When we took over Natural Plus 6 years ago, we also inherited the marketing plan my mother in law had been using for years. Clearly something was working, because they were running a successful business for 35 years, however it was killing me to see how much money was being spent on one time print advertising.

The plan we had was to do a huge push for the Spring, which makes sense because that’s our busiest time of year and when people are thinking the most about buying plants and getting them in their yard. We would spend thousands of dollars on newspaper ads in several newspapers in the area and a TV ad. For the first several years of business, I did what had always been done. I knew deep down that I would like to cut some of that spending, but I wasn’t confident enough in myself or in what worked and didn’t work for our business. I know now, that the truth is, you have to try something to know if it’s going to work or not. I don’t have a marketing degree, so I spend a lot of time second guessing myself and my knowledge. But as the years have gone on, I have learned a lot from trial and error, observation, and self education (reading books, podcasts and the internet!)

Here’s what I’ve learned:

1. People want to buy from people. I am thinking about our marketing strategy more on a long term basis than just one and done ads. Social media (like Facebook and Instagram) allow me a chance to have ongoing relationships with our customers and gives our customers a chance to see a sneak peak of our business and lives. Taking it a step further, I think email marketing is an even more effective way of building relationships with your customers.

2. Consistency is key. If I wanted to consistently run an ad on the radio, in the newspapers, or on tv, I would need thousands and thousands of dollars. I know that works for some, but as the years have gone by, we have scaled our business back a ton, which means less income, therefore, in order to make it, less expenses. Advertising seemed like the most obvious and easy expense category to cut. And I can be consistent with things that are in my control and don’t cost so much: like showing up on our Facebook page several times/day, emailing our customers once a week, and publishing a blog post weekly.

3. Sometimes you have to do things that are scary to see if they work or not. This has been hard to embrace, but once we get over the hump of “will this work?” and actually try it, we have never regretted taken the chance and cutting out our advertising.

4. Email marketing is king! I LOVE our email list and sending out an email each week is really a joy for me. This wasn’t always the case. I used to dread it, but only because I didn’t know enough about it. After several years of practice, hiring a few people along the way to help me out, I have learned that YOU JUST HAVE TO DO IT. Seriously, just start. And keep going. You’ll learn along the way. Things won’t be perfect (they never will be) but you’ll find your way. I use flodesk for our email marketing and it is by far the easiest (and prettiest) platform I have tried. If you want to try it too, use my link to get 50% off (only $19 no matter how many subscribers) for life!