The 4 Elements of Holistic Marketing | 106
I get a lot of business owners coming to me trying to juggle it all. They have an Instagram, email list, AND online community… Often, they are struggling to do it all. And while part of the problem could be stretching yourself too thin, another issue is business owners not seeing the whole picture of their business.
Sometimes, we see the elements of our business as separate entities, when they actually work together. In fact, there are four holistic marketing elements that lean on and support each other to build a strong marketing plan.
I’ve talked about holistic marketing before in episode 44, but now I’m expanding it from three different holistic marketing elements to four!
Let’s talk about the four holistic marketing elements, and how they work together.
#1 Long Form Content: This is probably one of the first things you built in your business. Whether it was a blog, YouTube channel, or podcast, you have probably heard over and over again that you need long-form content.
I highly recommend putting out some form of long-form content each week. The focus of these pieces of content should be to provide value and nurture your audience. Nurturing is really important in today’s world as it builds the know, like, and trust factor - which can further your lead generation over time.
#2 Email Marketing: It’s here that you'll begin to see the holistic marketing elements support each other! I recommend emailing your list as often as you release long-form content. Emails are a great way to nurture, build a relationship, and provide value.
Email marketing also includes growing your list. Through your lead magnets and freebies, you can provide value and position yourself as an expert. If you create an amazing freebie, your audience can see what you're capable of, and will help them trust you before they pay you.
#3 Community: You can build a community via social media or a group (like Facebook groups). This holistic marketing element also feeds into the others. Post about new blogs or podcast episodes. Share a freebie to get them on your email list.
The goal of a community should be to build connections and get to know people. Interact with your community and build a solid relationship with them. Be authentic here. We can all spot a sale DM a mile away even when it’s camouflaged as a relationship builder.
#4 Relationship Marketing: This is my newest holistic marketing element, and it’s something I’ve seen a lot of success with in my own business. In fact, it’s my favourite type of marketing for service providers! Relationship marketing is also known as networking, referral marketing, or word-of-mouth marketing. The idea is to cultivate authentic relationships where you can work together and support each other.
In relationship marketing, you can connect people together and also earn more clients and customers from other referrals. For example, a client who trusts me might ask for a Copywriter referral. I refer my copywriter Branda who my client then immediately trusts due to my referral.
If you want to learn more about holistic marketing elements, grab my free holistic marketing guide. I’ll give you a more in-depth look at the types of holistic marketing, plus ideas for how to lean into each holistic marketing element.
Don't forget to follow me on Instagram @heyitsjenzaia and tune in next Saturday for more business tips and strategies!
xo, Jenzaia
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Episode Transcript:
Hey there - I'm Jenzaia and this is Market Scale Grow - a podcast created for ambitious teacherpreneurs looking to have a bigger impact on the world, achieve freedom, flexibility, and ultimately make more money. With weekly strategy sessions and inspiring stories from fellow teachers just like you, my goal here is to help you create a customized marketing strategy so you can grow your teacher business beyond your wildest dreams.
Welcome back. Today’s episode is a Saturday Strategy Session. We are talking all about holistic marketing and I'm doing a bit of a refresh on my holistic marketing strategy braid.
The reason why I like to think about it as a braid is because each of the elements are their own strand, and then when we layer the different strands together, they become stronger. So I first talked about this in episode 44. I love to refer back to it as one of my favorite episodes!
The idea of a braid is that when you're layering them together, it brings together the idea that they work together, they layer together, it's stronger when they're together. And it just gives me these ideas of repurposing and working with your marketing instead of against your marketing. As you continue, it becomes more and more natural and easier to continue. Sometimes when you're starting a braid, everything gets messed up and it's a little bit tricky, especially something like a French braid.
But then as you get further in and things become cleaner and more seamless, they go together a little bit nicer. So that's where the braid analogy comes from. They layer together so that it's stronger. And in episode 44, I talked about the three elements of holistic marketing; content marketing, email marketing, and community building.
So today we'll go into detail about those and my thoughts on each of them now over a year and three months later. And then we'll also talk about the new element that wasn't even on my radar back then, but is so very much on my radar now.
Before I dive into that though, pouring value in is really, really important. I heard this on one of Stacey Boehman’s podcasts. It's called Make Money as a Life Coach. But the concept of pouring value in, because you never know when or where it will come back to you. So pouring tons and tons of value into something like a podcast or a training for a conference or whatever it might be, you never know who's going to hear it.
