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Tips to help you launch your online products and services.

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Importance of Social Media for Female Entrepreneurs

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All hail leveraging the power of personal connection!

Understanding the importance of social media is crucial in today’s small business environment. These platforms have become essential tools for any digital marketing plan. 

A savvy social media strategy for small businesses can help you increase brand awareness, boost inbound traffic, and improve SEO. Staying active and responsive increases brand loyalty and builds trust, enabling your business to become relational and connected to its audience. 

Why Small Businesses Need Social Media

Having an active presence on relevant platforms has become a non-negotiable for most small businesses today. 

The reasons for this are many and continue to increase as its marketing tools develop. Here are some of the benefits:

  • Raises brand awareness
  • Boosts inbound traffic
  • Enhances SEO
  • Increases brand loyalty
  • Facilitates connection with your audience
  • Create leads
  • Allow customers to easily find and contact you

The Proof is in the Percentages

Recent statistics reveal even more reasons to make this a marketing focus:

  • 55% of consumers first hear about a brand through social media, including 78% of Gen Z and 61% of Millenials
  • 68% of consumers say these platforms enable them to interact with a business
  • A whopping 78% of customers are willing to buy from a company after engaging with them in this way
  • 80% of executives agree it’s essential to business, which means your competition is likely leveraging these platforms already

Create an effective strategy

With some initial planning, you’ll get the exposure you need to make your audience aware of your brand and launch a crucial component of your marketing plan! 

Read more about creating a plan in our guide on incorporating Pinterest into your marketing strategies.

Pick the right platforms

Social media accounts for your business provide a great doorway to your website by embedding links into your posts and profiles, many times seamlessly through the platform itself. This can happen on almost any platform, but focusing your efforts in the right place is important. 

First, do some research and find out where your target demographic is spending their time, whether it’s on LinkedIn, Facebook, TikTok, or another social space. You don’t need to be active on every platform out there, just the ones that matter most to your customer base.

If your clientele isn’t on Twitter…Ignore it! If they never use Linked-in, then there is no reason for you to be super active there either. The key is, identify your target market, find where they spend their time, and focus efforts there.

Be intentional with your engagement

Remaining active and responding quickly to comments and customer inquiries is just as important as posting new content regularly. Having clear calls to action and stellar content in a post invites potential customers to explore further and purchase your product.

Be diligent with your strategy

Take advantage of the demographic and data tools inherent to Facebook, LinkedIn, etc., and monitor new developments closely. Evaluate and re-evaluate your strategy’s effectiveness on a regular basis.

Understand the latest updates and trends on your chosen platforms. Things change rapidly in the digital arena, and what works one month may need to be adjusted the next. Keep your fingers on the pulse of your platform and your audience!

Gaining paid followers

Exposure can happen organically through consistency and informed strategy, but you can speed things up with paid advertising on many platforms as well. Consider allocating a bit of your marketing budget to gain additional exposure that organic activity simply can’t get you today.  The response and data you get from your efforts is also really valuable to your marketing plan.

Social Proof

These platforms are ideal for creating user-generated content as social proof for your brand. Customers may comment or share their opinions without your direct involvement, but you can also solicit reviews in a post or story and use their feedback in more deliberate marketing campaigns.

To encourage users to be engaged, consider these kinds of concepts:

  • Ensure your social profiles are easy to find…business cards, websites, cross-social media links, mailers, pamphlets, invoices, etc.
  • Offer a reward if a client subscribes, likes, follows, or posts to your accounts
  • Run contests or promotions that are strictly done over social platforms

Utilizing these kinds of ideas can help gain additional engagement and when done correctly, will yield the social proof consumers are looking for when making buying decisions.

The Power of Personality

One of the most powerful aspects of social media is the potential for relatability and the personal loyalty your customers can develop for your brand. 

These spaces began as ways to connect with friends and coworkers, and while they still do this, businesses, products, and services are now woven into fabric of social media connection that feels more personal. 

There’s a sense that whatever lands in front of your audience’s eyes, it was invited and welcome. So if your company is friended or followed, it becomes a personal connection they can rely on, and not just a provider of products and services.

This makes it easier to create trust and brand loyalty than through other forms of marketing. Social media can create a unique psychological connection with a worldwide reach.

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Strategic Marketing – What it Is and How it Works

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A strategic marketing plan is key to the success of any business.

What is strategic marketing? Broadly speaking, strategic marketing involves using informed strategies to enhance your marketing plan. Employing an effective strategy requires shrewd decision-making based on crucial components of your business. This is revealed in a SWOT analysis and key target demographic information. It takes into account a company’s vision and mission, and aids marketing efforts to reach these goals.

Strategic marketing is an important piece of business planning, but it is only one piece. A strategy without a vision is aimless. Action without strategy is wasted. Taking action is essential, or nothing happens. With the right tools and priorities, you can pull together vision, strategy, and action to give your company the forward movement it needs. 

Using SWOT for Strategic Planning

One useful tool for creating any great business strategy is the classic SWOT analysis.

If you haven’t completed one before, take the time now to evaluate (or re-evaluate) these four important factors in your organization:

  • Strengths
  • Weaknesses
  • Opportunities
  • Threats

A typical SWOT analysis is basically a simple grid of four squares, where each is titled with one of the categories above. The squares are filled in by you and your team, giving you an overall assessment of how your business is currently operating and sets you up to prioritize your list of items to accomplish.

