Money Making Mama Podcast

279. How To Plan Content for All Phases of Your Marketing Funnel with Guest Ruthie Sterrett

May 04, 2023 Nellie
Money Making Mama Podcast
279. How To Plan Content for All Phases of Your Marketing Funnel with Guest Ruthie Sterrett
Show Notes Transcript

On today's espisode, we will be talking to the amazing Ruthie Sterrett with The Consistency Corner about planning content for all phases of the marketing funnel. 

Ruthie Sterrett is a marketing strategist and founder of The Consistency Corner, a marketing and content agency for small business owners. She helps businesses create consistent content that drives revenue through quarterly planning, simple marketing best practices, positive reinforcement, and accountability. She has found most small business owners are wearing so many hats that marketing often is inconsistent while they juggle all the things. She created the Consistency Corner to help you create simple content frameworks which build trust and lead to sales every month.

We will touch on:

  • What a marketing funnel is
  • Where to start if you are struggling with marketing
  • The different phases your marketing funnel should use
  • The importance of planning your content



Check Ruthie out!
www.theconsistencycorner.com/attract 

She also has a masterclass coming up, check it out here!!!!
https://www.theconsistencycorner.com/tech-masterclass 


We hope you've enjoyed this episode, because you totally deserve it. We are hear cheering you on and hope to have you back tomorrow for another fresh and juicy episode! Don't forget to subscribe, follow and leave a five-star review wherever you are listening. Make it a great day!!


Unknown:

Good morning, it is time to wake up and be wealthy. And I have one of my dear friends here. Ruthie, welcome to the show. Yay. Thanks, Nellie. I'm super excited to be here in chat with you today. Same and I am really excited because marketing in general and creating content is something that so many business owners have just lots of challenges around one to what should I post? When should I post? I don't even have enough time to do all the things. So let's break it down in regards to planning content for all phases, stages of the marketing funnel, what does that mean? How can we actually do it for being so busy as an entrepreneur? Yeah, so one of the things that I see happen is we we chase the trends. And we listen to the little quick hits that the Guru's are giving us on the gram. And that's great. They are telling you things that are helpful, but they're not telling you everything you need to know like people go to school get MBAs and marketing, you're not going to learn something from a 30 second reel that's going to change your business, like just being honest there. But you don't have to go get an MBA to figure this out. Like it's not that complicated. And I am a self taught marketer, I was in retail merchandising and retail management for many years, I stepped into a role in corporate marketing and literally told the CEO, like, I don't know what I'm doing. But I will figure this out. And I figured it out and realized that I could help other business owners do the same. And so now that I'm in a space where I am a content and marketing strategist, what I see happening is a lot of business owners get stuck doing one of three things. They're either like constantly trying to chase trends and do things like reels, and sharing quotes and the things that like get the likes and the views and then like pump them up and make them feel good. Or they've been told you have to serve and educate so they do nothing but educational posts, which are great. Or they get stuck being like buy my thing, buy my thing, buy my thing, and always in the conversion phase. And the thing about content is one piece of content cannot do all three of those things ever, ever, it could maybe do two, but it cannot do all three attraction, nurture and convert. And so it's so important to plan your content ahead of time, and make sure that you're doing enough of all three phases of that funnel, to move your customer through the journey that they need to go through to actually become a customer. I love that. And a lot of times people think funnel, and it's very intimidating, because like there's actual technical funnels that you can edit on, you know, software. And then there's truly legitimately like funnels that flow people through a strategy. So I would love to like hear your take on like, when you say funnel, the marketing funnel, what do you mean? Yes, I'm so glad you brought that up. Because when I think about a lot of business owners, they have a passion for something, or they have a zone of genius, or a gift that they're meant to share with the world. And I have literally heard very smart women who are great at what they do say, but I don't know anything about marketing. And so they hold themselves back, and they don't put themselves out there. And yes, marketing can be very complex. But what it really drills down to is this concept of the funnel. And what that means is that people have to be attracted, they have to know your business exists, you have to nurture them, which means they have to start to like you, and then convert them, which is where they say I trust you, I'm gonna give you my credit card, my money, my email address, hit the Follow button, whatever it is, because they now know you like you and trust you. And that concept. It is simple. But that doesn't mean it's easy. And what happens is, is we see all these tips, tricks and strategies, and it just becomes noise. And there's all of this noise telling us we have to do all of these things. But if we drill it down, and really look at our content plan and our marketing plan from like a 10,000 foot view and say, Okay, what am I doing to attract customers? What am I doing to nurture customers? What am I doing to convert customers? And am I doing all three of those things consistently enough to move the needle, then we're actually going to see some real results. But because marketing isn't what you started out to do, and your business, you started out to serve your customers, a lot of times that gets put on the back burner. And what I really encourage people to do is to have that time, where you're working on your business, not in your business, but on your business. And part of working on your business is planning your content. And that might mean as a solopreneur, that you're taking time to plan your content so that when you go to create it, it's faster because you have a recipe to follow. Or that might mean if you're a CEO and you've got a team to hand off to your team has a recipe and a roadmap to follow that takes your vision and connects your brand to your business goals. But then that way everybody gets on the same page to planning that content and slamming it through the lens of No, or no like and trust or attraction, nurture and convert. I love that. And I love like taking a step back and looking at like all three categories and see which one you're already like naturally doing well, like I see a lot of women, they just want to love on people, right? Like, and then they get stuck in the friend zone. And they're like, I'm not making the sales that I wanted. So I love this, this view on like, Okay, let's look at all three categories, and see where there's some like room to grow. And then like plan for that, because the planning is half the battle. Like if we're not planning our marketing, it doesn't mean you have to have it all done. And you can't do spontaneous things. Absolutely. But like, the planning is so powerful. So you don't have to, like think so hard day to day. Yeah. And that you know what you said about growing. If you are naturally a nurturer and an educator and a server, and then you start trying to work on strategies to convert