9 free marketing channels you can use instead of Social Media
Ditch Social Media if you hate it & do this instead
If you struggle to build a social media presence and growing tired of it, this article is for you.
Because even though everyone jumps on it, it's not the only free marketing channel you can use to promote your nature venture.
Why it matters:
People need to know about your nature venture to support it, so you need to choose the channel that works for you
Many jump on Social Media because it is free, but as with all marketing channels, there are hidden costs
Working on a channel that you hate and don't understand will not bring you the needed results
5 Tips how to pick the right marketing channel
Good at: Choose the channel that brings out your or a team member's strengths
Where are they: Choose a channel that your ideal customer actually uses
Time: Choose a channel that you can deliver on every single day/week
Like: Choose a channel where you like the execution will make everything much easier
Numbers: Choose a channel that brings you the needed numbers of customers. If you need a volume of customers, you have to make different choices than if you need just a few
9 free marketing channels you can use instead of Social Media to promote your nature venture
#1 Newsletter
Newsletter often announced dead are still working to promote your nature venture.
There are 2 types value-driven newsletter & promotional newsletter.
Value-driven newsletters like this one provide free, detailed value on a single topic.
Promotional newsletters compress your nature venture activities into a sum-up text (the classic ones you often receive).
Good to know:
you need to like & be good in writing
fantastic to constantly stay on your reader's minds
you will need some time to convert readers into paying customers
can be a long-form content piece that you can recycle for other channels
Best Practice: Bloom Labs by Simas. He mainly grows his presence through a fantastic & detailed biodiversity credit market newsletter.
#2 SEO
SEO = Search Engine Optimizing. This is how people find you when they google.
3 example activities are:
optimizing your website for the terms people search
write blog articles that educate your target audience further
create dedicated pages that provide knowledge to the reader
Good to know:
you need to like & be good in writing
not every reader will become a customer
a bit uncertain where AI will lead this channel
you will need some time to build up authority, so you end up on Googles 1st page
nowadays, there are numerous free & paid trainings, resources, plugins & co that can help
when people Google something, they do that already with an intention in mind, so usually the path to buying/donating to your nature venture is shorter
Best Practice: Product Plan. Whenever I Google something about product development, they are number one. They have excellent best practices for creating a good website, a detailed Glossary, fantastic blog articles, and more.
#3 Podcast
You are a good talker and charismatic? Why don't you start a podcast? It's a great way to show your expertise, tell stories, or have conversations with leading voices in your field.
Good to know:
need to like & be good at talking
need some essential equipment to start
conversions from podcasts to your product/service are usually rather slow
you will need a volume of listeners to see the impact on your nature venture
Best Practice: The Rewild Podcast. It offers entertaining and informative deep dives into the Rewilding sites in Europe. It makes you immediately want to start donating to Rewilding Europe.
#4 Cold & warm outreach
Those annoying emails or LinkedIn messages you often get? That's cold outreach.
You write a stranger about your products or services.
Warm outreach is if you know that person.
It can seem SPAMy, but if done right, it can actually work.
Good to know:
it's a numbers game; you need to contact many people to make it work
test on smaller badges before expanding because the last thing you want is to lose trust
works better if you are a good salesperson already
Best Practice: This is hard to find because it is a marketing channel you don't see except when receiving such mail. Alex Hormozi has an entire free training on it.
#5 Lead magnets
If you create something valuable for free that people can consume, so they get a taste of your real product or service.
Good examples are whitepapers, online guides, mini books, calculators, quizzes, playlists, online courses, reports, etc.
Good to know:
good if you have a very detailed understanding of your customer's pain points
require initial work, but if done right, they can be mighty
you do not have to put in time constantly
can trigger strong word of mouth effects
Best Practices:
Quiz: 16 Personalities
White Paper: Wilderlands
Calculator: Handprint
Report: Living Planet Report WWF
#6 Community
Communities can not only be built on Social Media. You may hate the show of Social Media, but like to gather people together.
