just Instagram, right? But really having all of your marketing work towards that singular goal. You're not having ads with one outcome, social media with one outcome, email marketing with one outcome. There would be probably different goals under each of those or KPIs that you're looking to looking to see. You know, achieve within that, that campaign. But yeah, so that's how I look at campaigns. And then what was your second question?
safa-harris_2_02-26-2024_111059:
So how do you think this is the solution to balancing the authentic things that are doing better on social media and then being a strategic business that's looking to make sales and have a, the brand voice and messaging and all of that go out Well.
Track 1:
Yeah, so I think that this is going to do better because you're, the, the focus isn't, is much less on. Specific tactics and tasks within your marketing and looking at it more holistically of what are we looking to achieve? Like what is, what do we wanna do with our marketing right now? What do we want our audience, our target market, our customer base? What action do we want them to take? How is this gonna move the business forward? So you're looking at it from a much, much larger perspective, the macro level rather than. Something that's too small to where like, you know, when like if you're walking and you just like are looking at. Two inches in front of your foot, you're gonna end up like tripping over yourself. Like you're gonna run into something. It's just not as, it's just so much harder. Or when you're driving and you're not looking far enough down the road, right? And you're like constantly overcorrecting feel, I look at, I think of it much more like that, right? When you're looking at it as a campaign style, you're, you're like, where are we going? What is the main focus here versus. Just the next turn, the next turn, the next turn. Right. You, you, you have a bigger vision for what you are wanting to do. And it, it becomes much easier to be creative within that because you have, you can ask yourself, how can we do this? And it's much less of how many Carousel supposed to we need to do, right? So I think that that's where it could be easier.
safa-harris_2_02-26-2024_111059:
It takes you out of being in this box of like, I post Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and I post three carousels and two reels a a week, and then one of'em is in this content pillar and all of that is there. So versus you looking at this campaign, you're like, okay, yeah, I have, my one goal is that I want. To, I don't know, whatever it is, X, Y, Z, and I'm focusing hard on this for the next 12 weeks and this is what I'm doing. So what is going to kind of be my shtick on this? So like when we launched the agency, we did that travel theme and we did all of that based on. Travel and the posters and like introducing ourselves with that theme. And then it didn't put us into a box. It was like, okay, this is what we're talking about. This is what we're doing. And then just had the content and then planned it out and where it fit. So it's almost, would you say it's. Almost like a flip of what we had been do what we, as in like in the online space, digital marketing space had been doing before where it was very, okay, I need to have six posts about this thing and do that. Where this is like, the content comes first. So that makes it easier to be more authentic and creative'cause it kind of flows from there.
Track 1:
Yeah, definitely. I think it, it makes it much easier to put the, the customer at the forefront of what you're doing of, you know, when you're, when you're saying, how do I, how am I supposed to talk to my friend? You're not looking at, well, how am I gonna give my friend to see my text message? Right. It's what are the, what are all of the ways that we could have a conversation, right? What's gonna work best for us today in this moment? Maybe it's not text, maybe it is, I don't know. Maybe we wanna have a FaceTime call like it, you know, when you're looking at it from less, from a technical perspective and more from a, what do we want this outcome to be? What is the best way to facilitate this? And it's much easier to not just blend in with the sea of content, you know?
safa-harris_2_02-26-2024_111059:
When it's shorter like this, it's much easier to continuously innovate and change with what social media is doing. So how would you say that this approach is distinct from launching? Or are you just saying that we are just constantly kind of in a launch cycle now, even for ongoing maintenance?
Track 1:
Yeah, I think campaigns can very much feel like a launch because they there, it's a lot of. Work that goes into campaign planning and execution. But I think that it can be a lot more effective than what everybody's doing right now. And I think that, I just wanna add that this could, I could see where this could feel very overwhelming to someone who is managing their own content. And I don't want to. Say this in a way of you, this is the only way to be successful, right? If the 30 day content calendars with X pillars and X pieces of content, if that works for you because you need that structure, go for it. Right? But. I think that having this conversation of this is how marketing is evolving, this is how, this is the direction that things are going, I think is a really important conversation to have. Because if we're, if, just like we talked about at the beginning, if you're too static, then it's gonna be hard to see the results that you want. So I just wanna put that, that caveat in there. But yeah, I think with, the campaign style, especially around social media, it. You get to choose how long you want this campaign to be. It doesn't have to be three months, because that's an easy way to break up the, the calendar. It doesn't have to be six weeks because that's another round number that tends to get thrown around. You know, it's, it depends on what your year looks like. What is your goal, right? If you wanna stay in this campaign for six months. That's something that you can make that decision on, right? I mean, that's a really long campaign, but it's not to say that it's never been done, but yeah, I mean, I think just looking at it from that macro level, I think can take a lot of pressure off in a lot of ways and help you to be much more effective in your overall marketing.
