Marketing Playbook: Low-Lift Strategies to Grow Your Business Online
- jae470
- Oct 6
- 6 min read
Marketing your business shouldn’t mean constantly chasing trends or spending all day online. But for many founders, it ends up feeling like another item on an already overwhelming to-do list. Between creating content, staying visible, and trying to build trust with potential customers, it’s easy to lose sight of what actually works.
That’s why we hosted our recent workshop, The Marketing Playbook, to cut through the noise and bring it back to the basics. We were joined by two creative entrepreneurs who understand both the strategy and the struggle of small business marketing. Whether you're a solo founder juggling it all or a small team looking to sharpen your marketing strategy, the key is building on consistency and connection.
Finding (and Keeping) Your Ideal Customers
Marketing doesn’t start on a platform or when you create your content strategy. It starts by understanding who you’re talking to and what they want from you. Not just what you want to say.
When your messaging isn’t connecting, it’s often because there’s a disconnect between who you think your customer is and who’s actually paying attention. You might be pouring energy into content that’s perfectly “on brand” but completely misaligned with your actual audience. Your customer persona doesn’t live on a whiteboard. Start by looking at who’s already showing up. Are they the people you intended to serve? If not, is that a problem—or a pivot waiting to happen?
Test and Course-Correct When Your Message Isn’t Landing:
Check your analytics
Dive into your website traffic, Instagram insights, email click rates—where are people dropping off? Who’s clicking but not converting? Google Analytics, Meta Business Suite, and your email platform (like Mailchimp or ConvertKit) all offer this info at no cost.
Review your DMs and comments
Are people asking questions that show confusion about what you offer? Are they surprised by your pricing, scope, or positioning? These are signs your messaging might need clarity or simplification.
Ask your community directly
Use Instagram polls, email surveys, or even short 1:1 conversations to ask: What made you follow me? What do you come to me for? What do you need help with right now? You don’t need a massive sample size. Five to ten real answers can tell you a lot.
Audit your content themes
Look at your last 9–12 posts or emails. Is there a clear through line? Are you repeating your value prop often enough for it to stick? If you’re posting helpful content but never explaining what you do, people may not realize you’re offering something at all.
Consider This: Are You Niching Too Far?
Getting specific about who you serve is helpful, until it becomes a bottleneck. When your niche is too narrow, you may unintentionally box yourself out of great opportunities, simply because people don’t see themselves reflected in your messaging.
Before you niche down further, ask yourself:
Would someone outside this group still benefit from what I offer?
Am I creating barriers with my language, visuals, or tone?
If my ideal client saw this, would they know it's for them?
Broadening your lens allows room for growth – yours and your customer’s.
Engaging and Growing Your Community
Consistency gets talked about a lot in marketing, but consistency without connection rarely converts. The real win isn’t going “viral,” it’s building a community of people who actually care what you’re up to. Whether you’re speaking to ten people or ten thousand, the principles are the same: be clear, be useful, and be human.
Community-building doesn’t require constant posting, and it definitely doesn’t require you to be everywhere at once. It starts with choosing where and how to show up on purpose, then doing it consistently.
Cut Through the Noise with Clear Priorities:
Pick your platform(s) with intention
You don’t need to be on every app. You need to be where your people already are. If most of your audience is engaging on Instagram, don’t waste hours trying to make TikToks hit. Look at your insights, customer interactions, and community habits and choose accordingly.
Repeat yourself (a lot)
If you feel like a broken record, you’re probably doing it right. Most people are seeing only a small fraction of your content, and repetition is what builds brand memory. Be known for something by saying it often and in different ways.
Show the in-between
Don’t just post when something is polished or complete. Let your community see the process, the behind-the-scenes, the small wins. People connect with progress, not just perfection. When you bring people along for the journey, they’re more likely to cheer you on at the finish line.
Consider This: Have You Set Your Own Growth Goals?
It’s easy to fall into the trap of chasing visibility for visibility’s sake. More followers. More likes. More Content. But if you don’t define what growth means for your business, you’ll end up measuring progress by someone else’s goals.
