Imperfect Marketing
Imperfect Marketing
266: Marketing Lessons Learned: Best Insights from 2024 Guest Experts
As we step into 2025, it's time to reflect on the valuable marketing insights gleaned from a year of conversations with industry experts. In this special episode of Imperfect Marketing, I'm taking a different approach to kick off the new year.
Throughout 2024, I had the privilege of interviewing 52 guests, each sharing their biggest marketing lessons learned. Now, I'm excited to share the recurring themes and standout advice that emerged from these discussions.
Key Marketing Themes for 2025
1. Know Your Audience and Build Relationships
Understanding your target market is crucial. As Cindy Chang wisely stated, "If you try to be everything to everyone, you will become nothing to everybody." Take the time to refine your ideal client profile and speak directly to their needs.
2. Embrace the Power of Focus and Simplicity
TJ Murphy emphasized the importance of batching tasks and time-blocking your schedule to boost efficiency. Remember, less is often more when it comes to marketing strategies.
3. Authenticity as Your Secret Weapon
Drewbie Wilson reminded us that showing your true self builds trust. Don't be afraid to let your personality shine through your content.
4. Rethink Your Pricing and Value Strategies
Marco Torres cautioned against excessive discounting, suggesting value-added incentives instead. Focus on highlighting what makes your offering unique.
5. Leverage Social Media and Email Marketing
Paul Gowder emphasized that while social media builds interest, email is where the real conversion happens. Use these tools in tandem for maximum impact.
6. Focus on Meaningful Metrics
Avoid getting caught up in vanity metrics. Instead, concentrate on data that drives actionable insights and real results.
7. Embrace Imperfection and Learn from Mistakes
As Erin Marcus pointed out, the most significant learning opportunities often come from when things don't go as planned.
Your 2025 Marketing Challenge
I challenge you to select one lesson from this episode and apply it to your marketing strategy this year. Whether it's refining your audience understanding, simplifying your message, or reevaluating your metrics, take action to improve your marketing effectiveness.
Let's make 2025 the year of results by embracing imperfect marketing and continual learning. Are you ready to take your marketing to the next level?
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Hello and welcome back to another episode of Imperfect Marketing. I'm your host, kendra Korman, and since it is the first episode for 2025, I still can't believe it's 2025, I'm doing things a little bit differently. As you know, this show is called Imperfect Marketing because marketing is anything but a perfect science. I think that the key, though, is that we learn from our mistakes or experiments and learn how to change what we're doing and move forward better and faster. Oh, let's go ahead. Let's see. I've had. I had 52 episodes, maybe 51 episodes interview episodes in 2024, which is just crazy, and every single guest that I have on the show I asked the same question.
Speaker 1:This show is called Imperfect Marketing. Marketing is anything but a perfect science. What has been your biggest marketing lesson learned? And so today we're just going to revisit some of those fun and interesting and there were actually a couple of themes that popped up lessons from all of my guests, so let's go ahead and dive into the first one Knowing your audience and building relationships. That is just so key, right?
Speaker 1:Brenda Miller said we will all have mistakes when it comes to marketing, but you need to lean into them and embrace them as learning experiences. Don't be afraid to try something new. If it doesn't work, ask what did we learn and what can we do differently next time? Very good way to think about it, right? So let's talk about knowing your audience and building relationships, because that's everything. Knowing your audience is so much more important than you probably think and, to be honest with you, a lot of people skip that part because it's boring. They don't want to do it. It actually takes a little bit of work, and so it's trying to hit a target in the dark if you don't know what they are and what it means to them. So Cindy Chang talked about it, and this is a phrase that I've used for years If you try to be everything to everyone, you will become nothing to everybody. So again, narrowing it down, understanding who they are and what it is that they're looking for.
Speaker 1:Another great insight from Nicole Grinnell, who was another guest on the podcast. She said when you speak directly to your ideal client and their struggles, you become their go-to solution, powerful, right. So I want you to. The key takeaway from that theme and those episodes was that you need to take time to refine your ideal client profile. I want you to ask yourself what do they need? What words do they use? What keeps them up at night? And then speak directly to them in the words that they use and watch the magic happen. So a second theme was the power of focus and simplicity, which is always cool, right? So let's talk about a little bit focus. We try to do everything at once, like I've been there, done that, have the t-shirt and we end up overwhelmed.
Speaker 1:Tj Murphy, who was a guest on the show, shared a game-changing perspective in my opinion, and he said batching tasks and time blocking your schedule makes you more efficient and helps prevent burnout. I batch and I block time, block my calendar. I'll tell you that right now. It is so helpful to do that and you actually get things done. Erin Kraske also had a gem. Her gem was simplify your messaging. Clarity attracts the right clients. So again, tying in focus with understanding your audience total key. So the takeaway from this one is less is more. Focus on one or two core strategies, then streamline your messaging right. If you're juggling too much, it's time to declutter not just your desk but probably also your calendar.
Speaker 1:Now let's talk about authenticity being your secret weapon. Drew B Wilson reminded us show people who you are so that they can know, like and trust you. Social media isn't just for fun. It is a tool. Pretty cool, right. Lauren Gaggioli said, when you tell stories rooted in your values, trust grows naturally. Pretty cool, right? When you really think about authenticity and building trust in your content. That's so important. So the takeaway from that share your personality and values. Through your content, people connect with people, other people, not faceless brands. So don't be afraid to be yourself.