safa-harris_2_02-26-2024_111059:
So I know for me personally, this aligns a lot better than being stuck in those boxes because I like to be responsive. I like to be like, oh, I've seen this trend. I've done all that.'cause like trend forecasting is a thing and it is something that like to be responsive in with my personal brand and things like that. And just being able to speak to that and. Always having to be like, oh, I can only write about this content and this. It's like, it's really hard and design. I'm a generator, so like, I like to be responsive and I think this allows for that. And a lot of exhaustion people see around content marketing is like, I can't keep talking about. This, I've run outta ideas like I'm not in the mood to talk about this. So if you are in more of this creative space of creating your content, this might be a tactic really that's easier for some people that maybe they are struggling with the content calendar where it is hard to like fit yourself into these boxes and write about it and be creative and. This is a new solution for you, even if you are self-managing.'cause personally for me, this feels easier, especially just being in that moment of what I wanna talk about, what's go, what's going on, and what kind of sales I'm trying to attract.
Track 1:
Mm-Hmm.
safa-harris_2_02-26-2024_111059:
And then so I know you said that it kind of starts with what you're trying to achieve, your goal and everything like that. So my next question, you were talking about needing to know the goals and the objectives and all of that, and that's very macro level of the whole business, and I think there has to be kind of. not necessarily a distinction, but so a business strategy is your entire business. It's the big roadmap of all the different departments and parts of your business, and just a part of that is the marketing strategy, but you can't necessarily have a marketing plan or a marketing strategy or a content strategy really having that full scope. Business objectives and business strategy done. It's a part of it, and I think a lot of people They will spend more time on the marketing strategy the marketing plan and the content pillars and all of that without really having those bigger business objectives and strategy done. And we've talked about it before, but never hurts to talk about it, how they both need to work together and one part is. Is the marketing strategy is part of the bigger business strategy and how actually doing your marketing strategy a disservice by not having both can.
Track 1:
Mm-Hmm.
safa-harris_2_02-26-2024_111059:
that a little bit.
Track 1:
Yeah. It's because so much of what is built within your marketing strategy stems from. What's going on with the business? Like what are, what are you doing? What is your goal? What are you selling? Why are you selling it? Those are all parts of that bigger business plan. And then within that, the marketing is, well, how are we gonna talk about it? How are we gonna tell people about it? So we need to have all of those questions answered first. Before we come in to develop the marketing strategy before we can say, this is how we're going to reach your target market. This is how we're gonna move them into your sales process. Right. We need to know what we're selling before we can develop sales process for it. So the marketing strategy is just another level, more detail to what you're doing already in the business.
safa-harris_2_02-26-2024_111059:
Yeah, and I think that is what a lot of people I think it's easy enough to be like, okay, I need to make sales. Like this is what I'm selling. This is what it is. Let me go figure out how I'm gonna market this and do all that. And I think it's, I think that's fine to a certain point, especially when you're starting out and your business is in its infancy, but when you're really trying to push your business forward in a certain direction, when you are not very clear about the nitty gritty of that direction, you don't have that roadmap. It's really hard to fit this one gear that is also very, it's marketing is volatile because it's constantly changing, fitting it in to. This unwell, oiled machine, and you're like, oh, well, I'm testing and trying and doing all these things, but I don't even know if, how are you measuring those KPIs? How do you know if though they're tracking in the right direction and doing all those things and. I think whenever we get a client that's like, oh, I'm here for a marketing strategy, and then we're like, okay, cool. And we don't do the due diligence of like digging into the business strategy, it ends up us having to again backtrack and really do build out that business strategy in like a bigger project and then come back to the marketing strategy when it becomes a lot more effective to do it that way. Because, yeah, we can go in and create a marketing plan for literally anything, whenever, but then you start asking the hard questions. They're like, oh, well I don't know. Well, I thought about this. I'm not sure. Like I just want sales. always the thing. I want more leads. I want more sales. It's like, okay, but how what? What? What are you trying? What are your. Where are we leading these people? coming back to that, and if you don't have it, it really detracts from the effectiveness of your marketing strategy and plan. So it all is really holistic and has to work together. So if you have your business objective and it is X, Y, Z, whatever it may be, and you're now working on your marketing strategy and fitting it into your business plan, we've kind of talked about it being more of a campaign style and all of that. And I know you mentioned for the campaign style. Yeah. Social media is only one kind of part of it. So, and there's a lot of talk about Omni-channel marketing and kind of being everywhere, and you said that was a part of campaign style marketing. So with the way social media is now, do you think this all fits into Omni-channel marketing? And then also at what point is that going to be something that's really important for you to have omnichannel marketing?
