I’m not cool enough
When I first started marketing back in 2014, I had some limiting beliefs about marketing. I thought that good marketers were ‘the cool people’ who had an innate ability to understand what’s cool and what isn’t. Based on my fixed mindset, I thought that good marketers were born not made. I also thought that good marketing was more of an art than a science. What I have learned since then, is that Marketing is a skill that anyone can learn. To create effective Marketing you use a process similar to the scientific method. There is a process to develop and connect with your audience when marketing your online business. You develop a campaign using proven principles and optimized it through testing, before running it at full scale.
Direct Response Marketing
Direct Response Marketing is what allows us to gather data and apply the scientific method. We can track how many people see ads and take action. This allow us to see how effective our ads are and to make adjustments accordingly. I still remember one of the first ads I ever placed. It was actually a print ad for a store grand opening. I think it cost around $600. The ad was printed in something like 52,000 papers that had a good readership in the local area. I thought, wow if only 100 people clip the coupon and come in, that would be amazing. How were the results? As far as I could tell, no one ever saw the ad. Truthfully, there was no way for me to know if they did or didn’t, but I didn’t see any evidence. No on mentioned it, brought it in or called to ask questions. That is the problem with traditional marketing, it’s more expensive and you can’t easily track the results.
Working with the ‘Gurus’
When I first started working with experienced digital marketers, I was really surprised to hear how they talked about their campaigns. They didn’t talk about them with any sense of pride or arrogance. Their ads were very simple. They talked about the various aspects of the ads they had tested and what they were considering testing in the future, but he ads were converting well, so they didn’t need to be changed. They never said anything like, ‘I’ve been doing this for X number of years and I know what works and what doesn’t’. Instead, they focus on the results of the testing and don’t let their ego or personal preferences dictate the result, it was based on the data. They didn’t claim to have any special gifts, they learned by taking action, making mistakes and trying again with a different approach. This is the best approach for marketing your online business.
Getting started in digital marketing
One of the best skills you can learn is copywriting. There are lots of good books and courses on the subject. You should also learn about buying traffic and setting up follow up campaigns. If you are really serious about learning digital marketing, I suggest you find an online course to take. The best one that I have found is the Entre Blueprint. It lays out the various options for online business and will help you discern if it’s a good option for you. You can apply for the training at the link below.
