As some of you know, I am an avid football fan. I grew up not that far away from Titletown, USA, and so the green and gold have been in my blood since birth. One of the things about following the Green and Gold is that most games are "out of market" unless they are a Thursday, Monday, or Sunday night game. And when those are the weeks, it means that I need to find a sports bar to watch the games.
Luckily, being a fan of Green and Gold, bars are dedicated solely to their games. But some Sundays, I decide to go to establishments with other friends where the Green and Gold is not the only one of the TVs but is not where this story takes place. I swear it has something to do with business, so please keep reading through all the boring sports stuff.
I met a friend who is a fan of the blue and orange. Their team played at the same time as mine, so we went to one of the chain sports bars to watch the game and sat at the bar. They sat on one side of me, and on the other side of me, another fan of the blue and orange. This particular fan really enjoyed making comments about the way the players were playing.
Actually, one of my favorite parts about going to sports bars for the game is hearing the side commentary from people as they consume beer and wings and couch coach from afar.
But anyway, this fan was making comments about the rookie quarterback that the blue and orange have. This kid is fresh out of college, and it's only week 4 in the professional football world. And if you didn't know the thing about fans: They want their team to win the championship. They want their team to be the last team standing with the ring on their finger.
(This is a great analogy for how our society overall is right now IMO. Swiping and replacing quickly when things aren’t working out.)
The quarterback kept missing throws, and the fan next to me kept commenting on them. "Get him out of there!" "Put in the backup!" "This guy sucks!" "Why are you having him throw the ball?!" He also had things to say about the other quarterback, who happens to be the oldest in the league, because at one point, they were winning "Old & Slow" "Retire already!" The fan next to me was 2.5 beers and half a pound of wings in at this point.
As the games went to commercial, it suddenly hit me that we do the same things as business owners when it comes to marketing and social media.
When we try one way of doing something but see that someone else might be having "success" with how they are doing things, sometimes business owners give into that little voice that says all the same things that fan was saying to his football team and change things up. And then that, too, doesn't even work sometimes.
As I listened to the fan, I kept wondering where the patience was.
The two things that the fan and you, as a business owner, need in this game of life are patience and consistency.
It's week four of the football season. These fans definitely need to calm down and find some patience because there is a lot of football left. This rookie needs the consistency of taking snaps and being put in game-day situations to grow and evolve into the player the team obviously believes he can be; otherwise, they wouldn't have drafted him.
As a business owner, you've got to consistently show up in your marketing efforts. Whether that's the networking circuit, social media platforms, email, or whatever your marking method of choice is, you've got to keep showing up. I can honestly report that the majority of business accounts I follow only show up on social media or in my inbox when they are having a sale or an event, and people are tired of constantly being sold to.
Marketing is all about emotions and creating connections. Every week, I show up here and in subscribers' inboxes, and there are some weeks when I totally don't want to. There are times when I don't want to post to my personal feeds because I feel like no one is seeing it. But I do because checking in with your community consistently and then one day asking for the sale is the way to convert in this day and age.
If you constantly try to sell things to people, you aren't selling anything to people.
Marketing, like having a rookie for your QB, takes both patience and consistency.
Look back at your business analytics and feed, assess what is working and what isn't, and make sure you do more of what IS working.
Even if you’ve been doing marketing for a while try the "Rookie Mindset": Just like a rookie quarterback needs time to develop, give your marketing strategies time to mature and show results.
Maintain Consistency in Your Marketing Efforts: Show up regularly on your chosen platforms, whether it's social media, email marketing, or networking events.
Avoid Constant Sales Pitches: Focus on creating connections and providing value rather than always trying to sell something.
Analyze Your Performance: Regularly review your business analytics to understand what's working and what isn't.
Double Down on What Works: Once you identify successful strategies, invest more time and resources into them.
Practice Patience: Remember that building a strong marketing presence takes time. Don't give up too quickly on your strategies.
Balance Emotion and Strategy: While marketing is about creating emotional connections, make sure to back it up with consistent, strategic actions.
Diversify Your Marketing Channels: Like a good football team needs both offense and defense, use a mix of marketing methods to reach your audience.
Learn from "Game Day" Situations: Use real-world interactions and feedback to improve your marketing approach.
Build Community Engagement: Regularly check in with your audience without always expecting immediate returns.