Track 1:
I think it's always been really important to have omnichannel marketing. I think that the online business space has done a disservice in so many ways to business owners, to new business owners in putting such a heavy emphasis on social media. I think that social media is. The sexy marketing that everybody loves to talk about, right? Because it's so fun and it's so engaging to consume, but there's so much more to an effective marketing strategy. And it's never just been about social media. It should have always been just a part, just a puzzle piece. But also, you know, the, when you talk about e. Email, a launch sequence, your freebie, your website, those are all other marketing channels that compliment your efforts on social media. Right. a lot of people may already be doing omnichannel marketing, they just don't realize it. That's not a, I think that's a newer term that's, it's not a new term, but it's becoming more aware in the online space. Right. But they, you really can't neglect. One of them if they all are supposed to be working together in your conversions.
safa-harris_2_02-26-2024_111059:
I think that leads to needing to be more strategic with your marketing, so it's all working together. So if you, it's not like, oh, I'm putting out blogs, I'm putting out emails, I'm putting out social media. And then where the campaign style really comes. In handy where it's like, okay, yeah, I have this campaign where all of these things are focusing towards one thing instead of like, oh, I'm just putting out content about this on my email and this, and where it's all fragmented instead, now it's all holistically connected to your marketing strategy and your business strategy as a whole, and they're all pushing in the one same. Direction,
Track 1:
Right.
safa-harris_2_02-26-2024_111059:
this is like a huge operations thing too. So just like a parallel there when it's like, oh, I have a scattered team, and we're all working in different directions. The effort is not all going in the same directions and your business is not being productive.
Track 1:
Mm-Hmm.
safa-harris_2_02-26-2024_111059:
is the same thing with why. This campaign style marketing makes more sense because you're aligning all your different channels, which has always been important, which hasn't always seemed or been said to be important, but it's not about just being everywhere, but it's about being everywhere strategically, where they're all working together, and not just one channel is gonna get you success.
Track 1:
Mm-Hmm.
safa-harris_2_02-26-2024_111059:
of them working together with this one singular goal in this campaign, going in the same direction and moving that way. So to kind of bring this back full circle to our original point, social media agencies are dead. It's not that they're dead, they just have to work differently for this new sphere of marketing and the strategy that it needs to happen, and they need to be responsive in that. So if they're not, then maybe they are dead, making it all work together.
Track 1:
Mm-Hmm. They need to, their business model needs to evolve with the demands of the marketplace.
safa-harris_2_02-26-2024_111059:
Exactly, and it's just about being lot more where your efforts are focused holistically of around all these different pieces for it to the effort to stack and work in the same direction,
Track 1:
Mm-Hmm.
safa-harris_2_02-26-2024_111059:
think that's a poignant point for all of business really.
Track 1:
Yeah, you really need to get that momentum going. When you're, when you're approaching it from that campaign style, right? All of your channels are gaining momentum in that same direction. You're not talking about something different on social media and then something different on your email, and then something different on your blog and your ads aren't going to some other product or you know, some other outcome. It's everything, regardless of where your customer is looking. It's gonna be talking about the exact same thing, momentum.
safa-harris_2_02-26-2024_111059:
is all gonna stack.
And that wraps up another episode of the business millennials podcast. We hope you found this conversation, thought provoking, inspirational, and helps you make a larger impact with your business. Growth is not just about profits or revenue. It's a journey of personal development, contribution, and bettering ourselves in society. Our challenge for you take at least one key lesson from our time together today that you can apply not just to your business. But your relationships, creative expression, well being, and personal evolution too. We appreciate you tuning in. If you enjoyed this show, we invite you to pay it forward. Share it with an entrepreneur, creative, student, or community leader who needs an infusion of insight or inspiration right now. And make sure to subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen so you never miss a single episode. And if you like what you heard, leave us a five star review. See you next week.
