Author Archives: freelancetheconsultantsdiary

Professional Development , , , Leave a comment

Remember My Name

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Face2Face networking has undeniably made its post-pandemic comeback, bringing with it the persuasive energy of body language—sparkling eyes, friendly smiles and warm handshakes—that paves the way to successful networking. The goal of networking is to meet people and build relationships and for that reason it is important to all working professionals, from Freelance photographers to physicians, ballet dancers to bond traders. Meeting professional peers, in particular potential clients or employers, is integral to your professional life and that is especially true for business owners and the independently employed.

When you think of networking organized events may come to mind, such as those hosted by neighborhood business association, chambers of commerce and professional associations but in reality, networking can successfully take place in any environment, from the golf course to a dinner party hosted by a friend. While networking can happen in either business or casual environments, the process requires good manners and a good attitude and you want to get the basics right. One networking basic you’d be wise to get right is remembering the name of the person you’ve just met.

Or maybe the two of you met six months ago but one thing is certain—if you want to make a good impression, remembering that person’s name is one of the best ways to do it. However, many of us are not good at remembering names.

“What’s in a name?” asks Juliet Capulet in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Plenty. When someone remembers your name, it communicates the value that person has assigned to you and is, as you know, a great compliment. Keith Ferrazzi, author of the New York Times bestseller Never Lead Alone (2024) and founder and CEO of Ferrazzi Greenlight, a research and consulting firm based in Los Angeles, who also presents a course on networking and relationship-building, advises that most of all, you should decide to care about remembering names, “If you make a conscious decision that you are going to remember names,” he explains, “it’s because you care about the people you meet and you will immediately become much better at doing it!” Here’s how you can reinforce your memory for names and give a good start to establishing relationships that are the purpose of your networking activities:

1. Listen and repeat
When meeting someone for the first time, pay close attention. Your goal is to create conditions that help you remember the name of the person you’ve had the good fortune to meet. Make the most of this networking opportunity by turning on your listening skills and focusing your attention as the introduction takes place. Look your new acquaintance in the eyes and smile, to acknowledge his/her presence. Your first opportunity to say his/her name is when you reply to the introduction, “I’m happy to meet you, (name).” This action is an important step toward reinforcing the name in your memory as you greet the new acquaintance.

Now that networking has begun, shut down competing claims on your attention, such as the sudden awareness that the prospect you’ve been chasing for six months is at the buffet table. Instead, start a line of small talk about the event; you might ask what motivated your new acquaintance to attend and if s/he has attended the event previously? During the pleasantries, as you learn something of his/her professional background, listen for socially appropriate opportunities to repeat the name. You might even invite him/her along to the buffet table as you chat. Who knows, your new acquaintance may be a colleague of the prospect you’d like to connect with and being in the company of this individual will work in your favor. That is the essence of networking, is it not?

2. Associate and anchor
Create if you’re able, an association for the name of your new acquaintance. As the two of you talk, you may discover common acquaintances or business or social affiliations and these commonalities can be used to help you remember his/her name. Charan Rangathan, a neuroscience professor at the University of California at Davis and author of the New York Times bestseller Why We Remember (2024), advises us to “… be intentional about remembering what matters.” Being intentional means taking active steps to remember what is noteworthy and relevant and allowing yourself to forget or ignore what is unimportant. 

Rangathan emphasizes that the secret to intentionally remembering a name is to make an association between the name and the face. “When you tell me that you find it hard to remember a person’s name, what you’re really saying is you can’t remember the association between the name and the face,” he says. In other words, you can recall a name, and you can recall a face, but you must make an effort to link the two. Simply repeating a person’s name isn’t enough–-the link between name and face is what matters.

Furthermore, Ranganath notes that, “…the more background information you have about a person, the name becomes easier to attach to the face.” So, as noted above, segue into a conversation and move toward organically building a relationship with your new acquaintance. Practice his/her name by using it once or twice more in the conversation as you get to know each other.

3. Admit when you forget
If a name slips your mind, don’t panic—just acknowledge the lapse graciously by asking, “I’m sorry, I’ve forgotten your name; would you remind me, please?” No one will think less of you for doing so; in fact, it’s safe to assume that most will appreciate your desire to remember their name and begin establishing a relationship by reconfirming the first step—remembering that person’s name.

4. Name tag strategies

The humble and utilitarian name tag is a valuable tool for networking and making connections. The name tag is an icebreaker and facilitates introductions, which is the first step of relationship-building. Name tags announce your name, business or company name and your title, information that makes you relatable and invites others to get to know you. Second, name tags ensure that you’ll remember the names of those you meet, especially those you’d like to follow up with. Name tags can also serve a third purpose—if you’re able to arrive soon after the event door opens, once you’ve claimed your own name tag you can often survey name tags that are on the registration table, waiting to be claimed. You may be delighted to see the name of someone you’d like to meet or with whom you’d like to reconnect—and that person will arrive soon!

Name tags can get the ball rolling on introductions that might lead to building good relationships, but did you know that there is a correct way to wear one? This may not be at top of mind, but you’ve probably met a few people who wore theirs incorrectly and you might agree that it makes for an awkward situation. After all, the purpose of a name tag is to identify registered meeting attendees and allow fellow participants to see (and remember) one another’s names. Below are practical hints that guide name tag etiquette and make the meet & greet easier at your next networking event.

  • Wear the name tag on your right side, two or three inches below your collarbone, which positions it to be easily seen while shaking hands, when your right side will move forward and bring the name tag into view. Right side name tag placement makes it easy for those you meet to read your name tag without having to ask your name or strain their neck to read it. Name tags worn on the left side can make it difficult for others to see your name during the handshake.
  • Keep your name tag (or lanyard) visible at all times and wear it throughout the event, so that your name (plus company name and title) will be visible and perhaps spark an introduction and conversation. Take care not to allow your name tag or lanyard to become trapped beneath clothing or accessories; make sure that your jacket, sweater, necktie, scarf, or other items do not obscure your valuable networking resource.
  • When name tags or lanyards are not pre-printed and attendees must write-in their name, use lettering that’s large enough to be easily readable from a distance. If your writing is too small, people will have to squint or get uncomfortably close to read your name. Remember that your name tag is a personal identification tool that has the potential to play a role in building your business or career by facilitating introductions and promoting the development of relationships.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: ©Zoonar (2013)

Technology / Office , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Future-Proof Your Business NOW

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Freelancer friend, when did you last update—upgrade—your office technology? If it’s been more than five years since you’ve purchased hardware or software to modernize and optimize your company technology, let the warning bell ring and signal that it’s time to re-think your tech capabilities. While you’re at it, you can also research security solutions to defend your company against cyberattack. It is time to put on your strategic planning hat and future-proof your IT systems.