WhatsApp, Slack, Discord & co. make it possible to create a community outside of Social Media.
Good to know:
quick and easy to set up
need constant moderation and entertainment
perfect for you if you like to connect people
works great for nature products or services that would benefit from a strong community anyway
community has to stay relevant to the topic and problem you are trying to solve
Best Practices:
Earth Species Project has a vibrant community in which it collaborates with its audience to make listening to what animals have to say a reality.
#7 Referral
The marketing channel, if you make it easy and incentivize your customers to promote you.
Examples are: Customers who refer a friend to your nature venture get free months, credits, money, merchandise, etc.
Good to know:
suitable for people who struggle with this entire marketing thing
very cost-effective because you can set up what people can get, and when they get it
need to use powerful incentives to work
set up once & relatively low maintenance
pushes chance that your customer will actually talk about you to others
creates higher loyalty among your already existing customers
Best Practices:
Tomorrow the sustainable bank has a very good referral program.
#8 Events
Instead of hustling on social media, you can encourage people to join you in real-life conversations.
That can happen in offline or online events.
Good to know:
great if you have your strengths in connecting with people
usually needs some initial planning and set up of a system, but then gets less work intense
perfect if your nature solution has a high price
less of a volume game, where the focus is on establishing in-depth connections with your potential customers
great to create a loyal customer base, too
Best Practices:
Journeys with Purpose is an excellent example of how it can be done. They create monthly webinars in which they invite a leading rewilder to create a fantastic teaser for their trips.
#9 PR
PR = Public relations. Basically, your company or story gets picked up by the media.
Many I talk to think that just happens, but you can actively push your luck by getting in touch with magazines, news, podcasts, etc.
They always hunt for the next wild story, so why not yours?
Good to know:
low success rate, so build up that thick skin
great channel if you are a good storyteller
start with smaller outlets before you contact BBC, Guardian & co.
can create ripple effects if an outlet picks up one article, episode, etc.
Best Practices:
For its young age, Nala, the nature management platform, has done an outstanding job of frequently being featured in articles, podcasts, events, and other media.
5 Actions you can take to shift from social media to another marketing channel
1. Dive deeper - This was just a sneak peek. To learn more about the channels that resonated most with you, dive deeper into them.
2 Reflect on your Social Media - Before jumping off Social Media, reflect on what it currently brings to you.
3 Pick one - These are 9 channels; please don't jump on all of them simultaneously. Pick one and make it work.
4 Dedicate or delegate - After choosing one, dedicate the hours needed to execute per week or delegate it to your team member.
5 Measure - Make sure you set up a system to measure the impact of the new marketing channel. Otherwise, you will be in the dark.
Cheat Sheet
🛠️ Tools:
Substack - for value newsletters
Get Response - for promo newsletters
Rewardful - Referal marketing tool
Gather - virtual events with a space
Circle - community tool
💡 Trainings:
Entire free online training how to create leads
Hubspot Academy for free marketing online classes
If you just take one message away from this, it is that you don't have to have Social Media.
Yes, it can help you massively, but if it's not your thing, find the channel that truly brings out the best in you.
After all, it doesn't matter where people come from as long as they start to buy/donate your nature services.
See you next week, have a wild one!
Best,
Oliver
P.S. If you find this newsletter useful, please consider sharing it with one ecopreneur friend. Together, we can make the world wilder.
🦧 Whenever you are ready, there are 2 ways Wild Business Mates can help you grow and double your impact:
1.1-to-1 business consulting. Detailed and personalized consulting to double the impact of your biodiversity organization in the shortest possible time. I have experience with all 9 channels. Book a free intro call.
2. Wild Business Mates in Action. Wild Business Mates help you execute in areas you are struggling with. Tech, Marketing, Sales, Communication, etc. We can realize all the steps I mentioned above.