Shallow Marketing Isn’t Cutting It Anymore

According to the world, you’re behind. If you’re not marketing in every way available to you, you aren’t marketing at all.

Hurry and hustle are your badges of honor, but if you’re honest, you don’t feel like you’re even making traction. Your God-given goals are on the back burner.

And with so many marketing options available, it’s as if your brain can’t stop spinning about what you “need” to do - you’re overwhelmed.

Why You Feel Overwhelmed by Your Marketing

First, we need to understand what’s at the root of the spinning:

FOMO. We fear we’re missing something if we aren’t doing it all. Like, if I’m not on TikTok, I’m missing a large audience and leaving clients and money on the table. (Not even close.)

Perfectionism. We think we need to have the newsletter opt-in (with a great lead magnet), all the social buttons, landing pages ready to sell, a content-churning blog, a YouTube channel, and so on. We feel it needs to be perfect. (This type of marketing is for the big guys.)

Hurry. Everything on the internet changes so fast, and we feel like we need to keep up. So we hurriedly do this and that, while our content and thought leadership are compromised. (Thought leadership is deep.)

Desperation. We need to make a living, so we think we need to cast our lines in every pond to catch a fish - any fish! (People can smell desperation, even through the computer.)

Fear. The root of all this is fear: if I don't get leads ASAP, I’m going to fail and lose my dream of owning my own business. (Fear is real, but so is slow growth.)

Notice, all of these emotions are negative. Like “spiraling,” spinning is circling into a negative pattern and is quickly getting you nowhere.

Signs Your Marketing is Over-Complicated

You really don’t need to do “all the things” to get business. And it’s actually no longer how business works.

People are looking for deep, human content and connection in a world that’s saturated with AI content and generic “how-to’s.”

Signs your marketing is overcomplicated and could use so dialing in:

• Posting the same things across all marketing channels (no adjusting per platform).

• Changing messaging or strategy too often.

• Being everywhere, but shallowly. “Spray and pray.”

• Not gaining real momentum.

• Working your tail off, yet not getting anywhere.

• Choosing what “feels” right, instead of what you’re audience needs or meeting them where they are.

We often over-complicate marketing because the “big” guys are doing it or someone told us this is the only way to get clients.
Here’s a truth to set you free: You need to show up where your audience is and go deep with them. Share about yourself, how you can help them, and then your business and solution. So, if your audience is on Instagram, you need to bring your A-game and forget about Facebook or TikTok.

Meet your audience where they are every day, week, and month. Over time, they will start to know, like, and trust you (the formula for getting someone to buy from you). Newsletters are great for this, and I’d argue you need a newsletter before you need a social strategy.

AI is Not the Solution for More Marketing

AI makes creating content super easy, but you still need to be selective about the marketing you choose. AI can damage consumer trust if you’re not careful.

For example, I could have AI write a blog post, social media post, and landing page, and send that out into the world. But it often falls flat. Why? Because it will lack depth and personality, and people can spot it better than a gas station on a road trip.

Instead, use AI to guide you on one thing, maybe two. Maybe it outlines or drafts your blog post and newsletter, and you go in and give it the depth and life it needs.

Being in One Place Well is Gold

Your marketing needs two things: depth and YOU. Find where your clients are and spend time, intention, and add value there. Let go of places you know your clients are going to be, at least for now.

Get really clear on what your goals are, your capacity, and your capability. If you’re running ragged, your audience will feel that, and you will eventually burn out.