If you had been advised to buy FB ads early on your product-based business, hold up and hear me out. In today’s episode of She’s Busy AF, I’m sharing my marketing strategies for product-based businesses. These are strategies I have used with my clients. Also, I’m sharing a special offer that you don’t want to miss out so make sure to listen till the end of the episode.,

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All right. So you want to launch a product-based business? While the majority of clients I work with these days are in the service space around, I have my fair share of experience with product-based businesses. 

 

Whether that’s in corporate America – I used to work at an advertising agency and our clients were primarily retail – or with my own agency and consulting background, where I’ve also worked with retail brands.

 

I’ve learned a lot – enough to know that I prefer to work with service-based brands. However, both have their ups and downs. A lot of what I learned was with brands who were bootstrapping their own startup without investors. 

 

This is mainly what I want to talk about – brands who are bootstrapping their startup in the way of marketing in the way of product, money, all of that. Here are the things I’ve learned, and what I recommend for any business owner looking to start and grow their own product-based business.

 

Don’t Buy Into Facebook Ads

 

Now, this is assuming by the way, that you have your product and you have your branding and you are good to go, ready to launch, you just need to find a way to sell your product. So we’re going to dive right in. First things first, I want to discourage you from buying Facebook ads – yet.

 

This is something that I see a lot of business owners struggle with in general. It doesn’t matter what business you’re in. I feel like a lot of business owners are like, I need to do Facebook ads, I need to promote this post, I need to do this or I need to do that. No, the truth is, you actually don’t.

 

I want you to focus on growing your audience first. There’s so much that can be done organically before you start paying for exposure, digital landscape that is paid advertising. That is the first tip. Do not buy into Facebook ads, please don’t, do not let that be the first thing you do.

 

Build Your Team of Advocates

 

The second tip I have is to build a team of advocates. So we’re talking about growing your audience, right? Think influencers, but people who actually care about your brand and will share your products, they genuinely like your product. This could be even a few friends who you make the product for and you drop a “Hey, if you love it, please don’t forget to tag me if you’re going to post about this on social media!” You’re almost testing the product out, seeing what they think, and then asking for that exposure.

 

If you have any ancillary budget, any budget that you can use, I don’t think influencers are a bad idea, either. Just be careful who you go with, make sure you’re vetting their platform and the people who follow them. Does their audience match your ideal customer? That’s very, very, very important. 

 

You don’t want to work with someone if your product is meant for a female, and the majority of their audience is male. So don’t be afraid to ask for those demographics. That’s pretty common with influencers, but also don’t be afraid to use influencers if it makes sense.

 

Don’t Waste Your Budget On Programs or Software

 

Number three, since most of your overhead probably goes to product, don’t buy into a ton of programs and software right now, and most certainly do not go join a group program or a mastermind. What you need in the beginning is more individualized support. If you are going to invest in help, have it be with a strategist who can either help you with a strategy for marketing or help you and implement.

 

Know that option too. The implementation side of things is going to be pricier typically because there’s more time involved. So with that said, know it’s okay to ask for help and outsource things as you grow and as you can afford to do so, but don’t feel pressured to take on the debt to do so. If you have time, if you could implement strategies and outsource little things here and there, that’s great, but just be mindful of your budget. It’s okay to bootstrap, is what I’m getting at here.

 

Keep Showing Up

 

Number four, just keep showing up, keep promoting your product, keep engaging with potential customers and having conversations. This is not just limited to the digital landscape. I cannot stress enough that you can’t underestimate the effect you have on your local community with your product. 

 

Don’t underestimate in-person exposure for the start of your brand. Is there a pop-up you can attend and have a booth at? What networking opportunities exist to get you in front of your ideal customer, showing up is a huge part of this. If you do everything digitally, you’re only going to get so far – maximize your local reach. That is definitely the best one to end with.

 

To Recap

 

So I just want to recap what these four major tips are for making sure that you are getting out there, getting your product out there, as you want your product-based business. Number one, don’t buy into Facebook ads yet. Instead, number two, focus on building a team of advocates and maybe that even includes influencers. Number three, don’t buy into a ton of programs and software right now. Instead, look to focus on working with a strategist if you are going to recruit help. Number four, just keep showing up, keep promoting your product, keep engaging with potential customers and having conversations.

 

I just have to shameless plug here a little bit – I am a strategist. So if you do need help in the strategy side of the marketing of your brand, I am offering brand intensives starting in the new year. I’m about to have a baby, so I am taking the rest of Q4 off, but I am going ahead and filling those spots for the new year.

 

So if you might be interested at all, what it includes is a 90 day strategy, a plan. We have one session together for an hour, and then you have one week of Voxer support to use within 30 days after your session.

 

So let’s just say you have a session with me. I hashed out your marketing plan. I deliver that to you within a week, and then at any point, when you decide to dive into your marketing plan within those next 30 days, you can start your Voxer support. That way you don’t feel rushed to dive into your plan either.

 

Although I will say, if you are going to book a strategy session, be prepared to make time to do the work. That’s really what these sessions are meant for. It’s more meant for if you have the means yourself to execute the strategy, or if you have team members who can help you do the same.

 

So I will make sure I link all that information in the show notes. I’m really excited to serve in this new capacity in the new year and not just be a sounding board in a session, but actually provide a strategy and a plan. I live for strategy. I love it. It’s one of my favorite things to help my clients with. So that’s why I decided to expand on what those intensives look like.

 

Thank you so much for tuning into this episode. I hope you found it helpful. If you did leave a review, it helps me reach other entrepreneurs, just like you to navigate the waters of business building. And I will see you on the next episode of She’s Busy AF.