Start with Your Vision in Mind

Before you start a SWOT, you should have a broad vision and goals established for your business. This way, as you determine your company’s strengths, you can list them in light of what will aid you in reaching your vision. 

Once this is established, your SWOT analysis can help you develop a high-level strategy to reach your marketing goals. It identifies the tools you have and environmental factors at play, so your plan will make sense.

Comprehensive SWOT Analysis 

Clarifying this information on paper will give you the insight you need to develop strategies in each area of your business, and it will certainly inform your strategic plan. 

This helps you create your strategy in several ways. For example, including aspects of your business’s strengths in advertising efforts, such as super-fast shipping, can help promote growth in a desired department or product line. 

Considering certain weaknesses can also affect the plan. If you have trouble responding to social media inquiries, for instance, this should be addressed before integrating Facebook ad campaigns.

Threats and opportunities have more to do with environmental factors, like market behaviors and competition. You could use seasonal opportunities to help determine when to ramp up your efforts, and mitigate threats like over-saturation with differentiation in brand presentation, or by targeting a new demographic.

Marketing Plan SWOT

The SWOT is normally completed in regards to the business as a whole and is very useful for determining strategy. But it can also be applied to the marketing plan itself. 

When utilizing a SWOT for this purpose, ask yourself these questions:

  • What are the Strengths and Weaknesses of the current plan, in light of your goals?
  • What are some potential market Opportunities? 
  • What might Threaten this plan?

It’s best to complete a SWOT analysis for both your marketing plan and your business as a whole, as each can provide different insights to help build your strategy.

Get Feedback Through Market Research

A commonly overlooked aspect of any strategy is actually asking your customers what they want. Too often, business owners believe they know everything the client needs. Putting those blinders on is dangerous and can lead to sterile thinking that is unimaginative and never results in real growth.  

Simple ideas to gain market insights include:

  • Sending out a questionnaire
  • Offering a giveaway when a survey is completed
  • Making a few calls or sending a few emails to clients you trust
  • Talking with other business owners or people familiar with your market

None of these cost a lot or take a lot of time, but performing these tasks as part of your strategic marketing development may yield really great results. Uncovering ideas and turning on light bulbs is the goal with any great market research project. Once you have the data, use it in your strategic plan.

Implementing the Plan

Once you have a well-documented plan in place, it’s important to gain buy-in from others within your organization. Get the people in your business involved that will carry out the tasks and make sure everyone is on the same page with what you are going to do and why. 

Each piece of this larger plan can be broken into smaller parts, and eventually into specific tactics to carry it out. Make specific assignments and ensure you have measurable outcomes defined.  See our in-depth article on Tactical Marketing for more details on how to execute a great strategic marketing plan.

Summing it up

Developing a strong strategic plan is vitally important to the success of any marketing endeavor. Utilizing tools such as SWOT analysis, demographic information, market research, and overarching business goals will ensure you have a broad enough lens to capture the most valuable things to work towards. When you develop a solid strategy with smart tactics in line with your business goals, your marketing will be unstoppable!

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Is Tactical Marketing Right for Your Business?

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When it comes to marketing, careful planning makes the difference between success or failure.

Tactical marketing is determining the detailed activities that will fulfill your marketing plan, like choosing ad channels, writing email copy, creating timelines, and setting a budget. These marketing tactics are tailored to help your business reach its strategic goals. After you have a solid strategy in place, you can use tactics to apply specific actions to successfully carry out your plan.

You may have wondered what this approach could do for your business. What exactly does it mean? Is it the same as strategic marketing? How do you integrate marketing tactics into your business goals? 

Tactical marketing is an important piece of a larger plan, and can be highly effective when coupled with a strong strategy. Most businesses today are already using various tactics to market themselves. But using these tools well is more than just applying typical methods. Done correctly, this type of detailed marketing can yield amazing results and turn your strategy into success.

How are strategic and tactical marketing different?

While both concepts are in the same wheelhouse, there are key differences between strategic and tactical marketing. 

Strategic Marketing Principles

Strategic marketing provides a broad vision based on the current picture of where your company is, and where you want it to go. A great strategy will consider a company’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats by taking its SWOT analysis into account. It uses business goals and data to decide how to market to potential and current customers. This provides a roadmap based on a company’s vision, but it doesn’t spell out the actual tasks needed to fulfill the overarching plan. 

Tactical Marketing Principles

Marketing tactics are the detailed actions that fulfill the strategy.  Details contained in a tactical plan can include things like:

  • Specific ad campaign design and messaging
  • Budget and ROI projections
  • Target market and consumers
  • Routes to market
  • Desired outcomes
  • Metrics to determine success

Tactical marketing is the intentional planning and execution of specific tasks to carry out the overarching vision. 

When are you ready to start tactical objectives?

Having a solid strategy is the first step. Strategy must come first, just as a vision must be in place before a mission can be carried out. This will point your efforts in the right direction. Employing tactics without a strategic framework is like throwing punches in the dark — something might land, but your chances are far less. 

You also need to make sure your products and services can fulfill the strategic promise. Can you truly deliver what you’re selling? Is the vision you have on paper consistent with the integrity of your offerings right now? Or do you need to work on developing your products and services to fit the vision? If you’re able to perform what you’re promising in a well-developed strategy, you’re ready to begin.

