When You’re Feeling Disheartened By Your Marketing Results
Getting out of a marketing funk
Dear Josephine,
I’m feeling disheartened by my marketing results (namely Instagram and my podcast). It feels so much harder to get traction than it was a year or two ago.
Surely after a few years in business I should be growing, not shrinking.
I’m starting to resent how much energy goes into my content creation vs the rewards - engagement and sales. And I’m at a bit of a loss as to how to change this.
Can you help me get out of this marketing funk!?
This post was first shared with my email community. Subscribe below to
💌 ASK JOSEPHINE 💌
My agony-aunt style wisdom & guidance on growing a sustainable, flourishing business - delivered to your inbox every Monday.Dear Marketing-funk,
I hear ya! Seriously… 👀
I’ve been experiencing the same thing over the last year.
And it~is~demoralising.
Especially when you’re used to pre-pandemic levels of reach and engagement.
In 2022 I largely put my content marketing on hold while I recovered from burnout, and since starting to create and share marketing content again this year - I’ve REALLY noticed the difference in reach and engagement, especially with my podcast 🎙 & IG 📱.
Pre-2022, when I’d release a podcast episode it would easily get 1,000 listens. These days it’s more like 300.
Which, I’ll be honest… IS demoralising when you put so much time and energy into creating something.
When it comes to Instagram, reach in general has taken a nosedive.
It’s kinda hard to miss.
And my clients have seen this drop in reach too.
This chart shows clicks to their websites from Instagram - from across accounts with 250k - 3k followers. It’s happening to us all…
…unless you want to make memes, videos of cats doing funny stuff, or beautiful travel videos… which are all great… but often not the best answer to engaging your audience and making sales.
So I totally get why you’re feeling disheartened.
And you’re NOT alone.
Before I go on though… let’s cover off a very important reminder…
It's not alllll about reach 📈
Sure likes, comments, listens, views and shares *feel good*
…but they don’t pay the bills!
So I want to make sure you’re focusing more on what’s going on with your income.
For example - I took almost a year off IG and my podcast - and I earned MORE than the year before. With 0 reach and engagement on those platforms...
It’s all too easy to get hung up on the ‘vanity metrics’ 💞
❤️ likes
💬 comments
➡️ shares
🏷 saves
🎵 listens
...rather than the important ones...
💸 sales
📈 conversion
✉️ enquiries
If your IG posts used to reach 300 people, and now they’re reaching 100 people - that’s still 100 people.
Imagine getting up on a stage and speaking to 100 people (now you feel nervous don’t you!) That’s still a BIG room of your ideal clients!
Social media has ‘trained’ us to become addicted to the dopamine high of a DM or notification…
And when that drops off… even if your sales remain steady… it can lead you to question…
Maybe it’s because people don’t like me anymore 👀
YUP. 🤦♀️
At times this year - after putting A LOT of time and energy into podcast episodes, and even IG posts…
…only to see pretty meh 🫤 engagement and reach … that thought has come in to my head.
So just in case the same thought patterns have come to your mind… (thanks inner critic).
You’re not in a marketing funk because people don’t like you!
Glad we've cleared that up!
But of course your sales come as a result of your marketing…
…so let’s get into how you can give your reach and engagement a boost.
Here’s why it’s harder to get traction with your marketing content right now, vs. A year or two ago
I’m not going to gaslight you and say you’re losing your mind.
Pre-pandemic there were a lot fewer businesses marketing in the online world, competing for space.
And then during the pandemic everyone had a lot of time on their hands to scroll, listen, watch, buy etc.
👋 Hello lots of engagement, clicks, likes, listens… and sales. ...And addictive dopamine hits...
And now… there are A LOT more online businesses and self employed folk competing for cut through in the online space.
And people are a lot busier again, getting back to ‘normal’ life, going on holiday, juggling all~the~things. Which = less eyeballs on your content.
As for podcasting, the pandemic triggered a BOOM in podcasts.
🎙 When I started my podcast in 2017 there were around 500k podcasts on Spotify…
🎙 in March 2023 there were 2.9 MILLION.
And while podcasting listenership has grown too, it’s not grown to the same extent as the explosion in podcasts.
And these days on social media, your content is now competing with buzzy videos, clickbait, the aforementioned cat videos…
I don’t love the concept of competition in the context of the online world, but let’s be real - we’re all competing for eyeballs in the online space…
So, does this mean there’s no space for you?! NO!! There’s plenty of room for you. 🦄
And here’s how to claim your space:
1 | Nail your messaging
Are you talking about your offers in a way that speaks to what your ideal client really WANTS?
When you’re so close to your offers, it’s easy to forget the real pain points you’re addressing for your clients.
Experiment a little to figure out what those juicy topics are that your audience LOVE to hear about.
What are the things they *really* want to change - speak to that and see what clicks.
2 | Nail your marketing platforms
I don’t know about you, but the nose dive in reach, listeners, watches etc and related demoralising feeling 🎢 has got me flip flopping with my marketing strategy.
One minute I’m alllll about my podcast, then my blog, then outreach…
But… and this is a reminder for me as much as you 🤦♀️
~ flip-flopping does not work!!
Pick 2 or 3 marketing channels and NAIL them. Stop trying to spread yourself so thin.
Decide how often you’ll show up on each platform, and STICK to the plan for at least 3-months.
And for that matter, if you’ve been questioning ‘maybe it’s my offer that’s the problem’ and flip flopping with selling different offers too…
...💬 Nail your messaging 📈 and then stick to selling just one or two things over the same 3-month period.
3 | Nail your email strategy
In my mentoring sessions, when I’m helping my clients review and pick their marketing platforms, the one platform I say is a MUST is email. 💌
I LOVE email marketing because….
📈 It's THE highest converting marketing platform.
🤖 You’re not competing with an algorithm to get in futon of people 💸 It can create passive income
💌 When you get replies to your emails it’s the BEST feeling!
✍️ You can cosy up in your pyjamas, on a rock in Norway (hello that’s me right now), sat by the fire and create your emails - no ring light or sound studio needed.
Email is the one place where I’ve seen my reach remain steady.
My open rates and clicks have stayed at the same level while Instagram and my podcast have dropped in terms of reach.
During my last launch, I reached more of my audience via email 💌 than I did on Instagram 📱 - despite having 5k followers on IG, and a mailing list of 1.25k.
Decide what content you’re going to share in your emails and then...
📣 ‘Sell’ your emails. Tell people why they should sign up for your emails.
📈 Make it easy for people to subscribe by putting your sign up form/ link eve-ry-where!
😍 Create a juicy lead magnet freebee too.
One last thing I'll add - that's important to remember when you're in a marketing funk...
People can feel the energy that’s gone into creating content
If it’s created from a place of ‘eugh, I *NEED* to show up on IG today…' it tends to flop.
Vs. I’ve had this random thought I’m going to share it with this video of a dreamy moment from my weekend… which often gets more traction. 🤷♀️
So - let’s ditch the vanity metrics, and re-discover the joy in content creation…
… because TBH, ironically that’s when it tends to perform better, your reach and engagement gets a boost, and most importantly for your ~FREEDOM~ your income gets a boost.
Cheering you on!
Josephine x
Wanna tuck this in your pocket for later? Pin it to Pinterest:
