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Marketing Vs. Selling Pt 3

As we discussed in the two previous posts, marketing and selling work together to help us figure out what the customer wants, how to get them to take action and actually buy. But for those of us who are small business owners or independent sales people, we don't have access to a formal marketing agency. 

In my previous post I mentioned a friend who was shopping around for help with a digital marketing strategy. He was quoted an outrageous (in my view) price of $2500 each month. He's a smart guy and I gave him a much less expensive set of options. 

I'm not a tech guru by any means, but I do have a background in marketing and sales. With this in mind, I have researched a lot of this. The strategy is a simple one for most of us. If you have a website, and your goal is to get people to it, then "funneling" them in that direction is the job. In my book, I mention how my friends at Chastain Media explained this to me, keeping it simple and easy to understand. 

When they get to my website, my potential customers can watch product videos, leave comments and, most importantly, book a phone appointment. If they book an appointment, the chances of me closing a sale increase dramatically. When I shared this whole easy-to-understand concept to my colleague, he agreed completely. Then I told him he could do almost all of it himself and send me the $2500. 


I recently had a revelation that I was not just an insurance agent, but actually, I was running a marketing firm with one very exclusive client - me! It wasn't just enough for me to know the products and their benefits, but I had to find the clients, sell myself first to earn their trust, and then move to selling the insurance products I offer. 

With this in mind, my new role puts me in charge of producing content for my blog (I have one for my insurance business), Instagram and Facebook posts and advertising. All of this is done on a shoestring of a budget and can be difficult to keep track of on occasion. For the average small business owner, marketing is overwhelming, but it doesn't have to be. 

Once you figure out what you are trying to accomplish you can reverse engineer the process. As I mentioned, my goal is to get people to my site. Getting them there from various other places, like my blog and social media platforms, is the process. By using a good Call To Action (CTA) the prospect can start moving toward my site. 

For example, I use Sniply, which adds a small banner to news articles I share online. The banner includes a CTA with a message like, "Do you have a cancer plan? Click here." I can include this with any article, not necessarily something related to my business. When they "click here", they are redirected to my website. Pretty cool!

A few years ago I "snipped" an article on sharks off the coast of South Carolina. When people clicked on the shark article, they also saw my CTA. A few shared the article on their pages and my CTA moved with it. All of this was no charge to me as Sniply allows you 1000 free "snips" each month. 

One of my suggestions if you are wanting to win the marketing battle is to subscribe to a few YouTube channels that give tips and tricks for free on digital marketing. Neil Patel and Cathrin Manning have loads of information to share. Another great source of information is Social Media Examiner, which stays up to date on current social media trends. 

Instead of paying thousands of dollars for a marketing strategy, take the time to figure one out for yourself. If I can do it you certainly can as well. Good luck and stay healthy!


Chris Castanes is a professional speaker who helps sales people succeed through workshops and humorous presentations. He's also the author of "You're Going To Be Great At This!", a humorous look at sales. For booking information, click here. He's also the president of Surf Financial Brokers selling life and disability insurance in several states.

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