Creating the tactical plan

A great plan will have objectives that will ultimately fulfill the vision for growth and service in your business. This gets into the nitty-gritty of specific actions, so make sure your plan is detailed and crystal clear for everyone on the team. 

  • Define measurable outcomes with key metrics to measure success
  • Make specific and detailed assignments to task owners with delivery dates
  • Detail the markets you are targeting and associated messaging
  • Build and track specific budget including expense and return on investment

Measure and adjust

Define measurable outcomes for your objectives, so you’ll be able to quickly identify what’s working and what’s not, and adjust tactics if your desired outcomes aren’t being realized. 

Knowing your strategy is key; refer back to it as you determine your plan, its objectives, and make tweaks throughout the process. Conduct A/B testing to determine what is working and then do more of that! Clear direction backed with key metrics will also give you the ability to be flexible and open to innovation, without becoming confused and distracted.

To use tactics effectively, you also really need to know your customer well. This is where data collection and deep dives into demographic analysis can be very useful. Some valuable data can be found by using:

  • Surveys
  • Customer reviews
  • Comments on social media
  • Google Analytics
  • Customer interaction with ad campaigns

Tactical marketing is a great idea for any business with defined business goals, and a developed strategy as a broad roadmap of how to reach them. Smart tactics are the right tools used at the best time to move the needle forward. When supported by strategy and vision, your efforts will no longer be guesses and hopes, but tactics that help fulfill a larger plan for your company’s success.

To learn more about marketing strategies and tactics, check out our marketing mastermind to learn even more specific directions on how to move the needle in your business.

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How to Create a Marketing Budget for Your Small Business

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Marketing is more than a buzzword, it’s the lifeline to a successful business.

You’ve got a great business idea. You’re ready to launch. But wait. Have you developed a plan on how much money to spend on marketing your business? A hard truth to know is that without marketing, your customers can’t find you. It’s time to focus on your marketing budget for your small business. Here are three things to consider with how to create a marketing budget. 

How much to spend on marketing?

The first consideration in creating a marketing budget for your small business is the total amount to spend. In general, businesses will typically spend 7-8% (some go up to a maximum of 10%) of their gross revenue to reinvest in their marketing budget. When first building a brand, however, businesses can frequently spend up to 20% on marketing because they need to make themselves visible in a crowded marketplace, there’s a lot of trial and error to find what works, and in general – a lot of opportunity and startup cost associated with building the product/service and marketing to those first initial customers. 

Fun fact: Your first customers are the hardest to get, the usually the most expensive to acquire. 

The key is knowing the financial health of your business and consistently allocating marketing dollars to attract new revenue. Marketing done right will guide new customers to you, result in increased sales, and gives opportunities to build relationships with your target audience. Acquiring new customers is almost always more expensive than keeping repeat customers. So consider your specific message, target audience, and associated costs when developing your budgets. 

Check out the 5 Fundamental of Marketing for Female Owned Small Businesses to learn more about developing a marketing plan to attract the right types of customers.

Effective marketing

After you have determined how much you have to spend on marketing (7-8% of revenue), it’s time to think about how to be most effective with those dollars. Important tips on how to receive a high return on investment in marketing include:

  • Market research is the first step. Your market research will tell you where your prospective customers shop and how to reach them. Without this information, you’re firing off marketing campaigns and hope something will stick. Find the right target audience and platform to reach them as a foundation of where to spend your money. Go where they are already looking for solutions and spending time online. Go to THEM.
  • Consistency is your best marketing secret. When you know where to market and how to market to your audience – the key is repetition. Potential customers have to hear about your business frequently so they can purchase when they’re ready. To learn more, check out Using Frequency Marketing to Gain Happy Customers.
  • Tracking sales compared to money spent. You can’t manage what you don’t measure is a time-trusted adage that rings true with marketing as well.  Tracking key metrics is vital to your success.  Analyze your month, quarter, and year to have a better picture of the impact your campaigns are having. Try ‘A and B’ testing and track the results of different types of efforts.  Do more of what is working and don’t be afraid to pull the plug on what isn’t hitting the mark.  Your marketing dollars are too important to use them on low payoff items.  
  • Select the right tools.  Successful marketing strategies use the right tools to execute on the details. While some requirements may need tools that have associated costs, many will find that utilizing free tools like Google docs and Wave accounting will be great for planning and tracking progress. Other tools like Monday.com, Sharp Spring, and Improvado have either no or low monthly fees and are worth checking out to help you deliver on the strategy. In the end, the tools you select can be a make or break part of your strategy. Depending on your needs, budgeting for those tools is a key to success.
  • Outsource to save time and money. New business owners have to wear multiple hats, but at some point, you must figure out how to get more bang for your buck as the leader of your small business. Outsourcing is a great option to give you more time, a new perspective, and how to ultimately reach your market. Here’s 5 Reasons for Outsourcing Marketing Activities vs In-House Hiring.

What should be included in your marketing budget for your small business?

There is no doubt that having marketing is essential for success. To stick to your budget, whether it’s 7% or 10% of gross revenues, it’s critical to know what should be included. To learn more, check out 3 Key Elements in Every Successful Marketing Plan.