selling, or even, let's say you start working on trying new strategies to put yourself out there and get new eyes on your business and attract, it can feel uncomfortable. And you can feel like I'm not good at this. I don't know what I'm doing. And it can feel like why do I even try. But I always tell people that when it comes to content, bad content is better than no content. Because once you start, you can learn you can get data, you can get more comfortable, you can practice you've got to put the reps in. And that means that sometimes like you try something, it didn't work, well, it didn't work yet. But you keep trying and keep working on it and keep getting better and making sure that we're going back to him i doing things in all phases of the funnel to move my customer through. I love that. And we live in such like an instant gratification, gratification world. So that's so hard to because marketing takes time, people that are following you like some people in our world, they follow me for years before they even make a move. And that has to be okay, because it's their own journey. It's their own timeline. But that's not my responsibility. And I think that's like the biggest mindfuck for people because they're like, I'm doing everything that Ruthie tells me to do and it's not working. So like what do you tell those people when they they're doing everything that you're telling them to do? And they're, they're not getting the results that they want as fast? Yeah, I totally can relate to that. Because Patience is a challenge for all of us. And I can tell you that a mentor I listened to recently I would somebody asked that question of like, well, how do you know when it's time to like, throw in the towel? And it's when it's looking at the results and saying, okay, maybe I didn't get the results I wanted. But did I move the needle at all? Did I get any results? Because that's where you can say like, okay, maybe I didn't get the results I wanted because the results I wanted maybe weren't realistic. But did I get any results. And then again, maybe it's about making a tweak, maybe it's about just shifting a little bit not throwing in the towel and starting over or stopping completely but just shifting a little something here and there. And you know, I as a like achiever box checker perfectionist, I get it, I know those things make us feel good. But it's about remembering if you are a box checker and you're hashtag Enneagram. Three, like we like to do the things instead of focus. Like I always tell my clients, you know, progress over perfection. But if you don't see the progress you want, let's take it back and focus on the process. And that might mean celebrating checking the box that you did the thing. Even if the thing didn't give you the results you wanted right away. Just keep on celebrating that process. And it's so funny, because as we sit here and have this conversation, like I have to remind myself of that, too. I'm not perfect. You know, we all go through these cycles and phases. And I definitely believe that we teach and coach what we as humans also need to hear. So even for me, it's like, yeah, I know all of these things, but it doesn't mean I'm perfect. It's a practice and a journey. Yeah, and I think we get so outcome driven that we like there's so many blessings in front of us. Like if one piece of content blesses one person's life, like, let's celebrate that, like that's huge. And like, yes, it's exciting to go viral. And like have lots of likes and comments and views and all the things but it's like at the end of the day, like let's focus on impact and like the money will come like the more you know that you're gonna be here for the long haul, like you will build a super sustainable, scalable business. It just may not always be in the timeline that you desire. And I love like brainstorming strategies with people from like a money perspective of like, you know, outbound marketing is going to take a long time. So what can we do to like build your business to the level that you need financially so that we create a win win, which also takes a lot of pressure off the Marketing. And I find that when that happens, you're so like, leaned out that it actually works more. Yeah, yeah, for sure. You know. And the other thing, too, is thinking about as you work on different things, and you feel like, oh, it's not working, it's not working, I can tell you, I was actually reviewing some older videos the other day, I was like, going through, I was looking for videos of my kiddo, like, he's seven. Now I was watching videos. And when he was like, for, you know, reminiscing that sweet age, but there was, I was coming across videos that I had done on stories, and at the time, I was in network marketing. And I was coaching women on health and fitness. And I would do stories and talk on stories and do lives and all this, and I saw these videos of me doing it. And I thought, you know, I was having a conversation with a client who was like, You're such a natural on stories, you're such a natural when you are talking, and it's like, but I've been doing this for five years, I've been practicing for five years, I didn't start out as a natural, I put in the reps. And sometimes the progress that you're getting is that you're putting in the reps so that in the future, you've made that commitment, and you've got that momentum and the compound effect from those reps. Because you you put the work in? Yes. Well, in the grand scheme of things, like five years is not that long. Like right? If you like if someone else said like, okay, within five years, you're gonna like be able to work for yourself and like, have all the freedom that you have, like, you know, work with clients that you want to work with. That's like, not a lot of time, which is exciting. Like, when you really like take a step back and like, look at your whole entire life. Like, put in the wraps. I love that you say that? Because it's so important. Yeah, for sure. I was. I was talking to my son about that last night. And I was like, Do you know what that means? Put in the wraps, because we were talking about spelling words. And yeah, just