You're never going to know who's going to read your blogs, see those Instagram posts, and then might refer you to somebody. So as we pour value in, value comes back to us. And I think that's a really, really great concept. I just love that idea and I said this a couple weeks ago on the previous podcast, but I feel that concept in my soul; in my heart. So I wanted to bring that back up. The focus of your marketing in today's digital marketing era really needs to be nurturing, showing people that you are authentically building relationships, that you legitimately care about them. And I mean, this is all being said with the assumption that you’re genuine.
I don't want you building connections if you don't actually care about connections; you're falsifying these authentic connections. I really hope that you're marketing and that you're building your business from a genuine, authentic place, and that you are coming at it from a real realness. I don't know how to say that any differently.
So building authentic connections and positioning yourself as the expert, and as you're pouring more value in, you're elevating yourself to that status of expert. And that's really, really important.
So let's recap those three initial elements of holistic marketing and then dive in deep to the brand new one. And the reason I say these in this order is because that is the order that I implemented them in my business. Another thing I love about this is how flexible it can be and how you can make it your own for your own business.
So element number one is your long form content marketing. This is a podcast, a blog or video content every single week. I personally think it is extremely important to be putting out high value quality content. And there is a very fine balance between the quantity that you're putting out and the quality. I would like you to prioritize the content that you are putting out in your business and make sure that you're able to put out regular content consistently that is high value for your audience so that again, it positions you as an expert.
It helps to nurture those relationships, and it gives them the ability to really trust that you can help them and you can support them, and you know what you're talking about. Again, I do recommend that you are putting out content weekly. My personal preference is either a podcast or video content. However, a blog is equally as good. The reason why I personally have chosen a podcast is because it's the type of content that I consume the most. It's easiest for me in this phase of life. I can consume a podcast when I'm doing other things. When I'm going for a run, when I'm driving in the car, when I'm washing dishes, when I'm hanging out with my kids and playing on the floor and we're building with Legos - I can be listening to a podcast.
Whereas I cannot read a blog while doing those things and I don't like watching videos. I try to minimize screen time, especially in front of my kids. So I just put a podcast on and let it play. And none of us are looking at screens. So that's just where I am in my business.
Another piece of it is the intimacy of having somebody talking directly into your ear. The reason that video content is so great is because people can hear you and they can see you, and that's helping to form that relationship. Also, we have been taught for a very long time to trust people that we see based on things like news reporters and other characters that we see on tv. There's this innate trust that we have when we're watching someone and that we're consuming video content. So that does help elevate you to expert status a little bit quicker. And so that's a good consideration or something important to consider when deciding your type of content.
One of the downsides with both podcasts and videos is you can't really outsource that as the brand - the face of the brand. It has to be my voice on the podcast. It really needs to be your voice, your video content, and your face until you've hit a certain level and you can bring in other people. But initially, it really needs to be you. And so that's an important consideration, whereas a blog, you can have ghost writers; hire somebody to write for you. You provide them with the outline, and then they can flesh it out into a full blog post. And so that can alleviate something from your to-do list. So that's something important to consider. Blogs are last on my list just because we don't tend to consume blogs the same way that we used.
I remember back in like 2012 - I'd find a new blog and go back all the way to the very beginning and then I would read every single blog post. We definitely don't do that anymore. So they're great for when somebody's looking for information, they'll find a blog post that's really, really relevant. Then they'll read that one and see if there are any other ones related to that concept. So just keep in mind your audience and how they're gonna consume your content.
Also, what you're actually gonna be able to maintain. The level of work for me to put out a blog post or put out a video is just insane. I tried blogging multiple times, total fails. I tried videos and a YouTube channel. No, thank you. Not for me. So that's something else that's really important to keep in mind. Are you gonna be able to actually create the content consistently? Or is it going to be like fingers on a chalkboard?
So content marketing was my very first piece of marketing for my business. I started my podcast and I really just got into a groove of podcasting, and I think that's really important when you're starting a new piece and you're adding a new element in - give yourself time to get in the groove.
You do not need to, and in fact, I highly discourage you to start multiple elements at the same time. So pick the one that you think you should start with. I picked content marketing. Get that one up and running, feel confident, and then add in the next layer or the next element. The second element is email marketing, and this is two pieces.