Before you decide how (and where) to show up, take a moment to define what you’re actually working toward.
Ask yourself:
What does success look like this season? More leads? Conversions? Engagement?
Am I prioritizing reach, or depth of connection?
Is my goal to build awareness, or to drive sales?
If I could only track 1 metric, which one would tell me I’m moving in the right direction?
When you get clear on what matters most, it becomes easier to filter out distractions and to build a marketing strategy that supports your business and your wellbeing.
Staying Consistent Without Burning Out
Founders are creative by nature. You have ideas, vision, and a deep understanding of your business. But turning that into consistent content is a different kind of challenge. When your time and energy are stretched across everything from operations to customer service, marketing can quickly shift from a creative outlet to a point of stress.
What often gets labeled as “inconsistency” is usually a sign of overcommitting or trying to operate on someone else’s playbook. You don’t need to keep up with influencers, big brands, or even other businesses in your space. You need a strategy that fits your life, your bandwidth, and your goals.
If you’ve ever taken a break from content because you felt overwhelmed, behind, or uninspired, you’re not alone. The solution? Simplify and re-align.
Build a System That Works With You:
Set your own pace
Don’t default to daily posting if it doesn’t work for you. Start with what feels manageable in your current season and build consistency around that.
Use content intentionally across formats
Think of each content type as part of a bigger strategy. Reels (or Shorts) can help you get discovered. Stories or newsletters nurture your current audience. Posts or blogs build authority over time. Know what each type of content is meant to do so you can focus your efforts instead of spreading them thin.
Batch and buffer
Creating content in focused blocks (rather than scrambling daily) helps maintain quality without constant output. Use scheduling tools (like Later, Planoly, or Meta Business Suite) to post while you’re off building your business, or taking a break.
Consider This: Are You Building a Marketing System or Just Posting Content?
Without a structure, it’s easy for marketing to become reactive. But the goal isn’t to show up perfectly every day. It’s to build a repeatable, flexible system that supports you.
Ask yourself:
Do I have a repeatable system for creating and sharing content?
Am I relying on inspiration, or do I have a plan I can follow even when I’m tired or busy?
Is my current approach sustainable for the next 90 days?
Consistency means having a system that honors your creativity and your capacity, so you can continue to show up in a real and sustainable way.
Build What Works for You
Marketing isn’t a one-size-fits-all formula. But when you focus on alignment over aesthetics, intention over output, and connection over perfection, marketing becomes a tool for growth that you can actually enjoy using.
Want to dive deeper? Download our free Marketing Playbook Worksheet to reflect on what’s working, clarify your strategy, and simplify your next steps.
About the Panelists
Yobana Beasley is the Founder and CEO of July Digital Studio, a viral social media agency helping brands across the globe grow their digital presence with scroll-stopping, strategy-driven content. With over six years of experience in marketing, she has grown her agency’s social presence from 700 to over 120,000 followers in just a few months using all organic efforts. She's passionate about making wellness more inclusive and accessible to every community. Outside of work, you can find her with her husband and their dog, Atlas, usually with a pickleball paddle in hand.
Juliana Lopez is a civic leader, strategist, and community advocate whose work spans grassroots organizing, public programming, and nonprofit development. She is the founder of hooliana Ltd. Co., a creative agency that partners with mission-driven organizations to design events, campaigns, and initiatives that build equity and deepen community engagement. Juliana currently serves as the District Manager for the Uptown 23rd District Association and is the founder of Camp OKC Latina, a nature-based initiative that increases outdoor access for Latinx youth and families in Oklahoma City. She is also a key organizer of OKC Minority Enterprise Development (MED) Week, a city-wide effort that celebrates and strengthens the local minority business ecosystem. Born and raised in Oklahoma, Juliana brings a deep commitment to inclusive, place-based work that amplifies historically underrepresented voices. She has been recognized for her leadership, collaborative approach, and creative strategies for local investment.