What Marketing Domination for Small Businesses?

If you’re a small business owner looking to not just compete but truly dominate in your industry, and want marketing strategies for small businesses that drive real results, you've landed in the right spot. As a StoryBrand guide I’ve seen firsthand the challenges and triumphs of marketing small businesses, and I want to share with you what I call the “Marketing Domination Framework”, and today, a step by step process on what I believe small business owners should do to set up the foundation of their marketing. 

The Essence of Marketing Domination 

Alright, let's break it down—what exactly do I mean by "Marketing Domination"? In the simplest terms, Marketing Domination is about making your business the go-to choice in your industry. 

The primary aim is to transform small businesses into industry leaders. How? By arming you with not just any marketing strategies, but the right ones—those proven to generate leads, drive sales, and enhance your brand's visibility. This framework is about building a powerful, irresistible presence online and in the market at large.

Now, you might be wondering, “Sean, how is this different from all the other marketing advice out there?” See, most of the marketing frameworks and strategies flooding the internet today are tailored either for hobbyists or for massive corporations with budgets to match. They're either too basic, focusing on just getting started, or they're too complex, involving tools and tactics that are too complicated or expensive and rarely tailored to marketing strategies for small business owners.

The Marketing Domination Framework is different. It's crafted with the small business owner in mind. It’s about being smart with your resources, focusing on strategies that maximize return without requiring a corporate-sized budget or team. We simplify the complex, making high-level marketing strategies accessible and actionable for businesses like yours.

So, whether you're running a local cafe, a growing e-commerce brand, or offering professional services, this framework is designed to make sure that when people think of your industry, they think of you. That’s what dominating the market looks like, and that’s what I’m here to do. 

What Is The Marketing Domination Framework?

To really own your market, the Marketing Domination Framework is built on three crucial components: building a sales funnel, filling it, and optimizing it. Each part plays a pivotal role in turning your small business into a marketing powerhouse.

1. Building a Sales Funnel

The way I define a sales funnel is the overall process and system of taking somebody who doesn't know you exist and funneling them through different stages of a customer relationship. 

So they go from not knowing who you are to starting to like you, then starting to know who you are, slowly starting to trust you, and finally becoming customers, but then even at a deeper level, loyal customers for life. 

Think of a traditional website like a brochure—it's informative, sure, but passive. A sales funnel, on the other hand, is laser-focused on guiding potential customers towards buying; it actively engages, persuades, and leads a prospect down a path specifically designed to result in a sale.

And when it comes to digital marketing, if your potential customers can’t find what they need fast, they’ll leave. The sales funnel makes their journey smooth, direct, and distraction-free, from discovering your solution to hitting the purchase button.

Steps to Building a Sales Funnel:

• Branding with a Focus on Messaging: While visual branding is important, brand messaging is the foundation of everything we do. As StoryBrand guides, we use the StoryBrand marketing framework to craft your messaging. It's all about clarity and connection—making sure your communication positions your customer as the hero of the story and your business as the guide who'll help them overcome their challenges.

• Website Development: Your funnel’s success hinges on how well your website is structured. Essential pages should be designed to nurture and convert leads—home, about, services, blog, and contact pages must all align with the funnel’s goal: making sales easy and natural. 

I would say the most important thing is to craft a strong website header that instantly answers these 3 questions about your product or service: how you make the customer’s life better, what problem you actually solve, and what they need to do to buy now or to get it.

2. Filling the Sales Funnel

A great funnel won't do much good if your target audience doesn’t know it exists. Here’s how we attract eyes:

• Content Creation:  We're talking blogs that answer real customer questions, social media posts that engage, and SEO strategies that get you found on Google. The content isn’t just filler; it’s valuable information that positions you as the authority in your field and helps you rank on search engines..

• Organic vs. Paid Traffic: Starting with organic means leveraging SEO, social media, and content marketing to build a solid base without immediate costs. Paid traffic, while effective for quick results, works best once you know what messages and keywords resonate with your audience.

• Lead Generator: This is about offering something for free but valuable enough that visitors willingly exchange their contact details and email addresses for it. Think free guides, checklists, webinars—anything that hooks them with a taste of what you can do, encouraging further engagement.

