The 3 marketing basics every small business owner should understand

In this post, you’ll learn the marketing basics you should understand BEFORE outsourcing any marketing tasks.

I’m a HUGE fan of outsourcing for small business owners. 

It’s the perfect way to scale up your business and to allow you to concentrate on the activities that generate the most return. 

The problem is, many of us small business owners are perfectionists. Our businesses are our babies, so it feels difficult to “let go.”

Especially when it comes to something that you don’t fully understand yourself - like marketing.

The fact is, the marketing world is CONSTANTLY changing - as soon as you think you’re on top of one marketing best practice, it all changes and once more you feel behind the curve. 

And, as much as you’d like the help, you may be afraid you’ll have the wool pulled over your eyes if you entrust your marketing entirely to someone else. After all, if you don’t know what “success” looks like, how can you possibly gauge whether your marketing contractor is doing a good job?

Well, I’m here to help. 

In today’s post, we’re going to go through the 3 key areas that will give you the confidence you need to have a handle on your marketing - no matter WHO is doing the execution...

Related reading: Surprisingly Simple Marketing Essentials Everyone Can Activate

Online marketing basics for small business: what you need to know

If I had to guess, I’d say you’re the type of person who loves to learn new skills.

But, when it comes to your business, you simply don’t have the time to learn every single facet. 

You wish you just knew what you needed to know.

I get it. 

Marketing is the lifeblood of your business, so it’s not something you can ignore. But, at the same time, you don’t need to understand every little detail - after all, you’re the CEO, not a marketing specialist. 

So, here are the 3 top-level marketing basics I recommend you focus on so you can oversee your marketing strategy with confidence...

1. Start with the Metrics

You might have heard the phrase “what gets measured gets improved.”

Well, this certainly applies to your marketing!

So, are you clear on your marketing goals? Do you have a view on whether your marketing activities are working?

You might say yes - because your revenue is up on last year. Or you might say no -  because you aren’t making as much progress as you’d like. 

But, can you pinpoint EXACTLY which marketing efforts are (or aren’t!) working for your business? Well, if you’re not tracking metrics then it can be difficult to tell. 

There are two key areas that I think every business owner should be on top of:

1. Website Analytics

• How many website visitors are you getting? 
• Where are they coming from? 
• Which content/ lead generation activities are driving the most visitors?
• How long do they spend on your site?

If that list looks overwhelming, never fear. These are all easy to find metrics in Google Analytics.  

2. Email Marketing Metrics

• How many subscribers do you have?
• Which landing pages/ forms are most successful at converting website visitors into subscribers?
• Which lead magnets are driving the most subscriptions?
• What are your email open rates?
• What are your email click through rates?

The first three data points above can be found on Google Analytics, with the last provided by your email service provider. 

These basic metrics will give you a really strong idea of how your wider online marketing and sales efforts are working - I’d advise that you get in the habit of checking them on a weekly or monthly basis. 

When it comes to marketing data, there is no end of things you can track. But, I don’t recommend you go any further than my suggestions above - leave that to the experts!

2. Social Media Essentials

Before you ever think about outsourcing your social media management, it’s worth doing the work to ensure you’re using the right platforms for your business. 

I’ve met so many business owners who think that they need to be on ALL the social media platforms to engage their clients and grow their business. 

The reality is that this will only lead to overwhelm - what works well on one platform, doesn’t necessarily translate across to another, so your content creation efforts end up being extremely inefficient. 

The truth is, your ideal client isn’t on ALL the social media platforms. They likely have a favourite social site where they spend the majority of their time. And that’s where you need to be too. 

So take the time to understand the purpose of each social channel and which one works best for your audience - check out this post to help you decide. 

3. Understand your client journey through your sales funnel

Do you have a good idea of how to move your leads from browser to buyer? 

This is known as your sales funnel and is the most important foundation of your marketing strategy - without it, all the tactics and tools you try will simply be a waste of time and money. 

So, what are the steps that your leads take to discover your business, engage with your content (whether that’s following you and interacting with your social media content, or subscribing to your email list) and finally hire you?

Related reading: The 3 main steps to map the perfect customer journey for your solution

Outsource your marketing with CONFIDENCE

Once you have a feel for each of these 3 key marketing basics, you should find it far easier to effectively outsource your marketing workflow. 

For example, you’ll be able to gauge if:

1. Your marketing specialist understands your lead and sales process and if they’re proposing a strategy that will work for your particular client base. 

2. Your social media managers are focusing on the correct channels and are attracting the right clients.

3. With an understanding of the key data you can gauge the success of your marketing activities and you’ll know the right questions and challenges to pose to your marketing support specialists. 

There comes a point when every small business owner understands that you simply can’t do everything yourself. At that point, armed with the right skills, you can feel far more confident about outsourcing your marketing.

After all, no matter who does your marketing, YOU are still in charge!

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