Marketing is trust building
Build Mode™ Issue 10.2024
Why does marketing feel so complicated?
It’s like there are a million things to do:
Write blog posts
Produce content for social media
Submit projects for awards
Sponsor a charity tournament
Prepare presentations for interviews
Produce collateral to leave with prospects
Host events
Send holiday cards
Respond to RFPs
Speak at an industry conference
Write press releases
Advertise in local and industry publications
Maintain and optimize your website
Arrange photo shoots of your projects
Sponsor a business event
Write an email newsletter
(...ok, maybe not a million, but I could keep going with this list.)
The job of marketing is not easy.
But it doesn’t have to be overwhelming.
While there are many ways people define marketing, and what’s under the umbrella of marketing (by the way, don’t you dare put branding under the umbrella of marketing!), here’s my simple definition:
Marketing is building trust with an audience by delivering value.
Yup. That’s it.
Now let’s get into the strategy to learn how to do that.
What is a marketing strategy?
People do business with people they know, like, and trust (trite but true).
So, the goal of a marketing strategy is to turn people into clients through the process of building trust.
First, they need to become aware of you and know you,
Then, they need to build interest in you and like you and your work,
Next, they need to have a desire for your services through the trust you’ve built,
And finally, they will take action and make a deal.
How do you build trust?
Know who your audience is and consistently give them value.
What’s of value?
It’s up to you to discover what is valuable to your connections and prospects.
Might they value a connection to a potential partner?
Might they value an industry update on the latest trends or benchmarks?
Might they value your mentorship or advice?
The marketing strategy framework I’ve drafted details six primary methods to reach people to increase brand awareness, generate leads, and grow your business. It was inspired by several sources, plus my own practical experience of marketing in the architectural industry for over a decade. It not only applies to architecture and design, but any profession that offers expert services. By sorting the endless list of marketing activities into these six categories, you can determine which methods are most effective for reaching people.
Marketing strategySix methods for reaching your audience
Take a look at the framework above. These six touchpoints are methods of reaching your audience, a spectrum from warm connections to cold, from personal to scalable.
Above the line are methods of reaching people one-to-one: networking, referrals, and outreach.
Below the line are methods of reaching people at scale, one-to-many: content, sponsorships, and advertising.
On the left side of the line are methods of reaching people you know by delivering value (inbound marketing), through networking and content.
In the center of the line are methods of reaching people by association, through referrals and sponsorships.
On the right side of the line are methods of reaching people that don’t know you (outbound marketing), through outreach and advertising.
Let’s go over each one briefly.
1:1
Networking
Love it or hate it, networking is an essential way to strengthen connections with the people you already know, and the new people you’ll meet. Don’t think of networking as just going to events, dinners, and golf outings… consider how you can network online too, and share your insights, connections, and personal stories with others to build better relationships and maintain a healthy business.
Referrals
Referrals sit in between networking and outreaching, the connection point between someone you know, and someone you don’t. Having a proactive strategy for requesting new connections with a warm introduction is advantageous to build your network. You’re leveraging the positive experiences you’ve offered your existing connections to build new ones.
Outreach
Direct outreach is a method of making connections with a potential prospect even though they don’t know you yet (otherwise known as ‘cold calling’ or ‘cold emailing’). Direct outreach gets a bad rap, but it shouldn’t be counted out. There’s a possibility that you reach someone, with the right message, at the right time, who needs your services. And even if they don’t need you at the moment, you’ve at least made yourself known to them with just a bit of research and effort.
1:manyContent
Content marketing is a strategy to deliver value through your writing, your speaking, and your ability to maintain a strong digital presence on your website and social media channels. When you share your knowledge with people who value learning from you, and have a repository of work to back up your expertise, you’re building trust and credibility over time so that one day they may raise their hand and ask to work with you.
Sponsorship
Sponsorship is a strategy that many sources have completely neglected but it’s valuable for service professionals. It’s like advertising in that there’s a cost, but unlike advertising, a sponsorship creates promotional opportunities through an association with another organization or event to reach new audiences. For example, if you’re a firm that specializes in a particular industry, you may consider sponsoring a conference that allows you to exhibit at a conference, or host a presentation with your ideal prospects. Association with the event puts you in a position of influence through your presence and participation, and ability to deliver value to a large audience that otherwise wouldn’t have been available without sponsorship.
Advertising
Paid advertising is a method of outbound marketing that pushes your message outward to the masses. It might be a method of creating some level of brand awareness (if the ad is memorable), but I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that advertising for service professionals is generally ineffective. Products? That’s a different story. I’d love to be proven wrong though! Let me know about a time you clicked an advertisement and hired a builder, photographer, tax consultant, real estate agent, or any other professional in the service industry.
Now that you’ve read through the six methods to reach your audience, I bet you’re wondering where all the other parts of ‘marketing’ are. How do award submissions fit into this? Where are the proposals? Where's the public relations? And you’re right to ask. While there are many aspects of marketing, in my opinion, these six methods of directly reaching your audience are the ones that move the needle for your business.
What you can do nextHow to start a marketing strategy
The marketing strategy you put in place becomes an intentional framework for attaining qualified leads and growing your business. You’re probably doing a lot of marketing already, but to turn your marketing activities into a comprehensive strategy, consider how you can categorize each activity into one of the six methods as described in the framework above.
Are you reaching people one-to-one through networking, referrals, and outreach?
Log all your one-to-one activities to keep track of the connections your nurturing and the effectiveness of your outreach efforts
Are you reaching people one-to-many through content, sponsorship, or advertising?
Analyze your content to identify which types resonate most with your audience and which have compelled people to show interest in your organization and services.
Evaluate your paid sponsorships and determine how effective they’ve been in moving the needle forward for your business.
What are your other marketing efforts and how are they contributing to your organization’s brand reputation?
For any initiative that requires internal resources, find its place within an overall strategy, analyze its effectiveness, and adapt as needed.
Hopefully you’ve gotten something useful from this breakdown of marketing strategy and the six methods of reaching your audience. Does it resonate with you? Does it make the insanely long laundry list of marketing items easier to grasp? Curious to hear your thoughts.
And if your organization needs to find better clarity with your marketing efforts, and you’re ready to reach your audience more effectively, this is an area where I can support you. Feel free to get in touch.
That’s all for the October issue of Build Mode! Thanks again for being here.
Let’s talk soon!
Best.
Kenny Isidoro
See my latest on Instagram, LinkedIn, or feel free to book a call.
The best way to find yourself
is to lose yourself in the service of others.
-GandhiSubscribe to Build Mode™
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