Here are some common things and ideas for you to consider when planning your marketing budget:

  • Website design (usually a 1-time, up front cost)
  • Website management (ongoing cost)
  • Branding (packaging, inventory, etc… if applicable) (usually an upfront cost)
  • SEO (search engine optimization, ongoing cost)
  • Content (email marketing, podcast production, webinars, etc – typically an ongoing cost)
  • Advertising (ongoing cost)
  • Social media (ongoing cost)
  • Public relations (ongoing cost)
  • Events (ongoing cost)
  • Tracking tools (ongoing cost)
  • Marketing automation (ongoing cost)
  • Outsourcing (ongoing cost)

 

Important Key Takeaway

The key here is to select the activities that will yield the highest results as soon as possible. A lot of small businesses make the mistake of burning their cashflow too fast, and too soon, and before you know it – they’re out of money and options. It’s much better to pick less items to include iny our marketing budget, but make those items count as much as possible. 

Now, with your new plan on how to create a marketing budget, you’re ready to dive in and give your customers what they want. Building a successful woman owned business has multiple layers. At Sohuis, we’re ready to be your secret weapon to learn the ropes on building a business. Come check out our member fireside chats and masterclasses from exclusive marketing consultants to how to do PR on a budget. Come check us out and see how we can be your best resource!

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3 Key Elements in Every Successful Marketing Plan

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You know the old saying, “Success isn’t owned. It’s leased and rent is due every day.” What’s more is that success is planned for from the beginning!

In breaking down the elements of a successful business plan, your marketing plan is a huge piece of the puzzle. Your marketing plan must focus first on your target audience (customers) with crystal clear ideas on how you’re going to reach them. Not sure where to get started with your marketing plan? Here are 3 key elements that you usually see in every successful business plan. 

(Really) know your target audience

You cannot create an effective marketing plan without knowing your audience. It’s no longer good enough to understand basic, high-level information about your customers. The best marketers deeply understand their customers’ pain points, what they struggle with, what their goals are, and how they can uniquely help them. In all honesty – you could have the best marketer on the planet working for you, and if you don’t deeply understand your customer, the strategy will fail.

To help you get started, we created an awesome Marketing Guide that shows you exactly how to dial into your target audience in 30-minutes or less. It also includes a free customer persona building template, get your free download here.

Market Research

Market research is an age-old research tool to help you identify your consumer’s and habits, behaviors, psychographics, and more. Research is the first of several elements of a marketing plan because without it, you are throwing the proverbial spaghetti against the wall, trying to get something to stick. What’s great about market research is that it doesn’t just have to be information you pull off of the internet, either. Surveying former customers, customer discovery interviews, A/B tests, customer feedback – all of these initiatives are a form of research. Don’t know certain information about your customers? Ask them! 

Primary research comes directly from a potential consumer. This information is invaluable. Negative and constructive feedback is oftentimes more valuable than positive feedback because it shows you what’s working for you customers, and what isn’t. From there, you can pivot and modify your strategy accordingly.

Secondary research relies on statistics, studies, and other gathered data to build the elements of a marketing plan. This is the big picture. How much does your target audience spend on your type of product or service? Are there new trends? Where do your customers shop? Secondary research helps you know where to hone in for effective marketing.

Know Your Competition

Check out the competition. If your competitors are succeeding, they’ve likely already done market research and have figured a few things out along the way. By researching the competition, you’re giving yourself a leg up on who is interested in what you have to offer. If they’re doing well, you can bet there is room for your woman-owned business to also flourish. 

If you’re already in business, and if you’re reworking or starting market research, begin with your current customers. The goal is to broaden your audience with people who are similar to your existing customers. This information details a proven track record for your success. To win in marketing, repeat, repeat, repeat everything that’s working. Check out Using Frequency Marketing to Gain Happy Customers.

Where do you market? Build a strategy!

Your business is in the market to fill a niche or solve a problem, but you must reach your audience with the right message in the right place for an effective marketing plan to work.

Where do your customers go for information?

Building a customer acquisition strategy is one of the key elements of a marketing plan. This strategy helps you figure out exactly how to acquire customers and at what frequency. A quick place to start is to research how your target segment shops for your type of product or service. Different social platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and TikTok each reach a different demographic. Here’s how to learn more about  How to Use Pinterest in Your Marketing Strategy.

Be Consistent

Once you’ve found your customer, the worse thing you can do is disappear. Your customers want a mutually beneficial relationship. Give them what they want, and keep showing up for them consistently so that when they’re ready to buy, you’ve created trust and you’ll be top of mind. Effective marketing includes your staying consistent with your outreach, your messaging, and your strategy. Consistent touch with clients might include things like:

  • Email blasts
  • Loyalty programs
  • Social media updates
  • Product promotions
  • Coupon codes
  • Mailers
  • Advertising

How do you spend your marketing dollars?

Your budget is going to change as your business grows. Businesses often fail because they didn’t plan to spend enough on marketing from the start. Here’s where to get started:

Start with the Essentials

Marketing essentials including a website, branding, social media, and advertising. Make it easy for them to find you and your message. Get out there and do it!

For effective marketing you must use a two-prong approach.

Focus on what is already proven and working. If email blasts give you the best ROI (return on investment), then keep doing it. But if you’re brand new in the market, you’re guessing what will work in the early stages (and that’s totally OKAY). Trial and error is really important at the beginning to figure out which marketing mix and channels are going to work best for you. 

