The Unsexy Marketing Work That Actually Matters

Social media gets a lot of attention because it is visible. Meanwhile, the website says the business closes at 6:00 when it actually closes at 5:00.

This is one of my favorite contradictions in small-business marketing.

We can spend an extraordinary amount of energy discussing content while ignoring the boring pieces that determine whether someone can actually become a customer.

The unsexy work is rarely what anyone wants to put on the cover of a marketing course. It is also some of the work that matters most.

Google yourself.

Pretend you are a customer. Search your business name. Search your service and town. Search the kinds of phrases someone might use if they do not already know you exist.

Are your hours right? Is the phone number right? Does the map pin go to the right place? Are there old listings floating around? Does your Google Business Profile accurately represent what you do now?

Search is often where someone encounters your business before they ever see a social media post.

Look at the boring pages.

Homepages get love. The footer does not. Neither does the contact page, FAQ, staff page, automated confirmation email, link-in-bio page, voicemail message, or email signature.

Customers use all of them.

A beautiful homepage does not help very much if the contact form goes nowhere. An excellent Instagram account does not make up for a booking page that leaves someone unsure whether their appointment was submitted.

Make it easy to contact you.

I have visited business websites where I could not find a phone number. I have found contact forms with no explanation of when someone should expect a response. I have clicked social links that go to abandoned accounts and buttons that lead nowhere.

Every unnecessary obstacle gives someone another opportunity to leave.

Clarity is conversion optimization in its least glamorous form.

Build the email list before you need it.

Email is one of those things businesses often remember when they suddenly have something important to promote.

We should send an email! Great. To whom?

An email list becomes valuable because it grows over time. Build the relationship before you need the response.

Ask for reviews. Take the photo. Answer the questions.

Reviews matter to potential customers and local search. Make asking part of the process, and respond to the reviews you receive.

Take the before photo. Take the team photo. Take the event setup photo before 400 people enter the room. You do not need to post everything, but you cannot use the photo you did not take.

And pay attention to what customers repeatedly ask. Those questions are telling you where they need more information.

Follow up.

Follow up with the person who inquired. Follow up after the event. Check in with the customer who said they might need you again in six months. Stay in touch with past clients. Send the information you promised.

Marketing is not only attracting strangers. It is also maintaining connections with people who already know you.

None of this is particularly glamorous. There is no trending audio for “update your footer.”

But before chasing the newest platform or content format, make sure people can find you, understand you, contact you, buy from you, and come back.

That work is infrastructure.

Infrastructure is not usually very exciting.

Until it breaks.