04 🦋 Why & When to Transition Your Marketing for Cold Traffic

Today, we’re exploring why and when pro-marketers transition their marketing approach when it’s time to reach cold traffic.

It’s fitting we’re releasing this on a Wednesday, a day ruled by Mercury — a God known as a trickster, and the planet symbolizing communication and adaptability. Evolving a marketing approach to attract cold traffic can feel tricky, and requires a thoughtful blend of communication and adaptability!

In this edition, we cover:

• Why & when to transition your marketing for cold traffic
• Three “to-dos” to transition your marketing for cold traffic
• A story to illustrate the energetics of attracting business
• A mometum-mantra to help you communicate your value
• Additional resources to help you effectively market your business

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Why & When to Adapt Marketing for Cold Traffic

“Stick with what works.”

That can be good advice as long as you’re still getting desired results, but what many self-marketing business owners don’t know is that marketing strategies that worked when you started your business typically need refinement to reach broader audiences as you become more established.

For instance, a common stage-one marketing approach for many new business owners is to tap into your personal network of friends, family, acquaintances, and referrals — these are known as warm leads.

Over time, however, while these leads may not completely disappear, they tend to diminish or come sporadically and can lead to diminishing sales. It can be frustrating when this happens, because just as you are getting better and better at what you do, getting new business starts feeling harder and harder.

If you feel you have outgrown your marketing approach, don’t despair, congratulate yourself! You’re actually at a milestone in your business: you’ve proven your offering, and it’s time to focus on adapting your marketing to communicate your value to warm and cold audiences alike.

Introducing the Diffusion of Innovation

Every business evolves through different marketing phases, and adapting your approach to marketing is crucial at each stage.

A concept called the diffusion of innovation developed by Eminent Scholar K.A. Ericsson helps illustrate:

Initially, your business resonates with people who just “get you”, they are called innovators, they believe in you (because you’re you!), even when your service or message isn’t crystal clear yet.

Your next sales come from early adopters. Fun fact, they actually do business with you because — not because they trust you alone, pe se, but because they trust and identify with your innovators. Your early adopters might know people you know, come through referrals, unfocused social media or marketing, and/or resonate with testimonials on your website.

Transitioning from Early Adopters to the Early Majority

The clarity of your business messaging becomes increasingly important as your business moves from targeting early adopters to reaching the early majority. Here’s why:

Innovators and Early Adopters are more willing to take risks and are typically more forgiving of ambiguities. Innovators are excited by new possibilities if they see potential in you. Early adopters, while also risk-takers, require more clarity than innovators, but are still open to trying new things based on potential (rather than more established solutions).

The early majority group is more risk-averse. They need clear, concise, and compelling messages about the benefits and reliability of your product or service. They are less willing to interpret ambiguous messages. Therefore, having a clear and well-articulated, authentic and differentiated marketing message becomes more and more crucial as your business matures.

Marketing to the early majority is where many non-marketing-savvy entrepreneurs get stuck. Because they “stick with what worked with warm traffic” to try to market to cold traffic.

The three “to-dos” to transition your marketing for cold traffic are:

• Sustaining a Clear and Targeted Message
• Clarifying Your Niche Within a Niche
• Maintaining a Sustained Presence in the Right Places

The good news is, marketing to reach cold traffic is not so tricky when you know what to do, which is why, in the next three issues of Midweek Momentum we’re going to dive deeper into each of them.

Stay tuned, and before you know it, you’ll be marketing like a pro and captivating and converting both warm and cold traffic!

Want to learn more about the diffusion of innovation?

In the book Crossing the Chasm, Geoffrey A. Moore introduces the concept of ‘chasm’, a significant gap between the early market and the mainstream market, and addresses ways and challenges of crossing it. Find the book, Crossing the Chasm here.

Want to learn more about when to level up your marketing?

In my book, It’s Go Time, I teach the order of operations to start and scale a service or expertise-based business. In Chapter 6 you’ll find teaching on the order of operations to build your business and when to start focusing on marketing to “exploit” your business. You can download a free copy here.

For many, growing strawberries wouldn’t be an impressive accomplishment. But it was for me.

Despite being surrounded by family members who love to grow their own food, horticulture didn’t take for me.

Last spring, I was walking my dogs down a country road, and I came across some tiny strawberry plants that lay dying in a cardboard box. The word “free” was scribbled on it and there were broken boxes nearby to help carry them home. I gathered up several of the tiny plants and potted them in a planter on my back patio.

I proudly sent a picture to my mother to show her what I had accomplished. She was thrilled that I was starting to plant food, but pointed out that I had crowded way too many of the plants in the pot. She also counseled me on how to water them.

Spring came and went and my plants did not produce much more than the tiniest little strawberries. No bigger than small blueberries.

But I didn’t care. I was having so much fun tending to my new darlings all summer long. I was sustained with the hope that perhaps one day I’d get to enjoy my own strawberries.

Finally, last week, I took my dogs outside and found three adorable strawberries waiting for me.

Much like my late blooming strawberries, generating fruit from your marketing efforts takes patience, commitment, and nurturing.

By releasing any attachment to timelines while envisioning the people you’ll get to serve when the time is right, you’ll be able to keep your momentum while enjoying the process.

And as I needed guidance from my mother on tending to my garden to create my own food, you may need some pro-guidance on evolving your marketing to grow your business.

My program True2Brand may be just what you need. Visit my website if you’d like to learn about the True2Brand training.

If you’re familiar with my podcast or my book “It’s Go Time,” you’ll recognize the term “Thinking Vitamins.” These are positive ideas, continuously echoed, that shift your mindset by replacing limiting beliefs with uplifting ones.

This week, our gifted Ignite Energy Coach, Margarita Angelatos, has designed a special Thinking Vitamin just for our Midweek Momentum readers, aimed at helping you achieve your marketing goals.

I trust, honor and clearly communicate my message with confidence.

To amplify the impact of this week’s Thinking Vitamin, simply download or take a screenshot of the accompanying image and set it as your homescreen!

That brings us to the close of this edition of Midweek Momentum. We hope you enjoyed it.

Remember, if you are beyond early stage marketing but have not figured out how to reach cold traffic yet, there’s nothing to worry about. In fact, you’ve reached a meaningful milestone! You’ve stuck with your business long enough and it’s time to learn that new thing to get to that new level.

In the next edition, we’ll cover how to find your difference and communicate your trust, even if you’ve been resistant to speaking your truth publicly.

Until next Wednesday…

Here’s to every small win toward a big dream,

Jill McAbe & The BOOM U Media Team

*Do you have a friend in business who needs this? Please forward it to them.