TDW #021: No Audience? No Conversions? No Problem!

No Audience? No Conversions? No Problem!

With literally millions of different marketing options on the table, picking one can be…terrifying. All the normal questions start swirling:

  • What if I pick the wrong one?
  • What if this doesn’t work?
  • What if I try and fail?
  • What if I pour energy, time, and resources into this strategy and I’m right back where I started?

All normal.

But if you want your business to grow, you have to pick somewhere to go. That’s where the Marketing Action Matrix comes in. I created this to help clients quickly take action. But today, I’m going to give you this tool for free to deploy on your own.

There are two levers we’re paying attention to: audience size & conversions. These are the two biggest leverage points you have control over. Find the intersection of your relative audience size (however you might define it) and your conversion rate for your main offer. The chart will tell you what to do next.

Quick note: none of the quadrants are bad or wrong. They just are. They key is identifying where you are now and where you want to be in the future. If those are the same, great! Your work is done. If not, the MAM will show you exactly what to change.

Large Following, Low Conversions

What is this: You have a sizeable audience (email, social, etc.), but you have a low close rate on your main offer.

Why does it happen: You would be shocked if you knew the real numbers behind some of the biggest accounts. I’ve been behind the scenes on some of them. And let’s just say a large follower count does not equate to a large bank account.

As you might expect, this happens when you optimize for popularity over profitability.

How do we fix it: Send more direct messages.

  • Leverage the large audience you’ve built up.
  • Start messaging ideal prospects in your audience 1-to-1 with an invite to your offer.
  • They already have some familiarity with you—start taking advantage of it.

Keep in mind there’s a rhythm to effective direct message conversations. Do it wrong and you’ll come off spammy or irrelevant (or worse, both).

Small Following, Low Conversions

What is this: You have a small following and a low close rate on your main offer.

Why does it happen: This usually happens when a business is first getting started. Or when a more traditional business makes a shift to an online model. It’s also one of the first tells of a business that’s running on autopilot (and not in a good way).

How do we fix it: Do more research.

  • We’re missing the mark somewhere since we have no leverage.
  • It’s likely an oversight on the pain your audience wants to avoid or the pleasure they want to experience.
  • Before your can grow your audience or improve your conversions, you must identify that pain or pleasure.
  • Start interviewing your dream prospects and find out what makes them tick.

This is the most challenge of all the quadrants to find yourself in. You don’t have the leverage of an audience or the cashflow cushion of a high-converting offer.

Small Following, High Conversions

What is this: You have a small following but a high conversion rate for your main offer.

Why does it happen: This is what I call the “best kept secret” syndrome. It usually happens when a business is focused on back-end operations and fulfillment rather than marketing and growth. It can be a challenge because it might feel like you’re the prettiest girl in school sitting at home on prom night!

How do we fix it: Do more engagement.

  • Visibility is the biggest challenge here—people simply don’t know you exist.
  • Start engaging more on accounts who have the audience and/or business you want to have.
  • The more engagement you do, the more people see you, the more your audience grows (it's not rocket science!).

Depending on your long-term goals, this may not actually be a challenge—it might be your end-game. I know plenty of business owners who have the client base, work schedule, team, and income they want and choose to stay put in this quadrant.

Large Following, High Conversions

What is this: You have a large online following and a high conversion rate for your main offer.

Why does it happen: When growth, marketing, and back-end operations all “click” at the same time, this is the end result. But, as Uncle Ben once said, “with great power comes great responsibility.” Having a large audience comes with an upside…and a downside. Make sure you’re ready to allocate resources to managing, moderating, and engaging with your audience.

How do we fix it: Create more offers.

  • Give your clients more stuff to buy!
  • It’s five times more expensive to land a new client than it is to sell to an existing one.
  • Let’s leverage the fact you have a ton of traction and give more people more ways to pay you more money.

Your audience is buying because you’ve made enough deposits in their relational bank account. Just make sure your withdrawals don’t overtake your deposits. That’s how businesses go (relationally) bankrupt!

Final Words

The Marketing Action Matrix is a tool to help businesses grow. It looks at two important factors: audience size and conversions. It can help businesses figure out where they are now and where they want to be in the future, and gives strategies to increase audience size and conversion rates.


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