3. Optimizing the Sales Funnel

Now that you’ve built a solid sales funnel and started filling it, it’s time to analyze and fine-tune your funnel to get more results:

• Role of Data in Marketing Decisions: We track everything from how many people visit your pages to how many convert into customers. This data doesn’t just inform us about what’s working—it tells us what to improve.

• Continuous Improvement Strategies: The market’s always changing, and so should your approach. Regular testing and tweaking based on real user feedback and analytics keep your funnel effective and relevant.

• Tools and Metrics for Success: We use tools like Google Analytics, A/B testing platforms, and CRM systems to measure performance and guide our adjustments. We’re not guessing here; we’re making informed, strategic decisions to maximize your ROI.

Each component of the Marketing Domination Framework is designed to ensure your marketing plan isn’t just another business expense but a prime investment in your company’s future. With these strategies in hand, you’re not just participating in the market; you’re set to dominate it. 

To learn more about what the Marketing Domination framework is, check out my full podcast episode here.

Integrating the Framework Into Your Business

Now that you know more about the Marketing Domination Framework, let’s break down how you can take this framework from concept to concrete action once you’ve built and filled you sales funnel.

Step 1: Evaluate Your Current Marketing Efforts

First up, you’ve got to know where you stand to figure out where you're heading. Here’s what you do:

• Audit Your Current Marketing: Start by taking a good, hard look at what you’re currently doing. What’s working? What’s not? Are you getting the traffic but not the sales? Maybe your social media is doing great but your website has little to no traffic. Identifying these gaps is crucial.

• Customer Journey Mapping: Lay out the path your customers take from finding out about you to making a purchase. Any bumps or detours along the way? Smooth these out. This map will help you see where you can implement parts of the framework effectively.

Step 2: Fit the Framework to Your Unique Business

No two businesses are the same, and marketing strategies for small businesses shouldn’t be either. Here’s how to tailor the Marketing Domination Framework to fit your unique needs:

• Adapt to Your Size and Industry: For instance, local businesses might focus heavily on SEO and local advertising, while an online store might focus more on social media platforms for marketing and e-commerce optimization.

• Align With Your Business Goals: What are your main objectives? Increasing brand awareness, boosting sales, expanding your market? Use these goals to prioritize which parts of the framework to deploy first. If brand visibility is your goal, pump up your content creation; if sales are sluggish, tweak your sales funnel or optimization strategies.

Step 3: Prioritizing What to Tackle First

Here’s the real talk—trying to do everything at once is going to be too intense. You’ve got to prioritize. Here’s how:

• Focus on High-Impact Activities: Identify which changes will make the biggest impact on your goals. For most, this could be improving the website for better user experience or ramping up SEO efforts to increase traffic.

• Set Manageable Milestones: Break down each priority into smaller, manageable tasks. This makes the whole thing less daunting and helps you track progress more effectively.

• Leverage Quick Wins: Start with actions that can bring about quick results. This boosts morale and provides a tangible sense of progress. Got an email list that’s gathering dust? Launch a simple email marketing campaign to re-engage past customers.

Step 4: Consistency is Key

Lastly, remember that consistency wins the race. Regularly review your marketing efforts, adjust your small business marketing strategies as needed, and stay flexible to industry trends and customer feedback. The Marketing Domination Framework isn’t a one-and-done deal; it’s a continuous process of improvement and adaptation.

Remember, the goal here is not just to market your business but to turn it into a market leader. Each element of the Marketing Domination Framework is designed to build upon the other, creating a cohesive, powerful marketing strategy that delivers.

And hey, if you’re feeling overwhelmed, don’t worry — I’m here to guide you through each step. Stay tuned for the upcoming blog posts where we’ll break through step by step what all of the Marketing Domination components are and what you need to do to grow and dominate online with your marketing strategies for small business owners.

If you want to know exactly what's wrong with your marketing and get a FREE customized plan to fix it, you can take my free Marketing Assessment here.
And, if you have questions or need a hand crafting your marketing strategy, you can schedule a call here.