saying his spelling words and reading. And he was like, what? And I said, Well, okay, here's the thing, they say that you have to do something for 1000 hours before you get really great at and he was like 1000 hours. What? And his question to me was, did LeBron James play basketball for 1000 hours, I was like, probably way more than that. But you know, it's true, we look at people who are doing great things. And what we don't see on the surface is the hours and hours and hours that they put in to getting great at it. And it's okay to be a beginner, it's okay to be in the messy middle. But keep going. And you'll get there. And I think that brings so much inspiration to other people that are in other chapters that we just don't even know, we're not always getting the feedback from everyone that's following us. And we just have to remember that because there's so many people that you're inspiring, that you'll never know, like, you'll just never know, because they don't feel either called to tell you or they don't feel comfortable for whatever reason, like, we just have to know every single day when we wake up and work our businesses and show up on social media that like we are inspiring people. And like that, that's important to remember. Yeah, you know, and you're right, you're not always going to get feedback from your audience. And so that's why working with a coach or a mentor or somebody to support you can be really beneficial, because then you are getting that feedback, because it is hard to see the forest through the trees when you're in the business. And there might be something that a mentor can see that can help you that you could tweak just a little bit, you know, that little shift that you might need to make. And they might be able to see, hey, I noticed that like you have been educating like a boss. But we haven't talked about an offer in a really long time. Like, what is it that you actually sell? Having that outside perspective can be super, super helpful. And whether it's in like a one on one or a group program, what you do, or even just a business bestie having those checkpoints and that other point of view can be really helpful. Yeah, I couldn't agree more. And I think, you know, just those cheerleaders for that emotional support can definitely get you through the days where you're like, Okay, I'm going to burn my business down. This is not working like failed launch, if you will, like we've all been there like and I think when you can be around other people that are like, just keep going you've got this like this is a part of the process does make it a little bit easier. I remember years ago, I launched an offer, and I was so excited about it. It was a it was a trip to Disney and we were like I rented the house already bought the house, marketed it one person bought so obviously I had to like cancel the trip and I was so heartbroken but then COVID happened. And so I was just like, You know what, sometimes what is meant to be will always be and like then the next time we relaunched it, we had to do two houses because we had so many people. So it's just like you never know, when there is quote unquote, a failed marketing launch, if you will, that it doesn't mean that it's going to be forever like there's always lessons to learn and it's like okay, how many times did I really talk about it right like, did I warn my audience up? Did I get them excited? Did I have a waitlist like there's Just so many pieces and parts to marketing that we can just learn so much every time that we go through the process. Yeah, our mutual friend Holly Haynes, who is my coach, she told me something after a launch that I literally wrote on a post it note I keep above my desk that says launching doesn't always go as planned. But it always goes as it should. Because it's going to be the step that gets you to the next step that gets you to the next step. And so it's that continuing to keep going. And so when it comes to your marketing, after that launch, looking back and learning and saying, and, you know, Marie Forleo, she teaches fail is really a faithful attempt in learning. So looking back, and what can I learn from this launch? Or from this month's worth of content? Or this quarters worth of business results? What can I learn? What can I tweak? I love that. We love you, Holly, you're amazing. Yes. So this is all so good. Where do you feel like if somebody is struggling with marketing, and like these, these pieces and parts that you've mentioned today, like, coach us through, like, where should we start? Like, how should somebody like take this episode and like, start to implement, like, what would you say to them? Yeah, so number one, I will say that 70% of all marketing is digital, and that number is going up. So digital marketing is here to stay. It's not going away. And unfortunately, there are business owners that sometimes let the tech totally overwhelm them. And they're like, I don't know, I don't know where the buttons are. I don't understand the algorithm is too much. I'm not a developer. I'm not techie like that. And they're just like frozen Well, or it feels like another thing to learn, I hear you. And what I want to say is that it doesn't have to be as complicated as you think. And I actually have a masterclass coming up starting May 9, it's a three part masterclass, May 9 through the 11th, where we're going to break down the tech you actually need, tell you what you need to know what you can leave behind to make it easier to actually attract and nurture and convert customers on the internet. And then from there, what you can do is you can look at your marketing plan and say, Where Where am I showing up? What containers Am I using? What content Am I putting out there to do those three things and just kind of revisit before we go into the summer season or your next launch, making sure that you are using those tech tools to effectively attract, nurture and convert. I love that I once had a coach tell me that I was working with and he was like, the more we master your marketing, it will truly like eliminate the need to have to sell it. It doesn't mean that we shouldn't make calls