Are you struggling to bring in consistent leads from social media (either paid or organic)? Is there a better way to spend your marketing dollars and your business development hours?
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My guest today is my friend Laura Meyer. She is someone I have looked up to in this space and who has a lot of complementary skills to those that I have. I have watched her flourish and seen her give generously to her audience and peers over the years. Today we are talking about building relationships, and marketing from a relationship perspective.
Meet Laura
Laura Meyer is an expert of experts –helping the country’s top thought leaders, influencers, and mission-driven entrepreneurs create profit growth, effective marketing and brand strategy from their zones of genius. As a serial entrepreneur who has spent 20 years scaling multiple six and seven-figure online and offline companies, she helps high-impact women create brands that make a difference in the world as a strategic marketing consultant and fractional chief marketing officer to some of the country’s top influencers. Laura is also the co-founder of the Advance Women’s Expert Network with her business partner Kelly Roach, where over 300 women come together to grow their own personal expert brand through community, connection, and co-collaboration with others who share in their same values and spirit. Outside of work, you can find Laura soaking in family time with her family of five in southeast PA. In her spare time, Laura attempts to relive her high school years playing tennis, flies her drone and when no one else is home (which is rare!)… kicks up her feet to binge-watch HGTV.
Thoughts on Relationship Marketing
- [Laura] We are so conditioned to chase fans, followers and likes. But for those of us who have been in business for a long time, relationship marketing is how it was done.
- Relationship marketing is coming back, because people are exhausted from chasing fans, followers, and likes.
- When we use paid traffic and funnels to replace (instead of enhance) authentic relationship marketing, we get in trouble… because it doesn’t work.
- [Natalie] We want to get the word out about our authority in a way that converts.
- In the 8 years that I have been in business, fans, followers and likes have never been able to convert without having a conversation.
- General social media content doesn’t convert for what we do because no two businesses are the same and a conversation is what is needed.
“A click is not a connection and a post is not an authentic relationship.” – Laura Meyer
“If you want to make a sale today, you cannot rely on social media… you need to have conversations.” – Natalie Gingrich
Establishing Credibility
- [Laura] The reason my business will hit seven figures in the next 12 months is because of relationships.
- People think relationship marketing is networking or coffee chats.
- Business development is very important, but you need to establish credibility.
- Where can you add value to the places you go in your life?
- Help people enough times and word will get out that you know your stuff, which is credibility building.
“Do not outsource your business development, it is the best thing you can do with your time.” – Laura Meyer
“Your goal in every conversation should be ‘what can I contribute’ regardless of whether or not this person buys from me.” – Laura Meyer
- Often we listen for what we can get, but we don’t listen for what we can give.
- Where can you provide value so that your reputation develops?
- As you build credibility, visibility will come.
- You may have to initiate others first.
- Have something to offer in any type of visibility exchange (podcast guest, LinkedIn Newsletter featuring someone).
- The combination of credibility and visibility is what creates that lead flow.
- Credibility and visibility are sequential. You need credibility before visibility.
- Start in small circles with those who know you.
“Deeply listen to people so that when there is something that you can provide strategic value on, you close the loop.” – Natalie Gingrich
- Eventually you will end up growing a community through visibility and credibility.
- Not everyone in that community will become your customer.
- You will have an audience and a customer base .
- Your audience validates your customer base.
- Accept that the vast majority of people who like what you have to say aren’t going to buy from you but they will be part of your community.
- You need these people to cheerlead you, review you, and refer you.
- Treat those in your community with the same level of generosity.
- When you have community + credibility you have audience growth.
- When you have credibility + visibility you get more connections and collaborations.
- When you have visibility + community, that is when people refer you.
“[Relationship marketing] is cost effective, but most importantly it gives us the best quality leads.” – Laura Meyer
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