Yep, it’s that time of year once again. Time for lots of folks like me to wax on about what we see out there on the horizon so that folks like you can perhaps be a little more prepared to respond to the coming shifts in marketing. 

In a lot of ways, I think the real service posts like this perform is to put a name on things that people are already starting to feel. I don’t claim to have special knowledge about the future, I view things through a lens informed by the thousands of conversations I have with business owners and influencers alike. 

Of course, what I should do is look back at last year’s post and give myself a score, so let’s do that briefly. 

Here’s what I predicted for 2021

·      Paying attention becomes a survival mechanism – This is hard to quantify, but I think that companies that relooked at most of the stages of their customer journey are winning. 

·      Everything gets smaller – More personal, maybe, not sure smaller. 

·      AI gets practical – nailed this one – you can’t produce an app these days without AI baked in. 

·      Talent investment is back in style – I don’t know, the great resignation caused so much scrambling that I’m not sure investment is the right term

·      Video gets personal again – Sure video, including 1 to 1 video, is hot, but I don’t think I saw the audio explosion as a personal medium. 

·       UX and SEO get attached at the hip – yep, another one that Google made real. 

·      Coaching ranks swell – This is still coming in my view, but I’m still bullish as heck on the change in how people, including marketing agencies, position their work. 

With that bit of housekeeping done, let’s move on to what I view as the top small business trends of 2022. 

Brand Purpose takes the place of authenticity.

Authenticity is a decade-old buzzword that most people struggle to define, let alone deliver. One thing the great shake-up entering year 3 has done is force people to search for meaning in their work and certainly is what their brand stands for, promises, and delivers. 

I expect this idea to become a significant differentiator for brands. People will make choices based much more on connection with a brand. Who knows how long this will last but for right now, make sure you help people connect with what you stand for. 

Events are still virtual.

It seemed like this trend if you want to call it that was about to end in the fall of 2021, but alas, it will carry forward into 2022 and continue to influence the habits of business travel and education habits. 

I look for many significant events to get better at hybrid offerings. I also think that forming cohorts of 8-10 to go through an experience together will take the place of the typical course or membership program. 

Co-marketing is no longer a big biz play.

I’ve always loved co-marketing. When you think of this you might immediately think Red Bull and GoPro, but any business can do this. 

Since it’s become pretty much impossible to cold call or even network that well, why not look to other businesses to help you get in front of prospects. 

Co-marketing is essentially a twist on referral, but its passive nature can create great exposure and I think the idea will really catch on in 2022 for proactive small businesses. 

Small business learns to outsource content.

Let’s start with two facts – Content is air, and creating helpful content is hard work. Most large organizations create the storm of content they need for every customer journey stage by building content teams and outsourcing a great deal of content production to freelancers and agencies. 

With the advent of AI in the realm of content creation, many small businesses will be able to compete in the content game by employing inexpensive content partners armed with AI tools. 

NFTs already

In case you haven’t been online, of late, NFT stands for Non-Fungible Token, which of course, means little. Go read up on this idea if you need to understand all things crypto fully. 

NFTs made a giant splash in 2020 and 2021, mainly in the world of collectible digital art. See, that’s the non-fungible part – unlike bitcoin that you exchange for another token or bitcoin and essentially have the same thing you started with an NFT is usually an original of some sort, but because it’s built on blockchain (usually Ethereum), it’s a bit of a contract. 

There will be copies, but you can prove you have the original. And the artist can enhance or continue your connection, and that’s where this will get interesting. 

Think about buying a concert ticket that comes with special bonuses based on your ticket price or number. Then, think about how content creators will start creating their community tokens. 

Okay, all of this is already happening and way past mainstream, but now it is time for small businesses to start paying attention – not to Gary V, but to folks like Joe Pulizzi and Brian Clark. 

So, we’ll see how I did in a year or so. 

Word of mouth marketing is considered by many to be the most desired form of marketing. The trust, referrals, and overall brand-building buzz that’s garnered by customers spreading the good word to prospects are worth its weight in gold. Some products, services, and experiences naturally produce chatter, but there are certain things that any company can do to stimulate word of mouth and cash in on the buzz.

Here are six ways to get your customers talking about you and your organization:

1) Ask them – The best word of mouth starts with “word of listen.” Call your customers up and ask them why they buy, why they stick around, and why they tell their friends about you. You might be a bit surprised by their answers. Hint: it’s usually not the stuff you have in your new marketing brochure. You stand a far greater chance of attracting the right customers and the right buzz if you really understand what your current customers value about doing business with you. This goes for online and social media listening as well – what are they saying in Slack channels, blog comments, on LinkedIn, or Twitter?

2) Teach them – Sometimes great word of mouth just happens, but sometimes you’ve got to help it along. One way to do this is to make sure you are teaching your customers how to spot an ideal client, what a prospect in need might say when looking for your products, and how to properly and concisely describe how your company is different. Of course, in today’s hyper-social media world you should also be teaching your happiest customers how to write reviews on Yelp, Google My Business, Facebook Ratings and Reviews, Insider Pages, and CitySearch-type rating sites.

3) Star them – Letting a customer testimonial or success story go uncaptured or untold is downright criminal in WOM circles. Today you can easily record customer testimonials on an iPhone or Android or you can start doing video interviews over Zoom to record their success stories. These “real life” bits of content are gold and turn your featured customers into talking referral billboards for your brand. Want to take this idea up a notch? Hold a customer party and film a dozen or so at one time in a great atmosphere – this alone will get your customers talking.

4) Include them – People like to be asked what they think, it’s just human nature, but it’s also a great way to get some sound advice. Create a round table discussion group made up of select customers and charge them with advising you once a quarter or so on new marketing and business initiatives. (Reward them for this in some way as well.) This can include advising on everything from a product extension to the look and feel of your website redesign. Members of your marketing round table will become natural ambassadors for the brand. (You can do this with simple video chat meetings – Zoom or GoogleMeet)

5) Video them – People are more likely to respond t0 a personalized video over a generic one any day. People’s email inboxes and newsfeeds are flooded with businesses trying to sell to them so much so that it’s hard to stand out in all of the noise today. One-to-one video is a highly effective way to stand out in the crowd. You can use a tool like Loom to send a prospect a quick personalized message about something you saw on their website, invite a lead to sign up for an event you’re having that you think would be valuable to them, or follow up with a potential client with a personalized video instead of an email.

6) Surprise them – I like to think I saved the best for last – few things get people talking faster than surprising them. This can include doing something that was out of the blue and much appreciated to just giving them more than they bargained for. I remember a PR firm that was pitching me some business and the account rep showed up to meet with an apple pie (I’m still talking about it.) I once worked with a financial planner that hired a mobile auto detail firm to detail his customer’s cars during their annual review – that created some buzz.

The bottom line of course is that you’ve got to do good work, do something that somebody appreciates, and create an experience worth talking about, but then, prime the pump and leverage all that greatness.

More than anything Duct Tape Marketing is an idea that started with the belief that marketing is a system and in order to operate that system, there must be a very clear point of view about how to build a remarkable business.

I started my little marketing adventure over 30 years ago as a traditional marketing agency and soon found that I loved to help small business owners, but I just couldn’t do it with the model I saw everyone else struggling to use.

So I decided that what I needed, and ultimately what the world needed, was a turnkey system for installing marketing in a small business regardless of industry or size. It was an audacious idea at the time and it still is today.

What I believed is that there was a way to deliver marketing services where you could walk into a business and state – This is what I’m going to do, this is what you’re going to do, here are the results you expect, and here’s what it’s going to cost.

I named the belief that marketing is a system – Duct Tape Marketing – as a way to capture the metaphor of what marketing is like for many small business owners.

I took that simple idea and belief and created what has become known in some circles as one of the most respected small business marketing brands in the world

Today Duct Tape Marketing is a publisher – we produce practical content in the form of a highly read blog, a long-running podcast, weekly email newsletter, and columns for organizations such as American Express Open Forum, Verizon, and Dun & Bradstreet.

We have published six best-selling books, including Duct Tape Marketing and The Referral Engine, and The Self-Reliant Entrepreneur, and will release a seventh, The Ultimate Marketing Engine, in fall 2021.

Duct Tape Marketing is a brand partner – We are often called upon to produce sponsored content, syndicated and cobranded eBooks, training, channel marketing programs, and consulting – for brands such as HP, Dell, UPS, FedEx Office, Sage Software, and Microsoft.

We bring the message of marketing as a system to tens of thousands of small business owners and marketers around the world through keynote speeches, seminars, and workshops for associations, trade groups, customer groups, chambers of commerce, and in numerous conferences related to small business and marketing each year.

Our commentary is frequently sourced by publications such as CNNMoney, The New York Times, BusinessWeek, and The Wall Street Journal as well as industry publications.

