How to do good marketing (without going bonkers)

If you’re brand new to marketing, you might be doing too much. 

• Posting on TikTok

• Running Facebook Ads

• Writing blogs

• Redesigning the website

Which is great! Love the effort

Is it working?

If not, I want to share a marketing rule I hold near and dear. It's the cornerstone to every business I've owned and helped.

Maybe I'll tattoo it somewhere. Would that be too crazy?

This rule helps me save:

• Time

• Mental bandwidth 

• Sanity

I promise it makes marketing easier for:

• Me

• You

• Your guests

Here’s how it works:

The 1-1-1 rule

Most wee-little marketers try to:

• Reach everyone

• On every channel

The effort required to successfully do this is enough to drive someone insane. I’ve been there. 

There’s a better way:

• Sell one offer

• Sell to one avatar

• Using one channel

This works wonders. Here's why...

The day to day of marketing is simple:

• Find what works

• Make it better

• Eliminate the rest

You figure these things out by reading data.

If you:

• Sell multiple offers

• To 3 totally different avatars

• Using all the channels that exist

You're going to have a hard time reading data.

If you're a beginner marketer, start with one and add over time.

Let me help you pick the one thing to start with.

How to find your one thing

We run this 1-1-1 rule with every Airbnb or hotel we work with. Here are some ideas to get you started.

Offer:

Sell nights.

• Start with peak season weekends

• Then secondary season weekends (fall)

• Fill in the week days last

Avoid selling t-shirts, experiences, coffee mugs or wherever else you’ve come up with.

Sell the nights.

Avatar:

My favorite avatars are:

• Couples

• Families

• Niche ideas

Niche idea examples:

• Wellness stay

• Themes (Christmas, Hobbit, Star Wars)

If it makes sense for your stay, couples are a good avatar to start with.

Channels:

If your Airbnb or hotel is cool, use Meta Ads. No matter where it’s located. 

If you're near a popular area, use Google Ads.

Simple as that.

Last Notes

Lodge Social has existed for almost two years. I still run this rule.

90% of our clients do too.

Don't do random acts of marketing for the sake of doing something.

Pick:

• One offer (nights)

• One avatar (couples, families, niche ideas)

• One channel (Meta or Google Ads)

Save the sanity. Get cleaner results.

That's all for today. I'll see you in the next article.

P.S. I try to keep this newsletter under a grade 3 reading level. This one hit a personal best. Not sure if there’s a ‘Kindergarten’ level but I think I’m gonna try and find out.

Before you go

I spend about 10 hours writing this newsletter each week. The rest of my time is spent running Lodge Social.

Our marketing team will help you get more guests to like, share and book.

Work with me and my team here.

Links you might like:

1. From 1%-30% direct bookings (Podcast)

2. Google Ads vs. Facebook Ads (The Lodge Social)

3. Before you send emails for bookings, know these rules (Instagram)

4. The Bolt Farm Treehouse story (LinkedIn)