Lorrie Thomas Ross was a guest on Emma Churchman’s The Art and Soul of Business Facebook live where she discussed her approach to marketing for growth during an economic crisis.
“It’s about identifying solutions and supporting clients so that they are investing versus spending.”
In the interview, Lorrie highlighted one of the common misconceptions of marketing saying that many people fear the term “marketing” because they just automatically associate it with sales and view is as self-promotional. Lorrie, in contrast, says to view marketing as maximizing relationships.
If you apply healthy sustainable and service-oriented marketing principles to your business, you will then attract the right consumers for your particular business. By continually auditing your marketing it allows your relationships to continue to grow.
Lorrie then talked about the sales funnel and how it’s more complex than the traditional cone/funnel that is taught. Things flow, but not just simply in a straight line. When she was preparing a speech, she had an “ah-hah moment” when she came up with the analogy of viewing the sales process as a heart. People are coming in and you are engaging with them and they might come back to you or refer you, or follow you on social media for a long time before they ever enter your funnel!
Another topic brought up during this Facebook Live was the idea of marketing being about energy. Both Emma and Lorrie agreed that having the right energy has shown to foster better results. They believe that what you put out there needs to be authentic to you and that it is never the right choice if it feels wrong. One motto Lorrie mentioned was to not let people “should on you”, you do not need to listen to what other people think you should be doing, but rather, do what feels right to you and what you are truly passionate about. You should never feel stressed or obligated to do something, it should feel right. It is okay to change what you are doing and grow as an individual or business.
Lorrie worked with Emma to coach to guide her and in the interview, Lorrie shared that she was attracted to Emma’s heart and soul that she puts into her business. Lorrie aspired to have work that was authentic, soul-aligned, and feminine and she wanted to surround herself with the right people in order for her to achieve this goal. She heard Emma speak and realized Emma gives her just what she was looking for; someone who has a true love for what she does.
Lastly, Lorrie explains her Five Factors for Marketing Success. Lorrie cultivated these factors while she was writing her book.
These factors are:
- Credibility- people have to like you and trust you. You can connect by listening to people. You can be credible by your content and your story (why you started your business). The information you share on about page should be unique to you and not standard.
- Usability- if people can’t use your web assets easily, they won’t. Small steps such as having sign up look clickable, or writing click below to watch full video makes a big difference. People like being told what to do. You aren’t being pushy, but rather, you are guiding people through your site.
- Visibility- this can come from SEO optimization, email marketing, online ads, word of mouth, word of mouse, or online public relations (something you were quoted in). It is about getting people to know about you. You want to have a diverse visibility portfolio.
- Sellability- helping someone understand “why you”. It can be through testimonials (having someone else write a couple of sentences). It is about making sure that you identify what makes you unique and valuable to the consumer.
- Scalability- we have to invest wisely and not spend stupidly. Lorrie reminds people that investing in myself will support business. Have an intentional approach and put your money where it will most benefit your business. Lorrie started beautifully that “it is not the tools you have, it’s how and why we use the tools” that matters.
Marketing is holistic; there are many parts that make it up and you have to look at marketing as the sum of all parts. You need to make sure you are not focusing solely on one platform and ignoring the others.
Check out Lorrie’s video on Five Factors for Marketing Success and the Facebook Live with Emma Churchman!