Think about it—if positioning yourself as a thought leader is an element of your marketing strategy, you cannot fully inhabit that role when the organization you lead is limping along on a seriously outdated, inadequate, IT infrastructure. Cyberthreats have become increasingly brazen and persistent, from high-profile data breaches to incursions into everyday life, such as a recent email that was sent to me by an alleged employee of an organization that has a name and email address similar to a company with whom I do business. The email message requested that I sign and return the attached “vendor contract and forms.” That message was the inspiration for this post (and it’s been deleted).

Updating and upgrading the technology that runs the business is an element of your risk management strategy and intended to protect your business by eliminating vulnerabilities. An updated IT system will bring many benefits to how you do business, including support of agile business practices, enabling operational efficiencies and facilitating a seamless and pleasing experience that not only keeps your customers coming back, but also inspires them to refer your company to their friends. Using the right technology is an affirmation of your brand promise.

So, whether it’s to strengthen IT security measures, or streamline business operations and enhance customer service and customer experience protocols, it will benefit you to rethink how you can optimize your use of technology, a reimagining that will likely cause you to consider Artificial Intelligence tools, cloud-based solutions marketing automation (which is now AI-powered) and customer relations management software.

Surrendering to avoidance behavior that makes you shy away from investing time and thought to considering goals you might pursue over the next 12-36 months or so, as well as researching potential tech solutions that are capable of supporting those goals, is costing you more than you think. The longer you plod along with outdated IT systems that no longer adequately serve your business, no matter that they’ve become familiar and comfortable, represents a risk—to the security of your data and to your ability to operate in an agile and efficient manner, for starters. Keeping up with Microsoft or Apple updates can only help so much—they are band-aids, a helpful short-term fix but not a comprehensive IT solution. Modernizing the technology that enables your business to function is not to be confused with buying the coolest and newest mobile phone. Your IT system is not a vanity project.

What technology does a Freelance consultant need?

Freelancers and other small business owners need hardware and software that serves both front-end (user facing) and back end functions (data management, processing, storage). A well thought-out IT strategy will function as a roadmap that outlines your technology needs and how to achieve them, including the budget and timeline. At top-of-mind must be that Freelancers are often in the B2B sector and work remotely; Work From Home demands a tech set-up that facilitates teamwork when team members are in different locations, maybe in different time zones, maybe on different continents.

Collaboration and communication tools that facilitate productivity and team cohesion are paramount for Freelancers and will include videoconferencing, team chat and project management. Also expected to be high on your IT shopping list will be AI tools and the hardware required to accommodate them and cloud-based solutions that will likely include CRM software, data protection and data retention.

A 2022 survey found that 61% of respondents whose companies upgraded their communication technology in the previous year primarily focused on streamlining processes, reducing costs, saving time and improving productivity to support the overall goal of making business operations more efficient. Those priorities will surely figure prominently in your IT upgrading decisions as well. Still, investing in customer experience tools has the potential to deliver tangible returns.

Let’s end with reassuring news—your IT upgrade needn’t be done all at once. The project can be structured to make it more affordable and manageable than you might expect in terms of time, money and decision-making stress. Your company’s IT infrastructure can be updated and upgraded step-by-step to replace obsolete equipment with modern solutions that align with your current strategies and will likely support your plans for future growth. Every wise and courageous action you take to move your company forward will deliver immediate benefits and also lay the groundwork for further progress.

Just remember that avoidance behavior will do you no favors and, in the end, will be more costly and stressful. Do yourself a favor and commit to starting the process within 30 days; if you’re in the midst of a big project, get started on your IT makeover within 30 days of wrapping things up. You will receive great satisfaction, among other rewards, by avoiding the drama of a hacking or other crises. The longer you put this off, the less control you’ll have over your time, money and satisfaction derived from your role as a company leader.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: Courtesy Wikimedia Commons (1994)

Business Strategy , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Be A One-Person Powerhouse

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Freelancers continue to refine our business practices as we observe and respond to the mega-trends that impact the global and national economies and, to some degree, affect the way nearly everyone on the planet lives and works. As we move through the mid-point of the 2020s, Freelance professionals are redefining success. We never intended to be builders of corporate empires that employee thousands, but we do intend to build and sustain a profitable business entity.

We believe that we can thrive as leader of a single-person business entity, a one-person empire, where we demonstrate our appeal to a discrete segment of the marketplace. We demonstrate also our grasp of customer needs within that market segment and we deliver services and/or products that our customers value. While aware of the time and cost saving advantages of turnkey processes and operational efficiencies, we reject the notion that one size fits all and we’re happy to build in a degree of flexibility that makes available personalized solutions tailored to address customer needs and concerns.

Niche is the new big box

The Freelance solopreneurs whom I’ve come to know over the years are too smart to try to be all things to all people. Instead, smart, successful Freelancers like you rely on market research to discover customer segments that are most interested in your category of services or products and then learn how to position your company to win business within those marketplace segments. Freelance solopreneurs will be interested to know that leading U.S. market researchers have validated this strategy and now forecast that in 2025 and beyond, start-up entrepreneurs who focus on a niche market will prosper while those who attempt the “all things to all people” big box approach will be on the wrong path.

Globalization is driving this emerging trend, as are AI-powered marketing communications tactics. Together, these powerful forces have made it both uncomplicated and cost-effective for even a business entity headed by a Freelance solopreneur to attract prospective customers in any geo-location that has internet access and invite them into your company’s buyer’s journey and community of followers. The possibility of developing a thriving niche market for your services or products that consists of people from around the world is real and is expected to become the norm for one-person shops as it is for multi-national conglomerates.

While the multi-nationals, however, pursue millions of prospective customers and compete in markets that are often saturated. Standing out in those marketplaces is a challenge that only big fish can afford, sometimes by advertising during the Super Bowl, for example. In stark contrast, those who dwell in micro-niche markets will devote most of their marketing resources to creating trust and legitimacy, demonstrating expertise and authority and building relationships and loyalty. Establishing a presence in a micro niche market, as would a Freelance solopreneur, isn’t just about selling products or services—it’s nearly as much about creating a community where customers feel a sense of belonging.

Because Freelance solopreneurs occupy a unique, personalized, space, customers are inclined to perceive you as an expert who understands their needs on a granular level and capable of solving their unique goals and challenges. In 2025 and beyond, Freelance solopreneur entities will use niche targeting combined with AI-powered analytics, marketing and customer service tools to fuel smart and sustained growth that supports a personalized boutique approach to their B2B or B2C venture. You can promote a brand-enhancing perception by showcasing the following:

  • Communicate capability, quality and consistency

Big business has the financial wherewithal to invest millions in branding, while Freelancers and other small business owners can effectively build and promote their brand, goods and services by adopting a niche market focus to achieve a similar effect by being consistent and integrating personalization and polish across all forms of communication and at every customer or prospect touchpoint. Get the ball rolling with a comprehensively cohesive brand visual identity that begins with an intuitively designed, fast-downloading, sleek, professional-looking website; you can carry that ethos into high-quality marketing materials that create an image that reflects capability, trust and legitimacy.

