My Marketing Fail - What Not To Do!

In this episode, I’m sharing what happened when Jen and I launched an event… and nobody bought.

At first glance, it looked like a failure.

But when we went to the venue anyway, everything changed.

We got clear. We got inspired. We got aligned with what we actually wanted to create — and the next version of the event feels bigger, stronger and so much more exciting.

This episode is about why marketing is never just strategy.

Marketing is energy.

If your content feels flat, your sales feel hard, or nothing seems to be landing right now… it might not be your offer.

It might be your energy behind it.

Inside this episode I talk about:

• Why our first event didn’t land
• What changed when we stopped forcing it
• Why alignment matters in business
• How your energy affects your marketing
• What we’re creating next: MAIN EVENT

If you’ve ever felt like something isn’t working, this one is for you.

Join the MAIN EVENT Waitlist https://gemmaclifton.com/main-event?fbclid=PAZnRzaARe5ulleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZA8xMjQwMjQ1NzQyODc0MTQAAaco_A0_-6IH4tFfBfcO1PLMPZ6RlYMzpyeSRbKfvaZEEckj2B15GN3o9gPHkg_aem_RCU-DkdzFp2CsQVYibp5dw

If you want support with your marketing from a real person (not AI), you can find me here:

Instagram: https://instagram.com/gemmacliftonmarketing

Join the waitlist for The Collective (opening soon): https://gemmaclifton.com/marketing-collective-wait-6630

