What Is Passive VS Active Marketing?

It's Saturday morning and I'm sitting on my sofa in my matching silk pjs, drinking my matcha and reading my book with nowhere to go and nothing to do. It's true bliss and a privilege I really don't take for granted. As I'm relaxing a notification pings on my phone with the following message:

💸 you’ve made a £550 sale!

Of course, I'm a business owner so any income in is something to get excited about... but the real enthusiasm for me came from the fact that this sale means I get to spend an entire day writing a content piece for a client I truly adore, who's work I feel incredibly passionate about.

A contrast to the "how to make passive income online" narrative you're used to seeing everywhere.

The thing is, I really love what I do. When I'm in the flow if it, it gives me so much energy and I wouldn't choose to be doing anything else. Of course, that's not always true. There are definitely times I'd much rather be binge watching Netflix, or sitting by the water watching the waves go by. But if you told me I could have entirely passive income overnight (what every other business coach seems to be promising at the moment), I wouldn't want it.

What I do want, is to be spending more time in my zone of genius in my business, rather than being at my desk for days on end doing the tasks that drain the life out of me. I have the desire for everything to be streamlined, operating without me needing to be constantly "on" and leading people into my work without me actively having to sell sell sell all the time (which by the way, is what these so called "passive" business owners are actually doing as opposed to the "sipping cocktails on a beach in Bali" narrative they spread).

That's where passive vs active marketing comes in.

Active marketing is the kind that is bold in its pursuit to attract the attention of customers and for you as the business owner requires you to be "on". It's what we see a lot of on social media with all of the hooks, directness and general active selling. And whilst as a conscious business owner you may feeling some resistance rise to this kind of promotion, there's a time and place for active marketing. It can be beneficial for building initial momentum, establishing your brand presence, and connecting with your audience on a personal level. With its requirement for you to actively show up, it means you can build relationships so people can buy from creators they know, like, and trust. But here's the catch: active marketing can be exhausting if it's your only strategy. The constant pressure to perform, to create content that screams for attention, can lead to burnout faster than you can say "Instagram algorithm."

Passive marketing, on the other hand, is like planting seeds in a well-tended garden.

You nurture your leads, cultivate relationships, and provide value consistently, knowing that over time, those seeds will sprout into loyal customers who keep coming back for more. It's about leveraging automation, content evergreenness, and strategic positioning to attract your dream clients effortlessly. It can also be beneficial in taking customers on a journey to seeing if what you have to offer serves them - in their own time, without urgency and with ample space to make decisions (the aligned way of marketing!).

So, what are some passive marketing examples?

Evergreen Content:

Simply put: this is content that can be accessed at any time... without disappearing in the depths of the algorithm. Think blog posts, videos, podcasts, or other forms of content that remain relevant and valuable to your audience over time. Evergreen content continues to attract organic traffic from search engines and social media shares long after it's been published. This means it keeps having it's impact without you having to continually create over and over again.

Lead Magnets and Opt-In Offers:

There is no marketing more impactful than the "try before you buy technique". I don't want to spend hours on end telling people what I do and why they need it (active marketing technique here). I would much rather let people get a feel for the offering, start them on their journey, teach them a technique that shows my expertise or offer a sneak peek that let's them see if they want more.

Email Marketing Automation:

Email marketing is one of my favourite forms. I plan emails weeks in advance and don't need to worry about when/how to post them. Then, I can segment different messaging to the people it is most likely to be relevant to, so I'm not bombarding people with things they don't want to see. Finally, I can set up email sequences, so once someone has signed up (to the lead magnets mentioned above) I can take them on a journey that invites them to see whether my services may be relevant to them. This all happens whilst I sleep, so it's a dream (I couldn't help that pun, I'm sorry).

You can get 50% off of Flodesk to do this by tapping here.

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO):

This very blog you are reading is a passive form of marketing because it is SEO optimised so when people search this topic, it arrives in front of them. All I do is write it, optimise it and let the magic happen! This can be a big topic to understand, but a simple start is to head over to Answer The Public, type in a keyword for your business and see what people are searching about in regards to it. Use the exact phrasing of the questions as your blog title and throughout the blog! You can then add your pins on Pinterest with the same process and drive people to the blog!

So, there you have it! Passive vs Active marketing.

If you want to dive into your own passive strategy, you can book a 90 minute call with me here.