  • Be a thought leader

A solopreneur Freelance consultant can appear to be a nationally recognized authority if s/he is featured in respected industry media outlets. Establishing yourself as a thought leader confers respect and credibility that makes your business entity appear substantial and established. People tend to assume that everyone who is presented in the media as an “expert” of some sort who presides over a large business that generates an annual income that’s well into six figures and maybe more.

You can use that perception to your advantage: it is well worth your while to seek opportunities to publish your own insightful articles in reputable magazines or journals. Furthermore, you will do well by searching for opportunities to take on speaking roles at conferences, even if that means moderating a panel and appearing on podcasts and webinars whose reputation, while perhaps not blue chip, are nevertheless positioned to create for you the impression of authority and influence.

  • Show social proof at every opportunity

Incorporate social proof into your branding strategy by inviting happy customers to give online or print testimonials that describe how your service or product has solved their business challenge or helped them to achieve an important goal. Alternatively, you can ask customers if s/he would mind if you wrote up a case study that details how your product or service enabled that customer’s goal to be achieved or challenge to be overcome.

Customer success stories, which are brought to life by testimonials and case studies, are highly effective marketing tools and they deserve to be spotlighted on your website and social media platforms. You will provide still more examples of customer success stories when you encourage happy customers to post user-generated content (which includes testimonials), and also reviews on platforms such as Yelp, Google and LinkedIn. You might also request permission from certain customers (more prestigious, that is) to display their company logo on your website.

Another highly effective demonstration of the social proof of your brand reputation among your business community peers and colleagues is to display on your website the business and/or community awards that you’ve either won or for which you’ve been nominated. Seeing the names of recognizable authorities associated with your brand makes you look well-respected and trustworthy—because we are judged by the company we keep.

Inform local media outlets when you’ve got something great to crow about by sending a press release to announce your newsworthy achievements (e.g., a nomination for a business award) or your participation in a well-known charity or community event, such as helping to sell Girl Scout Cookies, supporting the Little League team, or sponsoring a marathon runner who is raising funds for a local hospital or other charity.

  • Expand your online presence

A business that is favorably mentioned in multiple media outlets more than once a year looks much more influential than a business that is mentioned on a single platform—infrequently. Maintaining an active presence on LinkedIn and other social media sites, contributing your insights to industry forums and getting your articles included in relevant publications reinforces the credibility of both you and your business entity.  Occasional press coverage in online or print media outlets, guest blog posts and other articles and social media activity, especially when taken together, can readily give your Freelance solopreneur consulting entity the impression of a capable and respected, if not locally powerful, enterprise. Being cited by industry sources, contributing to discussions and publishing original insights give the impression that you’re a major player, even if you’re running a small operation.

  • Deliver white-glove service

Freelance consultants and SMBs would be wise to develop exceptional customer experiences, including after-sales support services where necessary. B2B customers will greatly appreciate a seamless onboarding process, as well as automated follow-ups and structured client communications—all of which create the impression of a well-oiled machine, whether your company is a team of 20 or a solopreneur entity. Modern tools allow small businesses to operate with the efficiency of much larger organizations. A website and social media chatbot, AI-powered customer service and cloud-based collaboration tools make it possible to efficiently serve customers on every continent. When you create a strong digital infrastructure for your business entity, regardless of the number of workers on your team, you can operate at a level that is as capable and trustworthy as any enterprise-level competitor. You can become a one-person powerhouse!

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: © Keerthana Kunnath. In Kerala, India female bodybuilder Chitra Purushotham shows that she is a powerhouse.

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260% Hiring Increase Propels Freelancers Beyond Flavor of the Month

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Mellow, a global contract and payment services platform whose customers are Freelancers, consulting companies and independent contractors, revealed in Their latest report a startling 260% increase in overseas hiring of Freelance workers by U.S. businesses from 2022 to 2024. The report indicates that the projects were also outside of the U.S. and that skill sets in highest demand included engineers, technical writers, analysts and website developers. The organizations for whom the Freelancers worked were Mellow contractor-of-record clients, based in the for U.S. and with 50-200 employees, categorized as Small and Midsize Enterprises (SME). The Freelancers hired were based in regions with emerging economies, primarily Central Asia, the Middle East/North Africa and Eastern Europe.

Mellow researchers interpret the big picture of their findings as confirming the centrality of Freelance workers as essential participants in a global trend that demands flexible work models and as a standard that will ultimately benefit U.S. based Freelancers. Rather than replacing U.S. workers, Mellow investigators see the predominance of flexible work models as creating new opportunities for both businesses and individuals in the U.S. Mellow emphasizes that the Freelancing surge is not about offshoring, but rather about decentralizing work and enabling businesses to be more agile, competitive and profitable.

Freelancers are a core business strategy

The advantages inherent in flexible, ad hoc, project-specific work arrangements were already apparent to both Freelance workers and the organizations that hire them, and the practice was already well established and growing in acceptance and popularity when the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic forced businesses to reconsider their work models and shift their employees into Work From Home mode. The pivot spotlighted the value of both remote work and the availability of a talented and reliable Freelance workforce. Organization leaders now widely recognize the logic of employing temporary talent for specific projects and this acceptance has brought revisions to their strategies for talent acquisition and workforce management. Freelancers are no longer regarded as just a short-term fix, but instead as a strategic advantage that delivers tangible benefits in today’s layoff-prone environment.

Talent management within an organization is no longer considered primarily an HR strategy and is now recognized as a core business strategy that owners, entrepreneurs and executives must recognize. The data makes it clear that organizations are welcoming Freelance talent and the shift isn’t just about cost savings; it’s also about responding to the need to be agile in a hyper-competitive marketplace that includes the realities of a periodically unpredictable labor market.

Market research company Grand View Partners estimates that global Freelance marketplaces such as Mellow, Fiverr, Guru and Upwork will have a 17.7% Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) for the period 2025 to 2030, according to their recently published Market Analysis Report that examined the market size, share and trends of Freelance platforms. Industries setting the pace and providing a template that other companies can follow include Edtech, out front with an average hiring rate of 108 Freelancers and advertising companies, with an average Freelance hire of 34 contractors.

U.S. Freelancers thrived during difficult years

The years 2022-2024 were challenging for many American workers, executives and business owners. Numerous lay-offs, persistent inflation and widespread hiring freezes came on the heels of the coronavirus shutdown. “Quiet quitting,” the great resignation and persistent demands to return to the office—a condition that many employees find unnecessary, if not unacceptable—dominated the echoverse.