Speaker 1:I think that that is a huge takeaway that we all need to focus on Right Pricing and value strategies. This was a good theme that came out of some of my episodes in 2024, because pricing isn't just about numbers. It's about perception and value. Marco Torres said discounting trains customers to wait for sales. Instead, focus on value-added incentives to stand out. That was a really cool episode. Then Colin Sandberg, who was another guest, echoed this Low prices might attract customers, but they also attract problems. Charge what your value is worth Good way to think about it. Do not over-discount. That's not good. Competing on the price is a race to the bottom. Instead, highlight what makes you different and why your product or service is worth it. Trust me, I've tried to compete on price before and actually lost business because of it Because people were like, why is that so cheap? So be careful what message you're sending with your pricing and make sure that you're charging what it is that you're worth, because, again, a lot of those value seekers are not necessarily people that you want.
Speaker 1:Now, social media and email marketing are a dynamic duo that I love. Paul Gowder said email is where the ROI lives. Social media builds interest, but email turns interest into action. Very good, lisa Gart, lisa Lisa oh gosh, I'm going to mess that up now that she's not here. Gardner also emphasized emphasized. Storytelling is key. Use email to tell your brand story in a way that connects emotionally. That's so important, right? Using social media to engage and drive traffic is fantastic, but you need to rely on email to nurture and convert. Together, those two tools are unstoppable. Don't like social media. That's fine. You don't need to be on it. You need to be out there somewhere that's getting you that reach and then leverage email to convert.
Speaker 1:Now, metrics matter, but only the ones that drive meaningful action. Lauren Gaglioli said again don't chase vanity metrics. Look at data that drives meaningful action. Back in March of 2024, I went to a conference and they were telling us all of these wonderful metrics that they hit conversion-based, and let's just say that we did not invest into that organization again to the level that we were, because they couldn't give me better. They couldn't give me metrics to show any kind of result outside of awareness and outside of vanity metrics with these big numbers, and they just didn't really mean anything. And so you have to be really careful when spouting off vanity metrics. Yes, they sound good, yes, a lot of people believe them, but you know better. And if you don't, that's okay. Look into it and figure out how you can take action on it. Right, that's what's really important there.
Speaker 1:Max Ivy said accessibility isn't just for your audience, it's also about making your metrics accessible to you, and so that was a huge podcast episode all about accessibility and beyond ADA compliance and just working with people. So, definitely work on making your metrics accessible. Make sure that you're making it easy to do work with you, no matter how anybody is using your website or your emails. The takeaway is to focus on actionable metrics. If you have access to information, what are you doing with it? And be ready to pivot when something's not working. Flexibility is key, but you don't just give up immediately. Right, you got to give it like 30 months minimum, ideally.
Speaker 1:And then let's embrace imperfection, because that's what this is all about, right? Marketing is anything but perfect and a lot of times, progress is a lot better than perfection. So Cindy Chang said rarely do the things go exactly as planned. Business is about improvising and adapting on the fly, and Aaron Marcus inspired us with the times. I learned the most were when things didn't go perfectly. That's where the magic happens. So what's the takeaway there? Mistakes are inevitable, right, the key is learning from them and using those lessons to grow, because if we're not learning from what we did, then what's the point? So I just want to talk a little bit more about the insights gained from my guests. There were so many lessons learned and so many things that we can learn from, and what they shared and what they did, and I'm looking forward to even more of that this year, in 2025.
Speaker 1:But I want you to know your audience and build genuine relationships. For most of us, it's really about the relationships. It's about that know like and trust factor, and if you're talking above or below your audience, they're not really liking you or trusting you that much. Right, you want to focus on simplicity and clarity, let's narrow down, let's focus, be simple and clear in our message and go from there. Then you want to be authentic. Okay, authenticity is key.
Speaker 1:I used to remove all of my ums and my ahs from my podcast episodes. Hopefully they don't annoy you too much. So is my biggest filler word, but this is authentically me. Yes, I have notes right here that I'm looking at and referencing because I want to make sure I don't forget anything, and especially when I'm referencing quotes from previous guests, I definitely want to make sure that I'm getting it right to at least some extent. Right. But you want to be authentic. Your authentic self is what builds trust, and if you aren't yourself, then people aren't really going to feel like they know like or trust you. And then you want to highlight value over price. Do not worry about price, right. If you think it's too high or you're concerned, do a little bit of research. But if you feel that the value is there for what you're charging, don't discount it. Okay, combine social media and email for maximum impact, because that's awesome.
Speaker 1:Focus on meaningful metrics and stay adaptable. That's so important. You really need to adapt to all your situations and, most importantly, embrace imperfection. It's progress over perfection all day, every day. The person to market first is always going to win your challenge. This week, there's only one day left in it, but until next week, right? Pick one lesson from today and I want you to apply it in your marketing.
Speaker 1:What is it that you can do better here in 2025? Can you know your audience better? Can you be more authentic in your communications? If you're relying on AI, can you edit it more and show more of your authentic self, or add more into your inputs to be more of your authentic self? Can you simplify your message? Can you make it less flowery and a little bit more direct and to the point, so that your audience loves it and knows and relates to it? Can you put a stake in the ground when it comes to the price and the value that you're offering your clients? Can you look at your metrics in a different way and the value that you're offering your clients? Can you look at your metrics in a different way? Make sure that you're targeting the right ones, right. So thank you so much for joining me for this special episode of Imperfect Marketing. I hope that you learned some things from it, got some ideas or got inspired to go binge listen or watched a few other of my episodes from 2024.
Speaker 1:There's just so many things that we can do, so many things we can do differently, better, more imperfectly and get better results. Let's make 2025 the year of results. Thanks so much and have a great rest of your day.
