It was at a lunch, in 2007,a on a napkin that I learned how digital marketing worked. At the time Twitter was the biggest thing and I had the most followers in Tennessee. I thought I was doing the Twitter thing quite well.
And she asked me if I understood how social media worked. I thought I did, but she could tell that I didn’t totally understand it. So she grabbed a napkin and drew the hub-and-spoke model. And it clicked.
Every part of it made sense.
So I started using it for the company I worked for. Then I started using it for the product we were selling on TV infomercials. Then I started using it for my own business.
And I never stopped.
Teaching Online Marketing
From our success with the infomercial product, I got to start teaching some of the other big infomercial companies how to use the web to make money with their TV commercials.
After that the flood gates opened and we were teaching YouTubers, Book Publishers, Inventors, Bloggers and Podcasters how to make online marketing work. And some of them were bringing in more than $60K/month from digital product downloads.
What most people didn’t understand is that it doesn’t matter if you’re a coffee shop, an ETSY store, a travel agent, or antique doll restorer or an author. The basics of how digital marketing works is all the same.
But to be successful you have to also exactly how you are different. Understanding that dichotomy is what makes most people unsuccessful. They put out lots of online content and wonder why it isn’t working.
So, How Does Online Marketing Work?
No matter what you sell, push or market . . . the rules are the same. They are exactly the same.
- They have to encounter you.
- They have to value what you’re selling.
- You don’t usually buy stuff from shady people or people just looking to make a buck.
That’s the 101 of marketing, right?
Well, it’s the same online. You just have to translate every step into digital language.
1. They have to encounter you.
Looking at the graphic above you see a “home center circle” and a thousand spokes pointed toward it. That “home” is your website, or your Facebook page or your ETSY store. And the spokes are all the places online where your audience can “encounter” you.
You can’t be everywhere, of course, but with some research and understanding you can be in the places where your audience most likely is. And then you can build a system that moves people from the spokes to your “home”.
2. They have to value what you’re selling.
There are two parts to this. The first is that you have to truly understand your niche, and thus what it is your audience needs. That goes for comedians, quilt makers, fitness instructors . . . everyone. Your product or service must be something that you know they need.
You have to attract the audience is values these things.
That varies greatly by platform and campaign, but the idea is everything you create has the goal of getting the attention of the right people – and repelling the wrong people.
3. They have to believe you.
It doesn’t matter what candybar Hershey’s puts out. If it says “Hershey’s”, you’ll trust it. Even if it’s got broccoli in it, we’d trust it. It might violate Rule 2 above, but we’d still trust it.
Trust is a combination of branding, quality, intent, first impressions, reputation, knowledge. . . .all of those things.
We provide those things in every piece of content and interaction we have with the audience.
Online Marketing is translating these things into digital tools. That’s what we do best.
If that’s something you’d like to learn or want help with, reach out to us. We’d love to help.