The unrest motivated many companies to adopt a flexible approach to getting the work done and increasingly, company leaders acknowledged that Freelance professionals are uniquely qualified to provide the skills their organizations needed. The inclination to hire Freelance workers also aligns with agile business strategy that likewise requires a flexible, capable and cost-effective workforce that drives innovation, growth and profitability.

 In a January 2023 survey of 1,000 U.S. business leaders of companies with more than 50 employees, Resume Builder showed that 40% of those companies hired Freelance workers to replace laid-off employees and 53% convinced some of their full-time employees to accept Freelance positions, in order to remain employed.

Return-to-office and lay-offs poised to increase Freelance opportunities

Lay-offs have been announced by Hewlett Packard, Grubhub, Meta and Chevron; meanwhile, RTO mandates have been repeatedly announced, most notably by J.P. Morgan, along with Amazon, Dell and Starbucks, all of whom are cracking the whip and herding the last of their WFH employees back into the office. As unpleasant as all that sounds (at least to me), Freelancers are positioned to obtain clients and potentially generous billable hours that result from lay-offs and RTO mandates that are ignored. One door closes and another door opens.

Data from Upwork, the Freelance marketplace used by both Freelance workers and the companies that hire them, shows that Freelance labor is 30-60% less costly than W2 employee labor; the latter entails costs such as payroll taxes, social security payments and vacation and sick time, while the former option enables company leaders to pivot into a flexible workforce arrangement rather than lay-off W2 employees (and perhaps face media scrutiny). Furthermore, Resume Builder data also shows the rise of a strategy called “quiet hiring,” that is demonstrated by the 37% of companies that had recent lay-offs and hired Freelancers to replace laid-off workers.

Regarding RTO mandates, the advantages of Freelance talent are not exclusively limited to remote arrangements. In fact, the in-person Freelance model is a fast-growing segment. Spurred by front-line workforce talent platforms specializing in retail, hospitality and even factory workers, in-person Freelance gig workers are solving significant challenges for industries known to suffer from high rates of employee burnout and churn.

The Freelance future is bright

The demand for Freelance talent is expected to energize the employer side of the equation as evidenced by the predicted 17.7% CAGR within 2025 the SME and large enterprise business categories. The rise of start-up businesses and entrepreneurship in general contributes to the increasing demand for Freelance talent, as detailed in the Upwork Freelance Forward 2023 report, that noted Freelance labor contributed $1.27 trillion to the U.S. economy in annual earnings and also noted that 38% of the U.S. workforce, or 64 million Americans, performed Freelance work as either a primary or occasional source of income.

Start-ups often have limited budgets that constrict their ability to hire full-time employees for every role. Fractional executives, who are Freelancers who serve companies on a C-Suite level, are also taking hold at start-ups and Freelance and fractional workers provide start-ups and SME businesses with an affordable way to access high-quality talent on a short-term or project basis. The scalability of Freelance hiring models makes it easier for entrepreneurs to manage fluctuating or unpredictable workloads while maintaining high-quality standards without exhausting financial or labor resources. The ability to hire specialized Freelancers enables start-ups and other businesses to remain nimble and efficient—agile—which is essential for their growth and survival in highly competitive markets.

The success of Freelancing is perhaps best summed up by data from Mellow which reported that in 2023, the average monthly income of Freelance workers in their report grew by 18% and grew by another 23% in 2024. Mellow’s data also confirmed that the way to earn billable hours is to take on more than one client at a time (but you knew that).

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: ©Epic Records. Singer-songwriter Minnie Riperton (1947-1979) in the cover shot for her gold album Perfect Angel (1974)

Marketing , , , , Leave a comment

Is Your Social Media Strategy Delivering?

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“Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don’t know which half.”

Possibly apocryphal quote often credited to 19th century Philadelphia department store magnate John Wanamaker.

Accurately measuring the impact of the marketing activities you create to promote your company’s services and/or products and, furthermore, analyzing the impact of your marketing to verify that the activities were worth the time and money invested in them can be somewhat of a puzzle for a marketing manager. In particular, the return on investment of social media activity can be nebulous, given that much of its focus is often devoted to relationship-building that stimulates one or more aspects of brand-building, for example, brand loyalty and brand reputation. Determining which of your go-to social media platforms is your top performer might be difficult to confirm, there is not always an obvious path to follow as you track and document your customer’s behavior or buyer’s journey from first contact through purchase; and then there are those who jump ship somewhere between those points and the debrief on that scenario is yet another drama to unravel.

Social media remains a hugely popular marketing tactic that for the most part has earned its accolades in both free and paid options. So, it comes as somewhat of a surprise that recent marketing research shows that at a representative group of enterprise companies, the social media marketing spend is softening. According to the Spring 2024 edition of the CMO Survey, which surveyed 292 marketers employed by leading U.S. companies, social media investments declined from 17% in Spring 2023 to 11% in Spring 2024, reaching its lowest level in seven years.

The CMO Survey found further confirmation of this occurrence in participant responses to the question “Which best describes how you show the impact of social media on your business?” and one-third, all of whom are marketing leaders, reported “we haven’t been able to show the impact yet.” The remaining participants were evenly split on whether they’ve “proven the impact quantitatively,” with some stating that they have a “good qualitative sense of the impact, but not a quantitative impact.”

Maybe you’ll soon decide to pull back on social media paid ads, too, and rely more heavily on the “free” option (free except for the time spent to choose and post content that interests followers, that is) since it remains an effective method of customer outreach and enables you to build and sustain relationships with customers, convert prospects into customers and boost brand visibility. Your social media spend may decrease, but that adjustment could motivate you to make the most of a reconfigured, but still valuable, marketing investment.

Multi-channel is most effective

According to an analysis of performance data associated with social media marketing campaigns, the format produces greater results when used in combination with other marketing tactics, e.g. monthly newsletters and/or case studies, e-books, podcasts, or webinars. Furthermore, when researchers examined 10 years of CMO Survey retrospective data, below-average performance of social media marketing campaigns was reported by participants whose answer to “How effectively does your company integrate customer information across purchasing, communication and social media channels?” revealed weak scores describing the use of that data during the period 2011 – 2023. The performance ranking scale measuring customer data sharing ranged from “not at all” to “very highly.”

In light of the findings of the 10-year retrospective, survey researchers recommend that marketers consult with a Customer Relations Management (CRM) company, e.g., Sprout Social, HubSpot, BuzzSumo, or SalesForce, to ensure accurate interpretations and beneficial integration of their social media marketing performance data to enhance the success of future marketing campaigns. Correctly interpreting and utilizing social media marketing performance data ensures that you’ll have a holistic understanding of customer behavior that’ ‘s inclined to positively impact the buyer’s journey your company provides.

Use social media to grow your customer list

The CMO Survey also found that nearly half of companies use social media platforms to sell their services and products. However, survey data reveals that fewer than 20% of those companies leverage their social media engagement to invite customer feedback that might improve aspects of the customer experience or even suggest new product or service opportunities that the company could explore and possibly launch. Companies that exploit this easily accessible customer feedback opportunity are able to develop a customer experience that responds to and retains customers, encourages referrals and increases sales revenues and profitability.

