This week, I recap the marketing strategies that worked well and the ones that didn't as I close out 2021.

Hey Start Marketing listeners, welcome to the final episode of 2021. It's hard to believe that this year is already done and over with. Today, it's just me and as a way to wrap things up and set up next year's season, I wanted to do this solo episode. It's been almost two years since I started my business and this podcast. So i think this is probably long overdue, but I want to review what's been working well when it comes to my marketing strategy and what hasn't. This will become a regular segment for Start Marketing.

So, let's dive in. 

Let's start with something that's had some ups and downs when it comes to marketing: my website. Now, you all know that I'm strong proponent of having a website for your small business. It's where you can tell a more complete brand story and sell your products and services better than when you rely on social media for your business. Plus, you own it, which means it can suddenly up and disappear like a social channel can. 

what went well about my website? I've been able to update my story as my brand and target audience has changed. I feel like it's a really great representation for me and it can house my podcast recaps which helps give me an SEO boost. 

What hasn't worked well for me? it's not so much about what hasn't been working as what I wish I would've put off investing in. Here's some context: when i started my business, I had a target audience identified and doubled down on them. I paid someone to write awesome, SEO optimized content for me. And then a several months later, I changed my target audience. And I hired someone to write brand spanking new copy for me and do a bunch of on-site SEO work. And then, a few months later, I found myself back at my original target audience. I think. Maybe. The thing is, I didn't know what I didn't know. I thought I was being smart about getting ahead of the SEO game; starting early with content and a keyword optimized site. But, what I didn't know was that in your first few years of business, you can (and probably will) change your target audience as you learn what works for you and what doesn't. So it's not so much that this marketing strategy didn't work, it's just that I wish I had waited to invest in SEO text until I was super sure of the direction I was headed. I can easily roll back my website to an earlier version, that has my original text on it, but that would also mean that I spent almost $3k on something I'm not going to use. Ouch. Omg, it hurts to say. My advice when it comes to this marketing strategy is to DIY the text on your site until you're absolutely sure you know your target audience. Give it a couple of years of business to let things settle so you don't get marketing strategy whiplash. And spend unnecessary dollars. 

Also in the bucket of things that didn't go well in the SEO game: signing up for YEXT. this was at the suggestion of someone I worked with early on, who has done great work for me in the past. Even she admitted that in hindsight it wasn't what she would recommend today. Yext, for those who don't know, is a service that will update your search engine listing for every known search engine out there (google included) at once. In theory, for SEO purposes, you're supposed to have the equivalent of Google My Business on every site that offers a directory listing. There's hundreds of them. But, it's expensive (about $600/year) and it's not really necessary. Focusing on Google My Business is a good first place to start. Save yourself the money. That's pretty much my advice when it comes to SEO. Focus on creating good content and learn how to publish it with solid SEO keywords and phrases, but save yourself the dollars and invest in SEO later down the road. You don't need to be rank #1 in google to get...