Marketing Strategies for Your Women-Focused Business

You have developed a new message and a brand focused on women — so now what? “Build it and they will come” is a great concept, but unless you are actively sharing your message and brand, life could get pretty lonely.

As you develop your marketing strategy, you must focus on both passive as well as active strategies. You need both, and each enhances the results of the other.

Passive strategies are more about drip emails, fliers, advertisements and using social media to consistently put your message and brand out there. They are designed to enhance brand awareness and keep relationships warmed up. Passive strategies can lead to new business but it is a long, slow, and lonely process without incorporating Active strategies.

Active strategies are phone calls, networking face to face, speaking to groups. They are opportunities to engage in live conversations and in person. This is how relationships are built; they need to hear you, feel you, see you, and make connections. Once you have initiated a new relationship it’s the passive strategies that help keep that relationship alive and warm until they are ready to act.

The moment you have developed your brand and message, you want to activate both passive and active strategies simultaneously. Here are some real examples of what you can do to generate more leads.

Passive Strategies

• Your new focus on women
• Your story – why women?
• Your new compelling message
• Invitation to your new event

Engaging Drip Emails: Start dripping out fun, interesting, and engaging emails that women will want to read. Market updates do not enhance relationships. They simply provide information that frankly, can be found in a hundred other places, even on your phone. Email out at least 2 female friendly emails each month consistently.

Social Media: Posting on social media is essential for any advisor that does not plan to retire within 5 years. You don’t have to make it complicated or technical but simply focused on women. Re-purpose your drip emails and post on social media. Some people read your emails, some read Facebook and LinkedIn. Consider an Engaging Drip Membership program as a monthly source for great content.

[Related: Email Marketing Analytics: Understanding Key Metrics]

Active Strategies

Call every influential person in your database to share your new focus and brand over coffee. Keep it light, energized and not salesy. If you created a good message, they will become inspired to work with you.

Host a focus group where you get to personally present your new message and process in person — these have been so successful advisors have hosted more than one selecting different people each time. Create your own focus group.

Host events for women. Select one event that stirs emotions in women, avoids the use of charts and statistics and supports a more facilitative style of presenting that gets the audience talking.

Speak to women’s business groups in your community. Many groups are constantly looking for speakers for their upcoming meetings. By simply googling women’s business organizations you can email the contact person and offer your services to present your unique event that women love. 

Meet with COIs focusing solely your new women’s practice and process. This is what will get the door opened when others can’t.

Take a walk with treats in hand. Sometimes you must get out and enjoy the beautiful day. Pick up some fun cookies, have your event invitation or event calendar in hand and hit every store that focuses on women. Leave your calendars behind to be shared with other women.

[Related: Did Being a Woman in Business Help or Hurt Me? Yes]

It’s the combination of both passive and active strategies that can have the greatest impact on your visibility, exposure, and ability to promote your value, attracting more interest, clients, assets and revenues.

Pick a combination that works for you and work it. By focusing on just one or two active strategies at a time you can become more proficient, more comfortable and effective. It’s all about finding a process and strategy that maximizes your strengths and talents.

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Adri Miller-Heckman, leading women’s expert, offers bold and edgy coaching and tools for female advisors looking to leverage their unique strengths and accomplish more with their practice. Adri combines her experience as an advisor, trainer, and personal coach to give every Female Advisor the insider secrets to achieving success the women’s way. Learn more at www.adrimillerheckman.com.