to actions, but you start getting people coming to you clicking your links, right like because you're just doing just that irresistible marketing that you see other, you know, top players doing. And it's just because they really made this a priority. And gotten really, really good. Put in the reps to your point over a long period of time. But that's available to everyone, right? Like I love that social media has really like created all of these beautiful opportunities for especially like moms, because you can literally mark it in your pajamas like how cool is that? Like, we can connect all around the world market in our pajamas and really build a sustainable scalable business? Yeah, being a busy woman. You know, I had a newer entrepreneur, I spoke at a event a class for new entrepreneurs in our community. And I had somebody asked me, they said, Well, how much time how much of my weekly bucket of hours should I be spending on marketing? And I said, That's a great question. And quite honestly, depends upon what your business goals are. And it depends upon how much you've been spending in the past. You know, there's so many variables, but I told him, I said, Listen, the guidance is that 15 to 20% of your revenue should be spent on marketing, it could be less, it could be more depending on your industry and all these things. But let's just say 15%. And I said but if your business is not bringing in the revenue that you want, it should be more. But if you don't have the dollars, then that means it's your time. So if your business isn't where you want it to be more of your time has to be spent on marketing, and making sure that we're spending our time on the right things, understanding that funnel, understanding the tech tools and the places that we should be showing up online to use the funnel to grow our business. That has to be your priority. And the cool part is if you're more business to business and you get really when you get really good at marketing, it's another thing you can offer to people that you serve even if it's not directly what you're already doing. It can be another add on like if you do website design. Once you work really well and get good at marketing and feel confident about it. That could be another service like you create somebody's website. Hey, I can continue to like help you throughout your social Media Marketing like that can be huge. So I just, I like to, like help people think about that of like, you know, one, we want to help you reach your goals, but to like this, like, look at it as a revenue stream, like, there's so many brands that are willing to pay you online, when you get really good at marketing, like, there's just so many possibilities, and those aren't going to go away either. Yeah, absolutely, that's so true. And you can always help somebody who's a couple steps behind you, you don't have to, like, you don't have to be an expert to help another person. And so even just by you learning, you're gonna be able to share your learnings with another person. And that's service. And that's something that you're gonna be able to feel good about. So it's even if you quote unquote, doesn't work the first time, there's always lessons to be learned, there's always service that you can give, but it does take time. And it's just a matter of putting in that time. I love that. What's one thing they can do for their marketing today, like, as they're listening to this, they can literally do that checkbox today for their marketing. Yeah, so I have a free tool, actually, that I would love to offer. And it's an 10 epic ways to grow your business for free, you can get it at the consistency corner.com/attract. And basically, it's 10 things that you can do. And I have little three minute video lessons to get new eyes on your business, because what I have found is that in the beginning, we very much rely on word of mouth and warm market. And eventually that warm market dries up. But because the top of the funnel activities, the things that we need to do to get people to find out our business exists, it doesn't directly lead to sales, we often skip that step, or don't put the time into that step. And so what I tell people, you know, they said, The best time to plant a tree was six months ago, well, if you didn't plant a tree six months ago, the best time is right now. So same thing with attract marketing and getting new eyes on your business. If you haven't been doing it, the time to start is now. And there's 10 ways that you can do it without spending money on ads, because ads work. But there are other ways to do it. And so there's 10 different ways that you can do that, that you can get in that free mini course that I have. I love it so much. So we'll put that in the show notes. And along with the master class. Any like last piece of advice for all the marketers out there. They're like, Yeah, please. Yeah, one last piece of advice that I will share, you know, and this is a reminder that I give to my clients all the time, is that consistent, doesn't mean constant, that you have got to find the consistency that you can maintain in order to move the needle. But that doesn't have to mean 24/7. You know, I broke my leg early this year and was not posting on social media as consistently as I had been previously. But guess what, my podcast still went out every single week. And so that was something to celebrate that I have continued to be consistent with my podcasts, even through this injury even through all these things. Because consistent doesn't have to mean constant. It doesn't have to be on 24/7. And so let's pick a consistency that we can maintain. And then watch the results come in as we stick to that process. Oh my gosh, so good. So good. Well, thank you so much. Give everybody some love you hang out mostly on Instagram, right? I am mostly on Instagram. Yes. And then on my on my podcast, which deli has been a guest on the consistency corner. We offer Mindset and Marketing Tips for small business owners. And I'd love to encourage you there as well. Yeah. All right. Well, until next time, go out and be wealthy. We'd love you. Thanks for the guests. Thanks for having me.