Duct Tape Marketing is a small business marketing system that takes the form of an online training program including video lessons, workbooks, forms, examples, and resources packaged to help businesses build marketing action plans to elevate their business.

Duct Tape Marketing is a network of independent marketing consultants that choose to license the Duct Tape Marketing methodology as a framework for building a marketing consulting practice. This select group works with small to mid-sized businesses around the world installing the Duct Tape Marketing system.

Ultimately helping small business owners realize the full potential of what their business can offer is how our higher purpose is served, it’s why we do so much of what we do and it’s our hope that you find a way to access our content, our community and perhaps even our mission as your business grows and evolves.

Well, the last few months have thrown us all for a loop; that’s for sure.

And now this, another chapter, one of unrest, undoubtedly related to the fear, hopelessness, and divisiveness brought on by heightened overwhelm of a pandemic.

Yes, riots and protests, sparked by another senseless death of a black man at the hands of a white police officer, are the logical boiling reaction to so many pent-up feelings and emotions.

And now, once again, as has been the case over the last few months, everyone wants to tell us how we should feel.

You can log on to Facebook and jump on one of the countless live broadcasts telling you how to feel. You can microdose on the news telling you how to feel, or you can overdose on the headlines and amplify those feelings beyond rational capacity.

So, what are you feeling?

Maybe it’s anger or frustration. Perhaps it’s fear and uncertainty. Maybe it’s turned to guilt because, you know, you’ve stayed silent for too long.

Don’t worry if you’re confused; people will tell you how to feel.

People will tell you to rise up, people will tell you to chill out, people will tell you that whatever you do, whatever you are thinking, it’s not enough.

But here’s the thing – only you can find and understand your truth.

I don’t know what you’re dealing with because:

• See, I had two loving parents who provided me with a fantastic childhood – maybe you didn’t
• I never wondered once where my next meal was coming from – maybe you did
• I never had to work so my parents could keep the lights on – maybe you had to
• I always felt incredibly safe in my home and my neighborhood – maybe you didn’t
• I assumed I could go to any school I wanted – maybe you couldn’t
• I can’t ever remember feeling unwelcome somewhere – maybe you can
• I’ve never been pulled over by a police officer to see if I had a gun in the car – perhaps you have

The point is that our feelings are our feelings, our actions are our actions, and we must deal with them – we must own them and act accordingly.

The only thing we cannot do is feel nothing at all.

We are all in a big fat storm in an untamed sea, granted we are in many different boats in that storm, but navigate with our entire being we must.

Are you a coach or a consultant – does your business hire coaches or consultants?

The answers to the question above seems to spark a bit of passion in entrepreneurial circles depending upon the definition one uses of each.

To me, a coach is charged with holding a client accountable to stated actions, goals and courses while a consultant is more likely to feel empowered to set the course of action. In my mind, there probably is no pure definition because a marketing coach or a marketing consultant, for instance, doing the best they can for a customer, will likely fall into a hybrid service to get the ball moving forward in any way possible.

Whatever you call it, there is no doubt that having a trusted adviser, one that calls BS when it needs calling, is one of the most valuable assets an entrepreneur can obtain.

While I am on the subject this might be a good place to invite you to join my live Discovery call and learn about the opportunity to become a member of the Duct Tape Marketing Consultant Network. You can find all the details here. 

So, what’s your definition of coach of a consultant – or do we do a disservice to both trying to label and define the practice?

I wrote a bit of an off the cuff post on Facebook yesterday that drew far more interaction and conversation than I expected.

I think in part because it came dangerously close to defining an uneasy feeling that many people have about sharing in networks like Facebook. They can’t quite put their finger on it, but it’s there hovering around.

You’ve certainly witnessed it in others. You know, the post that goes something like “Humbled to be included on the list of the top 435 actuaries in Des Moines.” (If I may rant on that one a bit, you get humbled by your ex-girlfriend, the IRS, or the slightly faster, taller kid from South High. What people likely mean is that they are honored to be included, but then again being listed #425 of 435 actuaries might be humbling – but I digress.)

The thing that’s hard to reconcile is that for many the things they put on Facebook are more aligned with who they would like to be, what they aspire to be, what they want everyone to know right now.

And, we’re all guilty of that one in some manner or another. It’s a bit like trying on different costumes – eventually, we get the right fit – some travel and veer, some power through, but it’s all done in full public view.