Allocate part of your budget to experiment. Popular belief would make you think that there’s a one-size fits all approach to marketing – and that is simply not true. If there’s a new social media platform, or you just have a great new and daring idea, budget to be able to give it a try…then measure your results. If it works, great! If it was a flop, then you move on to the next idea. Without experimenting, you might miss finding your best marketing platform.

Come visit us at Sohuis to team up with women business owners like you, learning elements of a marketing plan or more of the latest tips and keys to lead to success. When you have Sohuis on your team, you can keep up to date with the latest masterclasses and fireside chats, learning tricks like being newsworthy to help your marketing plan, how to stand out in a sea of sameness, and even how to build an online empire. We’re excited to share everything we know so we can cheer with you as you succeed.

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Using Frequency Marketing to Gain Happy Customers

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If there’s one tried and true sales and marketing strategy that we know works every time – it’s that regular contact with your customers and leads helps keep them coming back!

Your woman-owned business depends on successful marketing, and this encourages happy customers come back to buy more. ‘Frequency Marketing,’ a term you might not be familiar with, is the key to reach those customers. Every dollar spent in advertising must yield results, and here are the secrets to tap into frequency marketing to help you grow your business. 

Reach vs. frequency marketing

Your advertising reach is quite simply how many people receive your marketing message.  Advertising frequency is how often your market hears your message. 

Here’s the secret of reach vs frequency marketing: if you have a broad reach and don’t use frequency marketing, you’re wasting your money. Frequency is the smart way to build a customer base.

Why is frequency marketing important?

​​At the end of the day, people buy from familiar brands. Old-school marketing wisdom suggests consumers don’t buy anything until they’ve seen a marketing message an average of seven times. Sticking to the Fundamentals of Marketing and relaying that message continually will help build the brand recognition you are looking for. 

Is the marketing rule of seven true today? Using the same sales pitch seven times is NOT enough! You need to be engaging with your customers with a variety of messages to continue to build familiarity and trust; and of course, social media is a gold mine to utilize in your frequency marketing campaigns because there is so much opportunity to interact with your customers daily. 

If you’re on a tight budget, consistency is more important than reach. What if you had a handful of seeds and threw them up in the air? Even if some are carried away by the wind to distant sales grounds, they’re not going to grow without water. Consistent marketing is like providing water to grow those seeds of interest in your clients. Focusing on frequency, prepares seeds to grow into sales.

How do you plan your advertising frequency?

Knowing you need to reach your audience seven or more times for effective frequency marketing is a great start. 

Avoid a spammy sales pitch and instead share meaningful content that benefits your customers. 

Here are 6 tips for meaningful and useful content 

  • Ask yourself this question: what is unique about you and your company?

Is there an advantage to using your product or service? How will your company benefit your customers’ lives? Potential customers want to know the inside story about you and why you do what you do. 

  • Why do people go to the internet? To be entertained!

If you can post amusing content, you’ve already got engaging and useful content. 

  • Emotion is a driving factor in most purchasing decisions.

Do you have an interesting story to tell? Stories draw in customers with emotion. And also this avoids serving up spam.

  • Interact with your customers. 

Some of your best members on your frequency marketing team are your existing customers. Their stories draw in business between testimonials, videos of them using your products, interviews of them showcasing how your solution helped them. The opportunities to use your current customers as your sales force are endless!   

Here’s another key: potential customers are far more likely to buy from you if they’ve been referred or experience 3rd party validation rather than you trying to convince them of your value.

And what about your employees? Are they part of your customer base? Here’s another opportunity to focus on their stories to help you sell.

  • Target ads to your specific demographic with frequency marketing. 

Focus your time and money on your greatest potential market.  

Now that you’re consistently showing your customers why they want to do business with you and how they would benefit, they feel confident you’re offering valuable content, and they know you have their best interests at heart, they’re more likely to make a purchase. 

Without regular touch, customers forget about how awesome your products and services are and how they’ll benefit their lives. By being consistent, you’re giving your customers the opportunity to make purchases when they’re ready.

  •  Is there a cost-effective way to implement frequency marketing? 

Social media and email marketing are your answers to finding great cost-efficient ways to reach your market. 

We are big fans of email marketing automation tools like Flodesk,  Mailchimp, and ConvertKit that collect leads and manage other contacts like mailing lists and newsletters.

Fun fact: Email marketing has the highest ROI than all other social channels combined. It is a must for small businesses. Grab our free training on Email Marketing 101 right here.

Social media automation tools like Planoly, Tailwind and Hootsuite offer platforms to help you create content and schedule posts. These services also track your ROI and manage your team. Here’s more information about Hiring the Right Small Business Management Services. 

What are the pros of implementing a frequency marketing strategy? 

  • Consistent messaging creates trust, awareness, and keeps your brand top of mind when your customers are ready to buy (the rule of 7)
  • Automation tools make it easy and cost-effective to create consistent value through your content delivery
  • Helps you bring previous customers back for more with promotions and consistent touch (increasing that customer lifetime value)

What are the cons of implementing a frequency marketing strategy? 

  • Repetitive communications can get marked as spam
  • Obvious tag of automation tool on platforms like Facebook and Twitter
  • Less creative than a personalized option
  • Frequent communications can mean additional effort to come up with fresh content continually 

If you loved this blog, check out everything else we’ve got going on from masterclasses and fireside chats, to our marketing mastermind, to our formal marketing accelerator for women owned businesses. Now that you’ve learned some of the secrets of frequency marketing, come check us out and see how we can help you improve your business!