Improvise to stay timely and relevant

Finally, enhancing your ability to provide a timely response to breaking news that matters to your customers and prospects right now is just about guaranteed to enhance both the relevance and visibility of your brand—and using social media makes this possible. Still, marketing managers often neglect opportunities that are easy to address, as evidenced by the self-reported survey participant score of “average” when describing behavior associated with the statement “Responding quickly to opportunities and challenges when managing your most engaged customers.”

CMO Survey findings convincingly show that adopting a flexible, even improvised, approach to your social media engagement is the most effective aspect of your strategy and that your awareness of breaking news and developing events is most urgent and beneficial when providing a timely response is desirable. Communicating with your customers and prospects by acknowledging the unfolding event or unexpected (surprise) development, with a humorous or witty remark demonstrates your authenticity. In short, building in processes designed to make you ready for and prepared to quickly respond to various types of communication opportunities is able to improve the ROI of your company’s social media marketing and engagement.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: © Simon Smith. Bunhill for Getty Images

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Make Marketing Messages Memorable

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What is effective marketing in the 21st century? Communication technology has gone through so many game-changing upgrades—radio! television! Watson the IBM supercomputer!—but the essence of human beings hasn’t really changed over the centuries. The basics of buying and selling resources that we value, whether they are integral to survival or ego-boosting bling, are still governed by a group of fairly standard actions that comprise what’s known as the buyer’s journey. Circumstances and other factors that spark buyer interest and may lead to a sale haven’t changed much in about 8,000 years of civilization as we know it. I think it’s safe to say that buying and selling, and the marketing strategies designed to influence the process, are at their core about the same today as marketing was in Shakespeare’s England (early 1600s) or during the reign of the pharaohs.

Successful marketing campaigns have as their foundation good storytelling and the story must be distributed to potential buyers of the product or service. Marketing stories must appeal to prospective buyers and be accessible on media outlets (channels) that target prospective buyers follow and trust. Beyond those qualifiers, it’s incumbent upon sellers to create and distribute marketing content with a message that persuades potential buyers to stop, look and engage. Sellers need a marketing message that tweaks curiosity or strikes a familiar chord with those who experience it. How can you ensure that your marketing messages will consistently deliver? Read on to learn a few actions that will optimize the power of your marketing messages.

How are prospects meeting their needs now?

As usual, it makes sense to begin at the beginning. Before you can create trust inspiring, right-on-time marketing messages, it’s necessary to know what your customers are doing now — who or what are you competing against? You cannot make a battle plan until you know your opponent and the strengths, weaknesses and perceived value that’s made customers buy (until you arrived to shake things up)?

BTW, more often than you’d guess, your competition is neither a rival Freelancer nor a traditional business entity; your competitor could be inertia, AKA doing nothing. The status quo could be your client’s hiding place and coaxing him/her into the fresh air and sunshine of problem-solving could be a difficult endeavor. “Kicking the can” may have powerful defenders on your sale’s decision-making committee and one or more of them could have budget influence that can be weaponized and used to shut down spending or any move toward progress.

So, if one or two of the prospect’s decision-making committee members are comfortable with what’s being done now, you must demonstrate why deflecting what could be considered a reasonable problem-solving action, or doing the same dance with the same partner, is less effective and in the end more costly than bringing in your solution. To do that, you’ll need a marketing message that is powerful and persuasive. To figure out how to shape the narrative you need, start by exploring these issues:

  • Examine and analyze lost sales. When you lose a sale, diplomatically attempt to discover who your prospect decided to buy from, if possible. Perhaps even more important is to ask the prospect directly or ask someone who can speak for him/her, what shortcoming(s) motivated the decision to select another vendor. You must learn how you dropped the ball in order to fix the problem. Once you’ve identified lapses and/or weaknesses, you’ll decide on the most efficient corrective actions.
  • Examine and analyze successful sales. When the prospect hires you and becomes your client, discreetly inquire about their decision process. It’s seldom easy to learn the identities of competitors on your now-client’s shortlist but is a definitive way to confirm your competition. Equally valuable intel is learning which factors or characteristics of yours motivated decision-makers to bring you on board. What is it about you and your organization or skill set that makes you stand out?
  • Get input from your best customers. If your product or service didn’t exist, what would your customers do instead? Their answers will reveal the real-world alternative solutions you’re up against. To get started on building your case, consider these tactics:

Describe your value proposition, as your buyers define it

Once you have a good understanding of your typical competitors, identified weaknesses you must address and strengths that distinguish you and instill confidence in prospects, incorporate your findings in your marketing messages. Your story will be best served when you think beyond predictable product or service features; standing out in today’s hyper-competitive marketplace requires more than a recitation of product or service features and benefits. Put yourself in the prospect’s shoes and envision what s/he must achieve and what it takes to do so and use those insights to predict which of your product or service features and benefits to showcase. Develop a marketing message that will “paint a picture” that enables your prospect to “see” how your solution helps them to achieve their goals or please their customers. Adopt a “what’s in it for them” mindset as you customize your marketing message with a story that goes beyond generalities:

  • Superior customer experience (e.g., fast and uncomplicated new customer onboarding or the availability of end-user training and/or other post-sale support.
  • Expertise in a specific market or problem area.
  • Flexibility or customization that others lack.
  • A track record of success with companies similar to your target customers.

Edit marketing message talking points

Make it easy for prospects to remember (and also value) features and benefits by paring down your list and building your message on three or four powerful and persuasive talking points, so that you’ll avoid overwhelming prospects with too much information that is bound to get lost in the shuffle. A short list of strong value points makes a bigger impact than a long list of features. These 3-4 marketing message talking points become your core value proposition for you to use in all of your marketing materials. Choose your list of customized, high value talking points guided by these suggestions:

  • Relevance: Which benefits speak most directly to your audience’s most urgent goal or problem?
  • Uniqueness: Which of your strengths is most difficult for competitors to copy or claim?
  • Defensibility: How does your marketing message communicate a story that demonstrates in a clear and persuasive narrative that your solution and company are the best option for the client?

Customize messages for market segments

Your carefully selected and vetted marketing message should quickly resonate with your customers and prospects, literally “speak” to your audience so that its members can recognize the information they care about most. Adjust your core message based on who you’re talking to and where they are in the buying journey. Be sensitive to the need of different information or incentives that are useful to prospect as they progress through the buyer’s journey. Prospects who are establishing a familiarity with your company and its solutions are not the same as prospects who are in the process of making a final determination between two or three potential vendors. Supporting information should align with the questions a typical prospect has when progressing through the buyer’s journey.