The first one is growing your email list so that you have people to market to, and then the second one is sending out those regular emails. I love emails because I find that it builds such a great relationship with people. There's an intimacy to it, and you're not fighting the algorithm. That is so important to remember - the email algorithm. Emails pop up in somebody's inbox in chronological order. Now, yes, there is spam and Gmail has the promotion folder and social folder, and it may get pushed to one of those folders, but it's still showing up in chronological order, and that is so, so important.
Unlike all of the social media that I can think of where they've gone to different algorithms. So it's no longer every single post that we see, and it no longer shows up in that chronological order. So that's a really great thing about emails. And providing freebies, lead magnets to grow your email list is another way to pour value into your community. It's also another way to nurture people, to give them something that will help elevate you to expert status because you have this amazing freebie that you're providing additional value and quality for them.
So having that freebie is just another piece of that puzzle of providing value and nurture. I recommend that you are emailing your list at the same frequency that you are creating your content. So typically that would be every single week. If you're creating your content biweekly, then you could choose to email out on the opposite weeks or on the same weeks.
It totally depends on you and your business and what works for you. My recommendation for both content creation and your emails, if you're not emailing out and creating content on a weekly basis, that would be your goal. To get there, to be able to create the content, send out the emails every single week.
One of the big reasons for that is touchpoints. We need to show up in somebody's brain and appear on their screen so many more times now than we used to. And so showing up every single week in somebody's inbox is just one of those touchpoints. Whether or not they actually open your email, if they just see your name in their inbox, that's a touchpoint and they can start to make that connection.
Now, I would consider seeing your name in their inbox, but not reading it as a micro-touch. And then someone who actually opens your email reads it, gets the value and the content from the email. That's a macro touchpoint, and obviously that's more ideal, but if you're not showing up in the inbox, then you won't even get that micro touchpoint.
I started my podcast in April. I started emailing out, I wanna say June or July. So I started my podcast in April and I didn't actually even start emailing people until August. Like, that is insane, but I just need to give myself the time to figure out the podcast.
And then I also started creating show notes on my blog for the podcast. And so after my podcast started a few months later, then I started the blog, and then a few months later, I started the emails, and so give yourself the time. Looking back now, it feels like I've just always been doing the podcast and always been sending out the emails, but that is absolutely not the case.
Element number three that you wanna layer in is building your community. This is typically gonna be your social media strategy. So whether you're building a community in a Facebook group or on your Facebook page, on TikTok, on Instagram or LinkedIn. Pick one where your growing community can get quick tidbits of information that are typically leading them to your long form content or your email list, where they're gonna get bigger pieces of content, more valuable content, longer forms of content than what you could possibly put in a single post.
Especially something like TikTok where the recommendation is like ten characters or something ridiculous. The great thing about the community building piece is this is adding to those relationships - making you appear or actually be a real human who does real things. You post pictures of your day-to-day life, things that you're actually doing behind the scenes of your business.
It makes you more real. It makes you actually exist and you can foster relationships in the DM’s. Having real conversations back and forth with people is such a great way to build additional conversations and build additional relationships. If you have a Facebook community, another amazing thing there is that your audience members can start to build connections there and can really form a community.
Okay. Let's chat about this new element, which is relationship marketing.
It is definitely different from community building. So community building is where you're growing that base audience and forming one-to-one relationships, but also just building that community piece, and so making people feel like they're part of a community. They're part of the group. They're part of your audience.
Relationship marketing is really, really, really that one-to-one relationship. Sometimes we might call this like word of mouth marketing, referral marketing or networking. I like to call it relationship marketing because you're building relationships with the intention that those relationships are going to help build your community.
So this relationship marketing is more marketing than community building. I would really say that community building is building that community, building the relationships, nurturing people, making connections. Whereas the relationship marketing would be more of a direct, maybe not like trying to get a sale out of somebody, but making connections with people who might know someone who needs your service or who may have a group that you can present in. And really expanding the network of people that know who you are, know what you do, know what you offer.
This element of marketing is extremely important and probably more useful if you offer one-to-one services or your signature offer is a one-to-one offer - something like a coaching package, done for you services,VIP days, anything where you're working directly with the client one-on-one.
This doesn't work as well and is not as effective or as necessary for a one to many model. So something like a course or a membership or a group coaching program, a mastermind. As a service provider, I used to fell like I was “doing it wrong”, because most of my clients come through word of mouth or referrals. They're people that I've built relationships with. Or they're friends with somebody I have a very close relationship with.