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5 Reasons for Outsourcing Marketing Activities vs In-House Hiring

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Should you hire marketing resources in-house or should you look to outsource that capacity?

An outsourcing strategy brings new people to the table to give you a fresh perspective on your business, growth potential, and how to reach your market effectively. There are plenty of reasons for outsourcing, but the most important are time and money.

What does outsourced marketing offer?

As you build and grow your woman-owned business, you need experts in your corner. When outsourcing marketing tasks, you’re hiring laser-focused team members who concentrate on driving new business, increase brand awareness, and ultimately, produce revenue. Having an external contractor gives you a fresh perspective, additional expertise, and frees your time.

5 Reasons for Outsourcing Marketing vs Having it In-House

  1. Get a Competitive Boost

One of the reasons to outsource marketing is to rely on experts. Marketing companies know current trends, how to reach your target audience, and leverage your marketing dollar for the largest impact. They must stay on the leading edge and give your small business a competitive boost in the marketplace.

For an in-house team to be competitive, it can be expensive to acquire the same knowledge, talents, experience, and capacity. Many times large companies hire an in-house team for convenience, not because it’s the best option.  For the small business, getting that quick competitive boost at an affordable cost may mean looking at service providers to help.

2. Return on Investment (ROI)

Hiring the right company saves you money. As a small business, every dollar counts and money spent on marketing specifically must bring a healthy ROI. Having cutting-edge marketing improves sales and is one of the prime reasons for outsourcing marketing. You’re paying an outsourced marketing firm to perform. If they don’t live up to your expectation, they lose your business.

An in-house team can be more expensive than outsourcing marketing and has different incentives to perform.  Being a “client” to an outsourced firm can be an easier path than providing continual direction and oversight of in-house resources.

3. Focused Time From Experts

Your outsourcing strategy hires the focused time of experts. Marketing projects such as redesigning a website, rebranding, or media programs take a significant amount of time. You may not need a full-time employee to complete your marketing plan.

Your outsourced team frees your time to concentrate on other aspects of your business. Piling more work on in-house employees is less efficient than hiring experts who will complete work more quickly.

4. New Perspectives on Your Business

Another reason to outsource marketing is to reach a broader audience. A new perspective ties in with having a competitive boost, and is a key to get out of marketing ruts.

If you rely on an in-house team, they are influenced by your company culture and approach marketing in a static way.

5. Flexibility and Scalability

As your business grows and changes, you need the flexibility offered by an outsourcing strategy. A marketing firm adapts to the changes you need when you need them. 

Also, when outsourcing your marketing, you gain team members with different backgrounds and perspectives. Diversity increases flexibility in marketing campaigns.

As your business grows, an outsourced marketing team can scale with you and provide scaled costs.  Scaling in-house resources can be much more difficult.

How to Build an Outsourcing Strategy

Every dollar needs to get utilized to build a stronger business. Instead of throwing money at the wall to see what sticks, you need to have an outsourcing strategy.

  • What are your marketing strengths?

Always play to your strengths. If you love an aspect of your business, then keep doing it!

  • What are your marketing weaknesses?

We all have areas that need to be bolstered. Do you hate the email list? How about writing or creating new content? What you don’t like to do is what the outsourcing strategy should be focused on. Marketing is so important for your success, and it’s worth investing money for your success.

  • Make a budget

Marketing is not the place to deeply slash your budget, but you still need to be able to afford your outsourcing strategy. Make a plan for your marketing budget to gain a greater ROI. Expect changes in your budget as your business grows, and readdress it often.

If you decide the reasons for outsourcing marketing activities outweighs hiring an in-house team, we have more ideas for you about Hiring the Right Small Business Management Services.  At Sohuis, our goal is to provide resources to help you grow your business. Come check out our workshops and experts. We look forward to meeting you and cheering for your success.

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Why You Should Hire a Virtual Administrative Assistant

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Hiring a Virtual Assistant is one of the best ways to find more time, and more time for you creates the opportunity to build a better business! 

A virtual administrative assistant is the secret to freeing time for your business. You work hard all day (and sometimes through the weekend, guilty), however, some tasks may not be the best use of your time. When you hire a virtual administrative assistant the busy work evaporates.

VA task expenses vary to suit your business. They pay for themselves by giving you the capacity to focus on your woman-owned business. And allow you to find time to take care of yourself and your loved ones.

What are virtual assistant tasks?

A virtual administrative assistant focuses on the low ROI (return on investment tasks) that support you in your efforts to make your business run more smoothly. The real value of a virtual administrative assistant – if utilized well – is that they free you up to perform other specialized work that no one else can do.

Here are some examples tasks virtual administrative assistants can do to help your business:

Business Efficiency

  • Written and verbal communication for internal and external sources
  • Organization of operational tasks
  • Online marketing in social media
  • Creating spreadsheets and presentations

Provide Research and Operation Management

  • Conducting market research
  • Data entry and analysis
  • Tracking social media and sales
  • Web development and expanding social media content

Freeing up your time 

  • Customer service
  • Emails
  • Scheduling appointments
  • Organizing your business information into a workable system

What can a virtual administrative assistant do for your business?