  • Decision-makers: Emphasize high-level results, like return on investment for users of your product or service, or overall cost savings.
  • End-users: Focus on ease of use and practical features.
  • Awareness stage: Talk about common problems and introduce your solution.
  • Decision stage: Show clear proof and highlight what makes you stand out.

Message at every touchpoint

A messaging hierarchy helps you stay consistent across all channels — from your website homepage to sales meetings. It starts with your core value points, then moves into supporting messages and ends with evidence. Structure it like this:

  1. Value proposition talking points: The top 3-4 benefits you chose to highlight (above).
  2. Supporting messages: Additional advantages or benefits that reinforce why you core value proposition makes a (positive) difference for the prospect.
  3. Case studies: Real life experience helps a prospect understand how your service or product performs in the real world. Present performance metrics, share a case study or other stories that document and illustrate how you (and your team) provide solutions that solves problems, achieves goals and delivers on promises made.
  4. Technology: Demonstrate to your prospect that you are a capable and prepared professional who is comfortable with commonly used tech solutions by using an online calendar platform (such as Calendly) to schedule and confirm your sales meetings, as you reduce the incidence of missed appointments or cancellations—frustrating time wasters. Doing so demonstrates not only your knowledge and proficiency of useful technology, but also signals to prospects your intention to deliver a seamless and pleasant end-to-end customer experience.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: ©National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) 1972. Eugene Cernan, commander of the Apollo 17 mission and the last astronaut to walk on the moon, holds an American flag during his mission in December 1972. 

 

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Trend Tracker Is Free Help from Yelp

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Launched in 2014 at the platform’s 10th anniversary, Yelp’s Trend Tracker is receiving so much flattering business press of late that it feels like a relaunch (and I’m sure it is)! If you operate a small business and maintain an active Yelp account, whether or not you subscribe to Trend Tracker, Yelp is talking to you. If you’re a Freelance solopreneur who’s claimed your free Yelp listing and then dropped the subject, Yelp is talking to you, too. Or maybe you’re a self-employed professional, a Freelancer or SMB owner, who does not have an active Yelp account? Whatever the case, Yelp and Yelp’s Trend Tracker beckon with insightful and potentially actionable data that pertains to your industry and can support your mission to build a profitable and sustainable business entity.

What is Yelp’s Trend Tracker?

Trend Tracker is an AI-powered, cloud-based tool that monitors customer searches, reviews and interactions to identify trending topics in real time. Trend Tracker reveals and reports customer search patterns, behavior and emerging customer preferences across a broad array of industries. Trend Tracker harvests data from unique searches the Yelp platform receives each month (178 million in January 2025) and measures the frequency of specific phrases and topics used in those searches. This data sheds light on what you want to know, from customer purchasing trends to popular B2B and B2C services. Furthermore, Trend Tracker goes beyond search terms and also analyzes the text of customer reviews, to further clarify the picture.

It can literally pay to know this stuff because from time to time it may be worthwhile to respond to certain information. You may decide, for example, to update the key words in your content marketing material if Trend Tracker data indicates that target customers have begun to use certain terms when searching your product or service category.

Free market research for Freelancers and SMBs

Trend Tracker analytic insights are available free of charge—join the mailing list and you’ll receive data that is relevant and updated monthly and enables those who pay attention to access boots-on-the-ground marketing insights that can potentially help to promote your products and services more effectively. Supported by Trend Tracker, you’ll be positioned to detect and quickly respond to customer preferences, adjust marketing strategies and/or tactics to better align with shifting customer priorities and maybe even tweak your service or product line to reflect a significant shift in customer tastes.

When business decisions are guided by relevant, reliable data, decision-makers are more likely to achieve their intended outcomes. Decisions and actions that are guided by what matters to prospects and customers IRT will be immensely helpful to business owners. One of the biggest advantages of Trend Tracker is its ability to give you the heads-up on developing trends before they go mainstream and giving you time to update your position and be among the first providers to capitalize on emerging customer demand. Trend Tracker enables you to:

  • Identify emerging customer interests before they become mainstream
  • Adjust marketing strategies and tactics to respond to customer interests in a timely fashion
  • Create events and promotions that reflect developing trends
  • Improve your brand’s online visibility and search engine optimization with trending keywords
  • Stay ahead of competitors (who may not have access to reliable data-driven insights)

What else can Trend Tracker do for you?

So what’s trending that applies to you? Trustworthy intel is what’s trending and it applies to your entity in many ways. Trend Tracker data can even be a resource when you must conduct market research to evaluate your business planning, from the feasibility of scaling or expanding your venture to clarifying your decision-making as you verify, or rethink, a side hustle you hope to launch. News flash! Re: business planning, can we acknowledge that Freelancing does not exclusively pertain to B2B services such as marketing, website development, graphic arts and shooting and editing videos? Can we recognize that Freelance expertise can also be applied to a B2C service entity? In other words, could it be that upgrading home interiors is a more satisfying expression of your entrepreneurial talent than cybersecurity? That seems to be the case for the Property Brothers.

You may be interested to know that the Trend Tracker September 2024 issue reported that in 2024, home services produced record growth for business owners in that industry across the U.S. and drove an all-time revenue bonanza for the category. Trend Tracker data indicated that in 2024, home services were the fastest-growing segment of B2C services in every U.S. state plus Washington D.C. and was the top category for new business launches among all industry categories on Yelp as well. This still trending growth cycle is fueled by renter-friendly home upgrade projects. As many citizens come to recognize that attaining home ownership or trading up from starter house to a more spacious (and grand) residence is unaffordable, remaining in the current home for a longer period of time has become yet another New Normal reality.

As a way to make home feel more comfortable or look more stylish, people are investing in improvements that upgrade living spaces without upsetting the landlord. Another home services industry hot spot, this one pertaining to homeowners, is weatherproofing services that make homes more resilient to what seems like increasingly frequent extreme weather events. Trend Tracker data shows that Yelp users have increased searches for both renter-friendly and homeowner services—could responding to the growing demand become your side hustle or even your full-time Freelance or SMB enterprise? Aspiring business owners have set up shop as Freelance solopreneurs and SMBs to address those priorities, which resulted in big increases in Yelp searches in 2024 vs. 2023:

  • home organization (+362%),
  • peel and stick tile (+73%),
  • wallpapering (+41%),
  • snow removal (+36%)
  • home automation (+27%),
  • drapery installation (+11%)
  • waterproofing (+23%)

In sum, Trend Tracker can be a game-changer that might potentially have a direct impact on your ability to gain or maintain competitive advantage and monitor customer priorities—and maybe even launch a successful business or side hustle. Tara Lewis, who spent 15 years at Yelp helping businesses connect with their target customers and also served as its trend expert, advises that the best way to get started with Yelp’s Trend Tracker is to check out the latest trends noted in the monthly newsletter and pick one insight to test in your business this month. Lewis says that even a small adjustment can lead to noticeable improvements in brand visibility and sales revenue generated. She recommends the following:

  • Practice authenticity in trend-chasing. Don’t just follow trends; make them your own to help your business stand out.
  • Connect with valued customers through shared trending interests. Form meaningful connections with your community by creating events and social spaces that appeal to those who matter most.
  • Use Yelp Trend Tracker data to highlight what you already offer. Your business may be in tune with rising trends — adapt your marketing strategy to make these products or services more visible to customers.
  • Position your business for long-term trends, not just momentary fads. Some trends are fleeting; others reflect larger shifts in consumer behavior. Identify trends with staying power and incorporate them into your business vision.
  • Your brand’s unique personality is your trendiest asset. Lean into what makes your business distinctive to set yourself apart and keep customers coming back.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: © Freepik

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Time Is On Your Side

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Last year (and maybe the year before as well), did it seem like it took forever for prospects to negotiate the buyer’s journey and finally make a purchase and become your client? Rest assured, it may have felt like a nightmare, but it wasn’t a dream. Responses of more than 18,000 B2B buyers who participated in Forrester’s 2023 Global B2B Buyers’ Journey Survey, and who were also Forrester clients, confirm that B2B buyers globally have become mostly both risk averse and price sensitive as they contend with economic uncertainty. Approximately one third of B2B buyers in North America and Europe, and more than a quarter of their counterparts in Asia Pacific, reported that they are significantly influenced by price when making purchasing decisions. Additionally, the buying process has become more complex than ever and purchasing delays are now common.

Leaning into caution seems to have begun in 2022 in the B2B sector, when inflation weighed heavily on everyone’s mind, causing buyers to carefully evaluate purchases and avoid what could be considered over-paying. The practice is still trending and its influence is documented in Forrester’s global B2B buying survey. Another notable survey finding was the role of purchase-focused decision-making committees, that include “product experts” who have a growing influence on B2B buying.

Amy Hayes, vice president and research director at Forrester, a world-renowned business research and advisory firm based in Cambridge, MA and author of the survey, summed up the trend in a candid comment, “Due to budget constraints and continued economic uncertainty, buying decisions are getting delayed.” Not only are buyer journeys lasting longer, but more people are on the bus and purchasing decision-making committees have grown larger and increasingly risk-averse. Purchasing criteria are subjected to increased scrutiny and due diligence rituals have become more detailed. Needless to say, the New Normal protocols are doing Freelance consultants no favors. So now what?

As you keep in mind that an elephant is a mouse designed by a committee, our mission today is to devise a strategy that can help you to successfully navigate this potential impasse. To enhance the prospect’s confidence in your product or service and also help expedite decision-making, it could be advisable for B2B sellers to showcase their offerings’ return on investment throughout the buyer’s journey. Moreover, identifying an attribute of your product or service that can be convincingly described as uniquely useful to prospects may enable you to pacify decision committee naysayers, who would otherwise be delighted to shoot down your sales proposal if they think it will make themselves look shrewd and in control. Not only that, the attribute you showcase may do a great job of setting you apart from competitors.

Let’s look at the bright side—those decision-making committee members can green-light your sale if you attach a value they can’t resist to your service or product. To win their confidence, you’ll need to wrap your product or service in a bullet-proof business virtue for which you can create a compelling narrative. Oh, and although B2B purchasing-focused decision-making committees have been shown to be price-sensitive, be aware that you cannot compete on price because that is a race to the bottom and you can only lose.

A comprehensive and convincing accounting of the strengths of your service or product is likely to be helpful and perhaps best summed up by the Google algorithm EEAT—experience, expertise, authoritativeness, trustworthiness—and could be the best recipe to win the consensus you’ll need. A good case study or two can demonstrate the ROI your service or product delivers to clients; a link to a webinar or podcast in which you are prominently featured can further demonstrate your expertise, showcase your thought leader status and convey your authenticity.

The Forrester survey also shows that in addition to spending conservatively, respondents made known the high value they place on an invaluable resource—time—and that this attribute can influence the outcome of buying decisions. This could be your silver bullet—how can you present time as a resource that your service or product brings to clients? Do that successfully and you will have discovered the secret sauce that helps you win more sales.

“How important is saving time to you and your team?”

Like marketing automation Software as a Service solutions enable businesses to devote less effort to routine tasks, B2B services or products that are developed with operational efficiency, user-friendly implementation and time reduction in mind deliver benefits that clients and prospects recognize and respond to. C-suite executives are keenly aware that increasing available time can, for example, allow the resource to be devoted to vital business functions such as business strategy assessment and development, innovation, scaling or expanding operations and/or examining the impact of the company’s customer experience or after-sale training and support. Enabling your clients’ success will, among other things, allow them to more efficiently respond and deliver value to their customers. You can position your clients to save their customers time and and also drive their satisfaction, loyalty, repeat business and referrals. When you make it known to prospects the potential of your product or service to increase the valuable resource that is time you may want to discuss:

  • Clearly communicate how your service or product aligns with the client’s perception of time. C-suite execs understand the importance of time and its value when choosing to implement a product or service, but they may not share that concern with members of the purchasing decision-making committee—that responsibility may be up to you, the seller. When discussing the performance and benefits of your service or product, be certain that time-saving capabilities are always considered.
  • Show that your product is easy to implement, install, learn and operate. Today’s companies compete on the basis of their ability to work in agile ways, innovate quickly and adopt new approaches in response to changing marketplace conditions. A product or service that enhances those capabilities by saving time is a unique benefit and valuable selling point that should be on the table when speaking with decision-making committee members.
  • Reduce time spent on execution, increase time for other tasks. Consider every internal process, task and workflow that your service or product will simplify, streamline, automate, or accelerate and how those attributes and capabilities work to increase time that can be spent on other imperatives. If possible, bring in experts and give everyone involved in the purchasing decision a seat at the table.

While research has shown that B2B buyers are responding to economic uncertainty by becoming both cautious and price sensitive in many instances, clients are often willing to pay a premium for services or products that they can implement quickly and easily, so they can more quickly move the team on to the next project. Time is a resource that can add significant value to a service or product, allowing you to anticipate client needs and drive profitability.

When products and services consider time reduction on behalf of clients, your solution can therefore function as a partner that helps them receive the rare gift time that can be applied to building a better business innovation, providing seamless customer experiences and optimizing client relationships. Enabling your clients’ success allows them to respond to and deliver value to their customers faster, potentially by saving their customers’ time and driving satisfaction and loyalty. Time is always money and it is useful to present it as a selling point for you to leverage.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: © Shutterstockimagebank

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LeadGen and Customer Acquisition in 2025

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LocaliQ, a digital marketing platform that specializes in lead generation and multichannel marketing campaign management, and is a subsidiary of Gannett Publishing, surveyed more than 730 small business owners and marketers worldwide to get boots-on-the-ground perspectives on leadgen and customer acquisition marketing tactics SMB owners are using now and uncensored feedback on what’s producing the best results. The survey is a rich source of benchmarking and actionable insights that have the potential to inform your approach to leadgen and customer acquisition strategies and tactics this year.