The challenge with this, as was noted by so many of the comments in my Facebook post, is that many of the people who follow you on social media already know who you are – you’re Stevie’s little brother, you’re the nerdy geek dude, you’re the princess, you’re the accountant, you’re the vegan.

People have portraits frozen in their mind about who you are and, in some cases, that’s the way they would like it to stay – no matter how far you’ve traveled.

Have you ever gone to a high school reunion as the successful lawyer or fabulously contented mom only to slip back on the mask that defined you in that rather tumultuous period of your life?

Many of the comments this particular Facebook post received kind of validated the central point I was trying to make.

In addition to sharing what we are passionate about at the moment, we must have a little empathy for the folks that no longer know or understand what currently drives us. We can’t show up at the giant cocktail party full of diverse individuals and think the big show is actually about us.

Difficult as it may be on the edge of the daily storm; I believe that the only way to be authentic in social media and human media is to speak from the heart and honor the light in every other person – do that, and all the stuff will pretty much work itself out.

Okay – end of public service announcement – time for recess!

Here’s the post that started all of this in case you’re interested

I’ve owned my own business for 28 years now and I can tell you that I’ve never quite figured out the delicate balance between me telling want my business what it wants to be and my business telling me what it wants to be, but I have come to recognize that struggle.

Last week I sent an email to a group of followers based on a conversation I had with a small business owner who confessed she felt stuck in her business and didn’t really know how to get unstuck.

There were a lot of things she was unsure of, but mostly it was that she was no longer having any fun.

Here’s ‘my response and I have to admit it created quite a stir.

Open Letter to a Business Owner

I want to ask you a couple questions and start a conversation about something.

One of the best parts of what I do for a living is that I get to visit with lots of business owners and listen to them passionately describe their thing – their project – their dream.

Of course, that’s the good news – unfortunately, I also get to hear about their struggles, challenges, and stucks.

Sometimes I even hear stories of despair as business owners get the life sucked right out of them and all too often lose everything they’ve worked for – and the worst loss of these is the loss of hope.

You know me, I think the answer is always a marketing answer, but the fact is, nobody struggling to make a go of it just wants more marketing.

If fact, some business owners would rather they didn’t have to mess with all this marketing stuff at all.

No, what they want more than anything is more clarity. Clarity is the quality of being easy to see and with all the things swirling around the typical business day to day – nothing is easy, and so we just try to do more and solve our challenges through brute force.

No, what they want more than anything is more control. To stop being busy all of the time so they can actually get something done. To lose that feeling of helplessness that comes from not knowing what to do next.

No, what they want more than anything is more confidence. To stop wondering if the mound of conflicting information they consume every day holds any truth to their current situation. To know that if they take this one certain path, they will reach their goals – quickly.

No, what they want more than anything is more customers or clients. To be able to serve and bring their brand of brilliance to the market instead of wondering if Facebook or, lord help us, SnapChat is the answer.

So, why am I telling you all of this? It’s because I think there is a solution. I’m not going to offer you one today; that’s not what this is about.

But, I would love it if you could write back to me and let me know if I’ve nailed something you are currently feeling – if getting more clarity, control, confidence and customers sounds good.

Let me know if these 4 Cs resonate and how they line up with your current challenges.

I think owning a small business is one of the most freeing and enriching experiences possible, and I’m trying to do everything I can to understand how to help as many people as possible have that experience

Let’s talk about getting unstuck. Hit reply and start the conversation. I’ll be checking email over the weekend and replying some because I want to get into this. (After I let my wife know what a wonderful mother, and now grandmother, she is of course.)

And Now What

It seems I hit a nerve as I received hundreds of responses from readers telling me how spot on what I said was and how much it described precisely what they were thinking and feeling about their business – for good or bad.

I kind of sensed this based on conversations I’ve had with small business owners, but it appears that feeling stuck in your business is officially a phenomenon.

I spent a great deal of time this Saturday reading, responding and thinking about this issue and here’s the first thing I want to do to help.

I want to get to the heart of this issue.

Would you do me a favor and complete a very simple, eight question survey so I can get a better picture of how to help business owners get more clarity, control, confidence, and customers.

This will take about three minutes – https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/dtmunstuck

I really appreciate it and here’s to getting unstuck and achieving what you were meant to achieve.

Over the years I’ve produced a lot of content – maybe you know that.

In fact, I’ve written four full-length books and posted over 3,000 blog posts in the last ten years or so.

Today I’m entering the content game in a slightly different way – publishing.