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:01

So yesterday I went to an event venue where we had planned our content creation event with Jen Jennifer Channel, who's the Liberty Lady. So we went to the event venue because to be honest, we had done a half-hour job at promoting it. There have been things that come up, so we had to change the date, and you know we were just not fully in it. Jen was mid-launch something else, and it just didn't really work out. So we um said let's just still go to the venue because we knew that we wanted to do the event, and we were like, let's just like let's just play, let's just have fun. And honestly, going there, I was a bit like is there any point going we're gonna have the same cycle next time we're not gonna promote the event? But we went there and had so much fun, and honestly, the new event that we're creating is gonna be so much better, literally like ten times better than the event we thought was gonna be good anyway. So this is what I want to talk about today is that when you are creating something and when you're promoting something, if it's not fully like incredible, how are you going supposed to market it and promote it in a way that makes people go like, oh my god, I want this. I um talk to a lot of people about the marketing all the time, it's just something I do like without without people even asking me to, I just sort of chatted about the marketing. Um so I have people say, Oh, I've promoted this, or it's not quite worked, or it's not quite sold a bit like the event that Jen and I hadn't sold. I we sold a few tickets to, had to refund them and stuff. But it's one of those things where we sort of hadn't been fully in it, we our hearts hadn't been in it, so we never really pushed it in the way that we wanted to. And that's what I find is that some people say, Well, I've promoted it, like give a how we might say, I've done a couple of posts, I've sent an email maybe, oh my marketing's just not working, or like email marketing isn't for me because of it, and that's the biggest problem is this blame on it's the marketing's fault, but actually, marketing is energy, so to go back to basics, we need to work on our energy and our alignment and what lights us up to make sure that draws through in what we are creating and what we are then promoting because when we're lit up and we're excited and we've got loads of ideas and we know who we're speaking to, and it just feels like something we want to talk about the whole time, it feels so easy to create content from that place. I only say this because yesterday we had our play day at the event venue, and the ideas are flowing, and we're like, right, this is what we're gonna be doing, like this is this is gonna be so good. Now is I can't shut up, shut up about it. Like me and Jen were talking on the phone last night. I've like journaled the shit out of everything, like got so many ideas and so many things that I want to tell people about and like say to people, like this is what you need, because I truly truly believe it from the bottom of my stomach is like this is gonna change so many women in businesses' lives, and for good reason, because it because it is gonna be incredible because I fully back it. Now, I've always had this thing of like when people say, 'Oh, you've got to like love what you do, and you never work it in your life, and all that stuff.' And I've I'm I've always been in that space of like, yeah, I do love what I do, but now I'm like, okay, I get it, I get it, because when you are in this space of I can see it, I can visually see it, I can like like literally see the outcomes of what they're gonna achieve in front of me. I know it because I'm there and I have that trust, it just hits differently. Because when we first went to the venue, or before we had even like we sort of planned our first event, we were still sort of in this like, is it gonna work? We'll just we'll just see how it goes. Energy. Now that let's just see how it goes, let's get people in and then work it out from there. That's not gonna work, and that's why we didn't draw the right people in. So, this is my lesson to you is that if you're in this space of like I'm promoting stuff but it's not drawing people in, going back. What energy are you pro what energy do you feel when you talk about your offer? How do you feel about it? Like what is there any sort of niggle or concern in the back of what you're doing? Is that is that like is there some sort of like self-doubt that's there? Like, is it gonna work? Are you trialling this offer or do you know that it works, or do have you seen results, or are you so confident and so like fully backing yourself? And do you like bloody love it? If you don't, like honestly, you don't feel bad. Like, this is this is where I would put a lot of shame on myself, be like, oh my god, I don't love it, I must be shit, all this sort of stuff. Be like, no, actually, you just gotta go back and what do you need to um make you like make you realise its potential? Like, what do you need to make you feel even more empowered that this is this is a great choice? So for Jen and I we went to the venue and we like visually could see it. We walked through the venue, we did a day like run by run through of the day and be like, right, okay, we're gonna this is gonna be an itinerary, this is where people may go, and we can visually see it happening. For me, I'm quite a visual person, so when I'm having to plan something, I need to visually see it or see like a plan or see something. Some people probably need to like have more confirmation in terms of like testimonials, like what what client reviews have they had, or do they need verbal feedback, or do they need like some recognition or something in that sense to be like actually this is good? Like, so what is it that you need to make you fully start to back yourself? Because when you get into that space and you're like, I I know this is gonna be good, your marketing will become more magnetic. So, this isn't a marketing problem, this is a bit deeper than that. This is like who you are, and I don't mean I'm like having a personal attack and like who you are, but what like what level are you at? Are you at this stage of like yeah, this is good, I think you're gonna like it, or are you I bloody know my shit and I know that this is gonna be incredible because that sort of inner confidence and grid and knowing that you are XYZ, whether you're like an incredible photographer, whether you're an incredible florist, whether you are a coach, whatever that is, like if you know it and you you fully back yourself, it doesn't matter whether you get two likes on a post or no like interest in anything because you know that it's then gonna there is stuff in the going on in the background, and this is what I see people are so caught up in the metrics of okay, well nobody's like this real, so I'm just gonna stop. But it's not to do with that at all. Your audience is always watching, like if you are consistent and you are showing up in the energy of this is gonna work, like I know this is gonna work, this is this is something that you need, you will draw people in, but you have to stick at it long enough to make it to make it work, and people get so caught up in oh, but I haven't haven't quite got this instant result I wanted. Like, so so you've just gotta stick, you've just gotta do some like inner digging and be like, okay, fall back in love with what you're doing, like get so like engrossed in it that it becomes something you just talk about without even realizing, like, and then just you just completely detach the law of detachment. Like, you completely detach from the outcome of like if people if people respond, great, if they don't respond, great. I still don't care because I know that I know that this is gonna work, and I know that I'm gonna put myself in the right spaces to make it work, and that's what happens because you have this in a in a knowing that it's going to work out. You then start to look for opportunities, you start to look for new ways or new new uh focuses or new conversations that you can be having that will then make this work. If you're still in this, oh is it is it gonna work? Is it not? You're then just gonna retreat back and then be thinking, oh, I don't I don't know if it's gonna work. Maybe maybe I'm starting to question myself, maybe I'll just uh do something different, and then you just sort of like pivot and change, and this is what happens all the time. So my my advice to you is do a little bit of an audit, okay? A little bit of a self-audit, self-reflection. Are you fully backing your offer? Are you fully backing yourself? If not, what do you need? What do you need? And go into that. Do you need some do you need to go go through and actually visually see the outcomes? Say if you're a PT and you need to go back and see like the before and after pictures of your clients' results, or do you need to see some testimonials, or do you need to speak to somebody and be like, just you've worked with me, what do you think? Like, just go back and be like, what do I need right now? Or maybe even just going through like a social feed and be like, wait a minute, I've like I've done loads and loads of stuff. I know what I'm doing, I'm an expert in my field. Like, go through your DMs, be like, Okay, look all the people that I've worked with, look at all this. Like, what do you need that will help you realize that you are so good at what you do? Okay, once you've done that, then lead from that energy and just completely detach from any outcomes because you don't need outcomes because you know that you are good at what you do. This is could be literally a like a whole like hour session and more going into like your inner thoughts, limiting beliefs and stuff. But marketing equals energy. If marketing's not working, we always go back and look at energy, right? Look at what are we like what are we producing our marketing from? If it's this it's okay, like I think you might like it, or if there's that little niggle of self-doubt, people can feel it. Marketing equals energy. Are you gonna buy from somebody who says yeah, it's alright, or are you gonna buy from somebody who says, I know this is for you, which one are you more drawn to? That's again how things spread. People then start to talk, it's all like think of the ripple effect, like your energy goes out into the universe, then it starts to make waves, and then people then get affected, and they might be drawn to you because of this like pull push-pull effect that we have. So that's my advice. Take it or leave it, don't do what I did, and just literally like try and wing it. Winging it is not the thing, you have to have the inner belief and inner knowing that this is who I am. And if you are in the Southampton, Hampshire area and want to come to my event, it's all about being the main event, all about being not shrinking, basically, not hiding. Like, if you've ever been told you're too much, or you've you've always like kept yourself small just so you're safe, all of that stuff. Like, if you've always thought I haven't quite found my thing, like I want to fully believe myself, but I'm not sure how you need to come to our event. Basically, you just come up and show turn up as your your most unapologetic version of you. The dress code is like outdo the bride, basically. You basically turn up in whatever way you want that like showcases you. We've got networking, it's basically a networking event, but there are some incredible add-ons where you can buy photography, um, headshots, B-roll, etc. Marketing strategy, planning sessions, audit, marketing audits. So you can then have a plan of action, you can have some clarity, we're gonna have guest speakers in. It's gonna be great, and bougie AF. So if you're wanting to wanting to join, then I will drop the wait list link in below. It's gonna be in July, FYI. Haven't dropped this anywhere else yet, so you're the first to know. But when you're on the wait list, I will send over the details as when we get stuff talking about. But I cannot wait. And remember, energy first, then marketing. Everything comes from that before anything else. Love you, bye bye.