For any small business to succeed, you must stick within a budget and allocate funds where it improves your business. It’s not about cutting corners. It’s about how to use your capital strategically. One of the most critical assets in your business is your time. So at the end of the day, think of a virtual administrative assistant as a key tool to offset low value work so that you can invest in high-value efforts that are really going to move the needle for your business. 

Reduce Costs

Hiring a virtual administrative assistant is less expensive than hiring resources to come into your office because it reduces overhead expenses. You may only need to hire a part-time resource to complete the virtual administrative tasks you designate.

Improve Your Business

Having a virtual administrative assistant puts one person on the task of organization and efficiency. Having an expert take care of social media, research, and communication sets your business up to make a splash in the market.

Focus Your Time

Time is your most valuable commodity. The daily ins and outs of the business can eat up all your time. With a virtual administrative assistant, you are now able to focus on high-level work. More time helps you focus on the most important things that fuel your business. 

Are you ready to hire a virtual administrative assistant?

There are three signs that you are ready to hire a virtual administrative assistant.

There’s not enough time in the day.

During the start-up phase, you have to wear multiple hats to get everything done. But if administrative tasks are eating up your entire day, you must free yourself to take care of the critical components that only you can do.

You’re making mistakes.

Making mistakes goes hand-in-hand with not having enough time. If you are making mistakes because you have too much to do, it’s time to look at hiring a virtual administrative assistant. Sometimes, this looks like avoidance tactics of taking care of the daily running of your business. However, gaining control of costly mistakes is not avoidance. It’s strategy.

You feel out of control or overwhelmed.

If you’re hitting that point where you can’t work and focus, spending money to hire the right assistants can actually improve your bottom line. When virtual assistant tasks bring order to your business, you can focus on the things that matter. Having focus is also true for balancing your business with your home life. Once your business is operating smoothly, you will have time to focus on expansion.

Check out this article to learn more about Hiring the Right Small Small Business Management Services.

Hiring a virtual administrative assistant is the piece of the puzzle to keep you focused on building your business instead of wasting time and money on tasks that someone else can do. When you implement a system to take care of important but repetitive tasks, you will discover opportunities to grow. We’re here to help you make your woman-owned business successful through workshops and fireside chats. Come check out Sohuis for resources to build a better team for your business.

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Building a Premium Brand for Women Owned Businesses

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There’s a secret, under-tapped market, and you’re the expert to meet their needs!

Building a premium brand gives you an opportunity to reach consumers who spend more money for quality products. Premium brands are sought after by both men and women because of quality, ethical outsourcing, and customer service. We’ve got information for you to leverage building a personal brand to reflect your premium brand for better marketing.

What is a premium brand?

We often think a luxury brand is the same as a premium brand, but that’s not always true. A premium brand is positioned in the market to serve a specific market niche that is looking for a higher quality product. The premium brand can fetch similar prices to the luxury brand, but it is attractive to a consumer who may or may not care about luxury, but is definitely focused on quality. 

Women are America’s top consumers, but men purchase more premium brands than women. This gender shopping gap means the best marketing opportunities may lie in convincing women to shop for quality – and as a woman owned business, you know exactly what women want, putting you in the driver’s seat to convince them a premium brand is for them.

Is building a premium brand the right choice for you?

Building a premium brand is more expensive with the payoff farther down the road. It’s quality over quantity, and that’s why the ticket price is higher. Plan for enough capital to create an exclusive quality product. But not everyone wants one. 

To find out if building a premium brand is right for your woman-owned business, research where your product falls in the market index.

Here are two brand index resources to decide if your product fits premium brand parameters. 

https://business.yougov.com/product/brandindex 

https://www.askattest.com/brand-tracker

Advantages of building a personal brand

When building a personal brand with the focus on being premium, you must create a great story for your consumers. Your personal brand tells your story, but how does your story equate to premium?  

Consumers love premium brands with a good background story. How did you start this business? Who was involved? What makes you and your company unique? What are your key differentiators among your competitors?  These are all elements of your brand, so use them to convince your market that you offer exceptional quality. 

When developing your personal brand, pay close attention to your logo, website, and photography. Brands stand out in every way to reach their target audience. Here’s the perfect workshop to learn more about Why You Need a Genuine Personality Brand: How to Stand Out in a Sea of Sameness and a World of Duplicates. By joining as a Sohuis member, you’ll get access to this replay + all of our other trainings and marketing resources!

Five tips to building a premium brand 

  1.     Create a quality product 

Pay attention to the details when building your product. Know how your product is being manufactured and decide what ingredients or components make it special. The history of your product makes a difference to your consumer, and so it must matter to you too. 

  1.     Market to the right audience 

Not only is it important to use professional photography and have a stellar website, but you have to appeal to your specific target audience. 

Millennials born between 1983 to 1996 frequently purchase premium brands, averaging about 34% of the market. Those born between 1975 to 1984 make up the second largest portion of the market at 33%. And don’t forget Gen Z born between 1997 to 2003 make up an additional 19% of the market. The remaining 14% of the market of premium brand purchases are from outliers. 

This segment of the population buys premium brands because they are employed, moving up in their companies, and value quality and socially conscious products. 

  1.     Symbolic value 

You must give your buyers more than the concrete value of a product. As an example, shoes are not shoes. Does your target audience want shoes for walking? Yes, but they also want more out of those shoes. 