My plan is to use my platform to help some great writers express their point of view through Duct Tape Publishing.

Initially, I am helping members of the Duct Tape Marketing Consultant Network publish and promote print books and ebooks, but may expand to other avenues. (The site is definitely a work in progress!)

You can find books on various marketing topics including referrals, leadership, and lead generation

I invite you to take a look at the collected works of the Duct Tape Network.

In the coming weeks, we will be introducing the first in a series of Guides written by network members Phil Singleton and Ray Perry. The first guide is on Local SEO and you can expect a new entry in the series every month.

In the book “Local SEO: Proven Strategies & Tips for Better Local Google Ranking,” you will find the essential elements of a successful Local SEO strategy. Plus, you will discover ways to put social media marketing to work in support of your Local SEO efforts. Every aspect of a Local SEO strategy comes together in an effort to feed your business’s vital information to Google, which then sends consumers to you. Local SEO is an easy and reliable inbound marketing method for businesses of all sizes, in any location.

As you read the book and follow the steps outlined in each chapter, you will see your new Local SEO strategy begin to take shape. Every section builds upon the previous one and results in a complete Local SEO optimization plan that any business can successfully implement. It’s the perfect way to bring scores of new local clients to your company.

In the book, you’ll discover:
• What Local SEO is
• Why implementing it is so important to your company’s endurance
• What makes Local SEO more important that global SEO
• What role Google plays in your Local SEO strategy’s success
• How social media platforms can support your Local SEO strategy
• What you can do with your website content to make it more Local SEO-friendly

Starting a business is hard work and early on you will need to hustle to find your first customers. There is no need to stress right away about what marketing channels will scale because you won’t know which options work best. And even when you do find out what will scale, it’s often the activities that don’t scale that will continue to provide the best ROI.

1. Attend an Industry Conference

For example, if your business is building websites for construction companies, you need to find out the most popular conferences. A quick Google search shows these conferences would be a good bet to attend: Construction Super Conference or the International Conference on Transportation. For your first few conferences, going as an attendee is recommended so you can scope them out and determine if it makes sense for you to come back as a vendor (and possibly rent a booth). Spend time walking the aisles, and I love hanging out by the lunch area, if you sit down at the right table and strike up a good conversation you can make a critical connection.

2. Organize a Q&A with Industry Experts

Create a list of 6-10 questions and reach out to industry experts to see if they want to participate. Package up the responses in a PDF, include bios and photos and make sure to give everyone a copy. Blog about the responses and encourage participants to get the word out. Since you are appealing to the vanity of the experts, it’s very easy to drum up interest, don’t be afraid to ask!

3. Sponsor Relevant Meetup Events

Meetup events all over the world are going on and they are often just a handful of people. If you target relevant Meetup groups and offer to sponsor their next event, you will find a lot of takers. Sometimes money to buy pizza is all you need to do and the organizer will add a special offer on their Meetup page and if you’re lucky and/or persuasive they will announce it at the event.

4. Solicit Individual and Personalized Feedback on Your Product or Service

Early on its a struggle to get even 5 or 10 people on board as customers. When you do get the first few customers reach out to each one of them with a personal email and thank them for trying you out. Ask for pointed feedback and if you can get them to spare 10 to 15 minutes on the phone that is fantastic as they will provide helpful insight about your product.

5. Attend Local Meetings/Events

Leverage your hometown or nearest big city to attend marketing groups and meetings. Chamber of Commerce meetings or local business groups are a great place to start. It’s not that you will necessarily find your ideal customer in your backyard, but once you start talking about your new company, your networking may uncover other opportunities. In addition, the people you meet may know other people that will help propel your business forward.

6. Target Tangentially Related Companies for Joint Marketing Efforts

If you own a stock photo site, it would make sense to contact web development companies as they often need stock photos when they are creating new websites. You could create a co-branded landing page that provides a discount to the web development companies if they want to have access to a special offer on your site. You could send their special offer to your email list (and vice versa) if you want to do additional joint marketing.

7. Create Handwritten Letters as a Relationship Builder

The old school approach can win you big points. If you take time to customize handwritten letter like this example here, you have a great shot at making a beneficial introduction. Do your homework and understand what the person likes and dislikes before writing the letter and make sure to send it to their place of business.

Chad Fisher is a co-founder of Content Runner, a marketplace for connecting users and freelance writers for the creation of unique written content. Friends of Duct Tape Marketing can create a free account and receive a $30 credit to try out the writers on Content Runner, click here to learn more!