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I know that this is going to hurt, but let’s be honest: if you’re frustrated with your marketing and you’re not getting almost anything out of it, there’s a good chance that most of your strategy is a complete waste of time and money.
You spend hours you don’t have creating content, agonizing over social media or trying to do uncomfortable cold messaging that makes you want to dig a hole and disappear in it and… for what? A few likes and that daunting feeling that all this is just pointless.
And if you’ve been feeling alone or being, well, it’s the opposite: a recent report from Constant Contact revealed that a 73% of small business owners aren’t confident their marketing (worldwide!).
They feel overwhelmed and can’t tell if their actions are actually giving results.
So, if you’re nodding along, I wrote this for you: let’s break this hamster wheel, shall we?
Is modern marketing really a maze?
If you’re a small business owner, this means you’re the CEO, head of product, and the entire marketing and sales department at once. And as hard as this sounds, you know you have to market the business to grow. And that’s where your search for advice and solution starts, but only to end in a tidal wave of so-called “gurus,” all screaming contradictory advice.
If only I had 1€ for every “You need to niche down”, “Don’t niche down” or even “you’re the niche” I hear everyday… But if you’ve been following me you know that what really matters when you’re evaluating advice is context.
And honestly, I don’t blame you for feeling like this: you’re buried in an avalanche of acronyms: SEO, SEM, PPC, CPA, LTV, ROAS. You’re told to build a community, then to become an influencer, then to go viral, run ads, build a brand, and launch a podcast.
All at once, of course.
So you try, you piece together a strategy from a dozen different webinars or free downloads. You burn your weekend trying to build that ridiculously complicated funnel, because you’re convinced it’s the secret key. But it doesn’t work, or worse, the leads are junk. The sales aren’t happening, and you’ve just wasted another precious weekend you could have spent with your family or resting.
You’re doing more work than ever, but the business isn’t growing any faster.
What I’ve seen in my experience, after working with companies of any type and size, is that the fundamental error most founders make is getting obsessed with tactics, rather than getting the fundamentals right.
As if a trendy promotion could solve your messaging problems.
Of course not.
You can build the fanciest funnel, but customer journey will always be messy and chaotic and if you don’t understand the basic principles it still won’t work.
People jump in at different stages, move back and forth, and are influenced by a million things.
So, if you want to see the change, these are the things you should really focus on and I swear this is going to simplify your thinking, not make it more complex.
3 levers of growth
Forget the jargon or the complexity, let’s keep it quick and easy: to grow your business, these are the 3 things you need to work on:
- The number of customers you have.
- The average amount each customer spends per transaction.
- How often each customer buys from you.
That’s it.
The number of customers
this is the obvious one, you want more people to make that first purchase. This is where most marketing focuses: attracting new eyeballs and generating new leads. Every time you post on social media or run an ad to reach new people, you’re focusing on this.
The average transaction value
Then, you can increase the average transaction value. This just means getting customers to spend more each time they buy and can be done through upselling, cross-selling, or creating product bundles. Here you’re focusing on selling more to the same person.
The frequency of purchase
And last but not least, you can increase the frequency of purchase. Here you’re increasing the loyalty of your clients and it’s about getting your existing customers to buy from you more often. It’s when you turn a one-time buyer into a repeat customer, and a repeat customer into an ambassador or in general a huge fan of your brand. You usually do this via loyalty programs, email newsletters, or subscription models.
Just by connecting one of these goals to the actions you’re taking, should clear your mind on what to invest time in and what to discard entirely.
When you think of a new tactic or campaign, ask yourself “Which of the three levers does this pull for my business, and is it the most effective way to pull that lever right now?”
Suddenly, you have a filter to take better decisions.
You stop asking, “What should I do?” and start asking, “What do I need to achieve?”
It’s about simplifying your focus.
The marketing essentials that get ignored
That said, let’s see what the marketing basics actually are. If you ignore these three things, it doesn’t matter how many “viral” reels you make; you’re building a house on sand.
Targeting and profiling
Niche down, don’t niche down… why is niche important at all? And it has nothing to do with excluding people for the sake of it, it really is about resonance.
You need to know their specific pains, their midnight worries that they google at 2 AM, and the exact language they use. When you target correctly, marketing feels more like a 1:1 conversation, and less like a public speech, and us introverts love that, right? 🙂↔️
What the funnel?!
Don’t let the word “funnel” scare you, it’s just a simplification of how humans work and build trust. People don’t wake up and hand money to strangers (duh!). They see you but they need to get to know you before they like you, and finally trust you.
We use the funnel model not because you’re trying to push people through a marketing pipe, but to make sure we aren’t asking for a marriage proposal (sale) on the first date (the first impression).
I actually used this analogy already in an old newsletter about client stages, you can read it here.
Messaging & content
Messaging is the what, content is the how. Most founders spend all their time on the how (aka the editing, the filters, the schedule…) and zero time on the what.
To give you a relatable example: if my message was “I sell digital marketing coaching,” I’d be competing with any other coach on earth, plus it would take me double the effort to explain why my ideal clients should trust me rather than anyone else, or worse, rather than the coach that’s less expensive.
If my message is “I help introverted founders stop second guessing themself by teaching them the marketing basics they really need” what I’m doing is positioning myself and talking to a direct problem I know my audience has.
Content is simply the box that delivers that message, if what’s inside is meaningless to whoever opens it, you won’t get any real attention.
Why I created the P.A.C.E. framework
Now that you know this, you can easily understand why I created the P.A.C.E. framework. It is the foundation of my coaching program, and I built it because small business owners are already exhausted by the standard marketing playbook, and if you’re an introvert this adds an extra level of complexity because you’re trying to force yourself into tactics that highlight your weaknesses rather than leveraging your strengths.
That’s a one-way ticket to burnout, we know that too well.
P.A.C.E. stands for Profile, Architect, Convert, and Evolve.
- We Profile your audience so you stop guessing what to say and nail your messaging.
- We Architect a system that respects your energy levels, so no more daily posting if that drains you.
- We Convert naturally, using a funnel prototype that attracts clients, based on a customer journey that makes sense, and removing the icky feeling of pretending to be a pushy salesperson that none of us is in here (me included, I always hated that!).
- We Evolve your mindset, because the biggest problem for us introverts is usually the internal pressure, our overthinking brains that won’t cut the string even for one second. And we don’t want you to do all this work to see you simply self-sabotage yourself, right? (wink, wink.)
Over 12 weeks, in a small group of no more than 8 people, we build your marketing foundations. You’ll walk away with a real audience map, a marketing system and a strategic plan laid out, all in a way that actually fits your life.
Want to see if it’s a fit?
I’m currently opening the Founding Cohort and since it’s the first round, I’m looking for deep feedback to make this the best program possible, therefore the investment is significantly lower than it will ever be again (aka, there’s a huge discount that won’t be there forever 😉).
If you’re tired of the noise and frustration, let’s talk. We’ll look at your business, see where the blocks are, and if my program is the right next step for you. If not, I’ll happily point you toward what you actually need.
Click here to find a slot, and let’s break that hamster wheel together!