Think back to building a personal brand. Your narrative story is part of the symbolic value as well as the quality of the materials, craftsmanship, online presence, socially conscious mission and practices, and customer service, creating a symbolic value. 

  1.     Deliver what you promise 

Your target audience is paying more for your brand, and they have high expectations. 

Develop solid lines for distribution. Guarantee your quality is on par with their expectations. When in doubt, go above their expectations. If follow up is needed, do it! 

  1.     Authenticity 

Your company must fit your product’s image. If you have a green company, that means you must believe in the advantages of going green. If you are using ethically harvested materials, they better be ethical. 

When someone buys your brand, they are buying more than a product. Consumers want to know they can trust you, and when they do, they’re happy to spend more and give you their loyalty. 

At Sohuis, we love supporting women-owned businesses. We offer masterclasses and fireside chats with female professionals to help you level up when building a premium brand. Come and check out how we can be part of your team for success. 

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How to Become a Micro Influencer

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Turn Your Interests into Bonus Income!

Micro influencers change how consumers interact with the marketplace, motivate people to achieve their goals, and provide a new lens to see the world. It’s a fun way to earn income from brands you love and want to promote through social media. You can learn how to become a micro influencer—and it’s easier than you think. Women and moms make great micro influencers because you wear so many hats and have a built-in audience for your interests.

What is a micro influencer?

If you’re an expert in your field, you’re already positioned to become a micro influencer. A micro influencer posts engaging content on social media, build a following and engages with followers. Micro influencers have between 1000 and 100,000 followers. It’s like talking to your best friends to let them know about deals, secret tips, products you love, and entertaining them with your content.

What are top micro influencers promoting?

Your imagination is the limit on what you can do as a micro influencer. So, if you don’t see your unique project listed, don’t despair. This is your opportunity to be unique and open new territory. And for the record, women dominate as micro influencers. 

Here are 12 examples of great micro influencer niches that others are finding success in today : 
  1.     Women’s health and exercise
  2.     Food
  3.     Travel photography and wanderlust
  4.     Fashion and Makeup
  5.     Parent life, with a special focus on mom life
  6.     Pets
  7.     Gaming
  8.     Tech
  9.     Music
  10.     Beer
  11.     CBD
  12.     Jewelry 

What if you don’t see your area of expertise here? Don’t worry! Micro influencers create new niches all the time.  Chances are, if you enjoy a particular subject, there will be many others in the world interested in the same.  Get your content out there now and start building that audience! 

Here are 10 rising micro influencers’ niches: 

  1. Memers—these posts are shared more often than any other.
  2. Granfluencers—retirees showcasing grandparenting, fashion, lifestyle, and food.
  3. Cleanfluencers—how to clean anything and everything with tips and hacks.
  4. Retail-focused—fans of a store use their power to promote. Stores love these micro-influencers.
  5. Farmers—in the world of farm-to-table, this is a hot topic.
  6. Therapists—if you’re a licensed marriage and family therapist or psychologist, you can create advice for people for your posts.
  7. Teachers—share their organization systems, teaching methods, and printable worksheets.
  8. Dogfluencers—share their heritage and sports of the American Kennel Club.
  9. Planner addicts—crafting and creative planners is hot. These micro influencers share lists, bullet journals, and calendars.
  10. Mukbang influencers—eat a lot of food online. This craze was first popularized in South Korea but has spread across the globe.

How to become a micro influencer

Who are you? What makes you tick? You are your brand as a micro influencer. Your job, hobby, or passions are the perfect niche for your posts because this shows who you are and your expertise. If you’re ready to learn How to Build and Scale Your Influencer Marketing Strategy, join us at Sohuis for this workshop and more.

Pro tips from top micro influencers:

Be authentic—tell it like it is. Be honest in your reviews and stand behind products you use and know your followers will love.

Tell engaging stories—you gain followers when you’re entertaining. The 80/20 rule applies where 80% of your posts should be for entertainment, and the remaining 20% are used for promotion.

Bright visuals—work best to grab attention. If what you love isn’t bright, find a way to make it unique and interesting.

Be creative—there’s a lot of noise out there. Use your creativity to stand out. When you only need 1000 loyal followers, there’s plenty of room to become a micro influencer.

Consistency—your followers expect content, so don’t slack. Be consistently entertaining, consistently focused on your niche, and consistently you!

Why will companies hire you as a micro influencer?

A micro influencer is more trusted than macro influencers and have a higher rate of interaction with their followers. Top micro influencers’ followers see them as a trusted friend and help them in their purchasing decisions because they are authentic. Pew Research Center’s survey from 2016, shows 77% of buyers get advice from people they know before making a purchase. A micro influencer fills this role.

 Micro influencers are an affordable option for companies to hire to promote their products, increase brand awareness, and target niche markets. Micro influencers may charge nothing or as much as $300 for a post. Sometimes the micro influencer receives a product for free in exchange for a post. Once you get your followers and a few promotions under your belt, you’ll gain more opportunities.

At Sohuis, we offer master classes and fireside chats with industry professionals to get you started or to grow your woman-owned business. We’re here for you every step of the way. Come check out our blog posts for more tips and tricks. As women, we’re pulling for your success in your female operated business.

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How to Become a Micro Influencer

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How to Become a Micro Influencer