I was out in my flower garden earlier and noticed that the weeds have really started to grow bigger and bigger, especially since we just had a rain. As I was pulling a few weeds I began to think about how I needed to prune my marketing garden too.
How about you? Are you afraid to unfriend, unfollow, disconnect or remove people from your online marketing lists? That’s a really scary thought isn’t it? But as we know in our flower gardens, when we began to prune the weeds out, the beautiful flowers began to grow bigger and more brilliant and our gardens really stand out.
Here are some ideas for “Pruning your Marketing Garden”
- Cut the Chatter in your Twitter account. Do you have a lot of followers, but yet nobody is talking to you? Perhaps you need to look at de-cluttering the noise on your account by removing some of the people you follow and focus on following those thought leaders in your industry or your target market that you can really engage in a meaningful conversation with. Here’s a great tool to stop following those people that either don’t follow you or haven’t been active for a while. Twitter Karma
- Laser Focus your Facebook Page. If you have a Fan Page (and you should!) are the fans who have “Liked” your page people that are really interested in your information? Or are they simply there because you or someone in your online community invited them. Do they ask questions and comment on your posts and links? Or is your Fan Page like a ghost town? It might be time to really focus on the people that are active on your page and develop an “invitation only” Page that they can get the inside scoop and have more opportunities to connect with you and your business.
- Ask them to Leave! Oh My Gosh! That would be marketing suicide, right? To ask the people that you have begged, bribed and bought (hopefully not this one) to be on your list, to now get off! I live in the South and we have a saying, “You’re preaching to the choir.” Which can relate to your marketing list. See who opens your emails. Who clicks your links. Who responds to your offers. And if the majority of your list is not doing those things, they are probably not going to be a good customer/client for you. Your list should be like the choir. The folks that are always behind you, sharing your online information and supporting your programs. So in your next newsletter, just add a small note and give them a way out. Let them know that you are trying to really focus on giving the best information to the people who really want it and if your newsletter isn’t for them, here’s the link to “unsubscribe.” That’s not being mean, it’s just giving them a way out. Maybe they didn’t want to hurt your feelings by getting off your list. You are just helping them out.
I’ve heard other online marketing experts say that when someone unsubscribes to your list, it’s a good thing. You want your information to get to the people who need it most. That’s why you are in business, to provide the “best” of whatever you do for your perfect client or customer.
How do you feel about pruning your marketing garden? 
Are you ready to have the beautiful, bountiful garden you have dreamed of?
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