I think it's extremely important to collaborate with people in my niche, people who have different specialties than me, but also work with teacher business owners. And so a lot of my clients like working with a Pinterest manager who referred them to me, or they're working with a copywriter that referred them to me. And so those relationships that I have with the Pinterest manager, the copywriter, the podcast editor, are resulting in referrals, which are then obviously resulting in me growing my business.
My email list is only a couple hundred. My Instagram followers aren't even a thousand. All of these stats, these vanity metrics are from when my business was growing and I was having a lot of success. So if you're feeling that you're “doing it wrong” or that it's “not the right way”, don't feel that way. You should definitely, definitely be celebrating the fact that your offer is so amazing that people are telling others about you and about your service, about your offer, about your coaching package.
So again, this is really, really important for service providers because the more people that you meet and the more people that you tell about your services, then the more people they can tell. You never know who needs your service or who they know that might need your service or your coaching or whatever it is that you offer.
So one of the biggest benefits of this type of marketing is having the chance to step into your confidence, and if you're casually telling people about what you do and you're doing it more from a position and a point of sharing your expertise instead of the sales pitch, you will slowly take on that persona. Not the persona like you're faking it, but just accepting and really truly stepping into being who you are. It took me a really long time to step into, “I'm a Facebook Ad Strategist - that's what I do. That is what my business is. That's who I help.” And so it took time, but what it really took was me repeating that again and again and again, stepping away from the, ”oh, I just have this baby business where I help out teachers”, and stepping into, “I'm a Facebook Ad Strategist.”
The more people you tell casually just in conversation, the easier it is to say these things when it is a sales pitch. And so that's a huge benefit. Incorporating more relationship marketing into your marketing plan where you're actually intentionally forming relationships with people who may or may not have connections that could or may not help you out in the long run. And you're doing it more out of genuine interest and desire to make authentic connections with people.
So the last point I just wanna talk about for relationship marketing is how you can add in more opportunities to network with other people. The first one is to apply for speaking opportunities that come; big ones and small ones. So things like podcast guesting or being a guest expert in someone's community or a conference or summit of some sort. Those are all really great opportunities to make connections. The person that you're doing the podcast with, or make connections with the person hosting the conference or the summit.
And you may be feeling like you can't be the guest on a podcast if you don't have your own podcast. That's absolutely not true. So even if you don't have your own podcast, I still recommend podcast guesting because it's a really great way to step in front of more audiences. But also typically you'll chat with the podcast host before and after the actual episode is recorded. And so it's a really great way to network and to build a relationship, build a connection with somebody.
And then my last one is to actually start your own conference or summit or event so that you're the host and you're inviting other people to be speakers. Back in the fall, I did the Marketing Madness interview series where I did some Instagram lives with people, and that was a really great way for me to connect with people that I was connected to already, but also formed some new connections. So have fun with it. Go into it not necessarily looking for what you're gonna get out, but what you can put in. That way, the relationship is more genuine, more authentic, and it's also more sustainable because you're not gonna feel burnt out. You just have to trust that as you pour value in, as you build these relationships, the value will come back.
So thank you so much for listening to this. I am super, super excited to have had you join, and if you are listening in real time, Dream List Essentials is currently open until tomorrow night, so that is Sunday, January 29th at 11:59 PM Eastern Time.
If you are looking to grow your email list to start using Facebook ads, this is the course for you. There is the do-it-yourself component, but there is also group coaching calls where you can hop on with me and I can help you troubleshoot whatever you are going through with your Facebook ads, setting up your lead generation, the funnel that you're gonna need to create.
We go through all of it in the course so that you feel fully supported and that you know you have a lead generation machine that you are bringing in leads on autopilot. You don't even need to think about it. The ads are doing the heavy lifting for you, and we know that. Growing your email list is one of the most important pieces of having a sustainable business. So I would love for you to join Dream List Essentials.
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Have a wonderful day. Again, thank you for joining and I will be back in your ears next week with another Saturday strategy session.
Thank you for listening to this episode of Market Scale Grow. I'm so thankful that you've taken some time out of your busy schedule to make me part of your journey. If you love this podcast, don't forget to share it with your friends. And then head to your favorite podcast app to subscribe so that you won't miss next week's episode or any of the upcoming ones. And if you loved it, be sure to leave a review on Apple Podcast so that other people can find this podcast and we can impact teachers and teacher business owners around the world!