In its first Small Business Marketing Trends Report, LocaliQ shares the results of a deep data dive that’s intended to help Freelance consultants and SMB owners successfully navigate the business landscape they can expect to encounter in 2025 by learning how their peers energize sales revenue by identifying leadgen tactics that promote customer acquisition.

The relevance of LocaliQ data is for many of you validated by the survey demographics—15% of respondents are soloprenuers; 31% have 2-10 full-time employees; 24% have a marketing budget that’s less than $500/ year (5% have no marketing budget); and 74% are based in Canada and the U.S. (all six inhabited continents plus New Zealand are represented). The survey was published in October 2024. How does the average Freelancer or SMB owner attract prospects?

Survey respondents do what you’d expect and it’s safe to assume that they use more than one leadgen tactic to implement their marketing /sales strategy. Social media marketing (free) is used by 52% of respondents; 47% of respondents use (paid) social media advertising; and 40% of respondents use search advertising, i.e., pay-per-click sponsored ads that appear in search engine inquiries. Other popular leadgen tactics are email marketing, used by 39% of respondents and content marketing, used by 33% of respondents. Online listings and directories (28%), display ads (24%) and traditional media (23%) are 20th century tactics and that gives them a similarity (IMHO); when combined, 75% of survey respondents use one or more of these older leadgen tactics.

As for the social media platforms used, it’s no surprise that Facebook dominates—76% of respondents use the platform for leadgen, promoting products and services and otherwise engaging with current customers and prospects. Instagram is used by 63% of survey respondents and LinkedIn, tailored as it is to B2B customers, is used by 43% of respondents. The data also showed that 29% of respondents use video marketing, a feature that is available on the above three platforms and also YouTube, which is used by 38% of respondents and recently rescued TikTok, which is used by 34% of respondents. Surprisingly X, a platform intended for Instant Messaging and other text communications, is used by 41% of respondents for social media marketing (X also hosts video sharing).

Now let’s talk turkey—when asked about their satisfaction (or disappointment) with the results of leadgen tactics, social media marketing and online listings/business directory users are satisfied with results—66% of social media marketing users and 61% of online listings/business directory users are pleased with their leadgen marketing results—still, each group also has a dissatisfaction rate of 15%. Furthermore, there is a rather large group of “neither satisfied nor dissatisfied” —meaning lukewarm?—users associated with those leadgen marketing tactics and 24% of online listing/ business directory users and 19% of social media marketing users joined the lukewarm group. Maybe it’s too difficult to measure leadgen results directly from social media marketing activity, whose conversation threads remain visible for years and likewise for presence on a business listing site or directory that a prospect might see many months after publication?

More clarity is derived from search advertising and it topped the list as the leadgen tactic most respondents are happy with, as evidenced by its 76% satisfaction rate (with 12% dissatisfied and 12% neither satisfied nor dissatisfied). A close second in popularity is video marketing, a leadgen tactic that has a growing user rate on every platform; in this survey, 74% of users are pleased with their video marketing outcomes and just 8% are unhappy (and 17% are neither satisfied nor dissatisfied). Short-form videos, like those on TikTok and Instagram Reels, continue to surge and 58% of respondents have either recently tried or would like to try the format.

Search advertising succeeds because it kicks in precisely when the purchasing motive is strongest and prospects are actively looking to buy a product or service that’s similar to yours. Readily available alternative options are waiting for them, as shown in search ads you’ve seen. Survey respondents also indicate satisfaction with results they’re finding with content marketing (75%) and advertising on social media platforms (73%).

The best source of leadgen is (drum roll) customer referrals! Almost 65% of survey respondents reported that customer referrals are the best leadgen sources. The influence of customer referrals is greatest (75%) for SMBs that have 10 or fewer full-time employees and have less influence in larger organizations—just 46% of businesses with 50 or more employees report that customer referrals are the best source of new customer leads.

Major challenges anticipated in 2025

Freelance consultants and SMB owners know that in order to survive and thrive, a clear-eyed view of their economic landscape is necessary. Economic uncertainty, leadgen tactics that stimulate new customer acquisition and optimizing an (often modest) marketing budget are by necessity at top-of-mind. The ability to predict which marketing tactics can be relied on to produce the strongest return on investment is viewed as somewhat or very challenging for nearly half of survey respondents—44% are somewhat or very concerned about the capability of their chosen leadgen tactics to drive results. Adapting to new technology is a concern for 40% of respondents, who indicate they are somewhat or very concerned about keeping up. Furthermore, 45% of respondents are somewhat or very concerned about their leadgen tactics bringing in enough new customers and 48% are somewhat or very worried about economic conditions and uncertainty.

So, what are the recommendations for driving Freelancer and SMB success in 2025? There are no definitive answers and the suggestions offered below are not new and not rocket science. Your goal is to make money, but you could meet with headwinds for any number of reasons. Outcomes produced by your business strategies and tactics cannot be predicted but appropriate design, execution and performance monitoring on your part can be expected to yield at least modest success. Marketing and sales have a direct effect on customer acquisition and generating revenue, making these two closely related functions the money-making engine of a business venture and deserving of your intense focus. Just do it.

It’s helpful to monitor the performance metrics of marketing tactics and for that process, Google Analytics generates relevant and insightful data that enables you to evaluate your campaigns—at no charge. Sign up now! Along with leadgen/customer acquisition, make a point to promote customer referrals by asking your current customers if any of their colleagues or customers have the potential to become one of your customers. Also, create customer experience protocols that at every touchpoint anticipate and respond to customer needs end-to-end, from new or returning customer onboarding to after-sale training or other services. Finally, invite customer feedback by directly speaking with those who do business with you when possible. It’s good business to send out an email survey (maybe once a year), or chat with customers by way of social media; it’s important to learn what customers would like to see you do (or not do), so that you can optimize the experience of doing business with your company.

  • Be prepared to manage both the opportunities and challenges you encounter by being aware, being agile, being resourceful and being resilient.
  • Develop comprehensive marketing/sales strategies and implement with tactics you can expect to be effective. Regularly consult your website (and social media) performance metrics and make adjustments where necessary, to maximize performance.
  • Identify one or two local business associations and aim to attend one program per quarter as a way to obtain professional development and/or enhance your business acumen skills as you meet colleagues and engage in face2face networking that builds mutually beneficial relationships.
  • As soon as your budget allows hire an (outsourced) business accountant or bookkeeper to not only maintain the integrity and timeliness of your business financials and tax filings, but also to discuss and guide the potential business growth and expansion of your venture.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: © kali9/ iStock