MARKETING 101: Top 15 Most Frequently Asked Questions Answered Honestly…
1. What is digital marketing and how does it work?
Digital marketing is just: getting the right people to the right offer at the right time, using the internet.
It works in three layers:
Attention – People discover you (social, SEO, podcasts, referrals, ads).
Trust – They binge your content, join your list, watch a training, stalk your testimonials.
Action – They buy, book, apply, or share.
You’re not throwing posts at the wall; you’re intentionally moving people from “who is this?” to “take my card” with clear steps in between: content → lead magnet → email nurture → offer.
2. How do I create a digital marketing strategy/plan for my business?
Start simple. Strategy is just what you’re selling, to whom, and how you’ll get in front of them consistently.
I like to break it into:
Offer: What are your core offers for the next 90 days? (Max 1–3, not 12.)
Audience: Who needs this? Be painfully specific. “Women 30–45” is not a niche. “Moms running service-based businesses who are tired of DIY marketing” is.
Visibility: Pick 1–2 main channels (ex: Instagram + email, or podcast + LinkedIn) and go all in.
Lead Gen: How are new people entering your world? (Free call, webinar, quiz, checklist, challenge.)
Nurture: What happens after they opt in? (Welcome sequence, weekly emails, regular social content.)
Sales: What are your launch windows or always-on funnels? When and how do you make the actual ask?
If you can answer those six pieces clearly, you have a strategy. The rest is execution and refinement.
3. How much should I spend on marketing / digital marketing?
The honest answer: it depends on your revenue, your margins, and your goals.
As a general starting point:
If you’re still getting stable revenue: 5–10% of monthly revenue on marketing.
If you’re in growth mode: 10–20% of monthly revenue (especially if you’re running paid ads).
The bigger question is: where is that money going?
If you’re spending on tools and random one-off courses but not actually driving traffic or building your list, you’re not “investing in marketing,” you’re just shopping.
A good spend mix:
Some on prospecting traffic (ads, collaborations, sponsorships).
Some on conversion (copy, design, funnels, email).
Some on retention (community, member experience, client support).
4. What are the best marketing channels for my business?
The “best” channel is the one your people actually use and you can show up on consistently.
Think of it like this:
Awareness channels: Instagram, TikTok, podcasts, SEO, collabs, PR.
Conversion channels: Email, sales calls, webinars, DMs, live launches.
Most businesses do best with:
One discovery channel (ex: IG or TikTok or podcast), and
One ownership channel (email list, Substack, or SMS).
If you’re trying to be everywhere, you will end up being nowhere with conviction. I’d rather see you be unstoppable on two platforms than exhausted on seven.
5. How do I know if my marketing is working (what metrics should I track)?
You’re looking for proof that:
People are finding you.
People are sticking around.
People are buying.
At a basic level, track:
Audience growth: New email subscribers, new followers (quality over vanity).
Engagement: Saves, replies, DMs, link clicks, webinar/show-up rates.
Sales metrics: Applications, discovery calls, purchases, revenue per launch, repeat buyers.
If you’re running ads:
Cost per lead, cost per purchase, ROAS.
If you feel “busy” but these numbers are flat, your marketing is noise, not strategy. If your list is growing and sales are happening with less effort, it’s working.
speaking of ads…
PAID ADS:
6. Do Facebook/Instagram/Google ads actually work for small businesses?
Yes—with a big asterisk: they work if your offer is clear, your messaging is strong, and your backend is ready.
Ads amplify what already exists:
If your offer converts organically, ads can pour fuel on it.
If it doesn’t, ads will just help you waste money faster.
For small businesses, paid ads are especially powerful when:
You’re driving traffic to a proven lead magnet or webinar.
You have follow-up email sequences in place.
You’re willing to test, optimize, and play the long game.
Ads are not a magic wand; they’re a volume knob. Make sure the music is good before you turn it up.
7. How much should I spend on Facebook/Instagram/Google ads?
Work backwards from your goals and your capacity.
Ask:
What am I selling?
How many sales do I want in the next 30–90 days?
What is a realistic cost per lead or per purchase in my industry?
For many service-based businesses:
A test budget might look like $30day for 30 days to validate a funnel.
Once you see leads or sales coming in at a cost that makes sense, you can scale.
If spending that amount for 1–2 months makes you physically ill, you’re either:
Not ready for ads yet, or
Need to start even smaller and treat it as paid market research while you tighten your offer.
8. How do I target the right audience with my ads?
Three parts:
Get your messaging right first.
Clear copy does more than hyper-granular targeting. If your ad sounds like it was written for everyone, it will convert for no one.Use what you already know.
Who buys from you now?
What are their interests, behaviors, job titles, problems?
Turn that into detailed targeting and lookalike audiences (if you have a list).Let the algorithm help you.
On Meta especially, broad targeting + strong creative often performs better than obsessively specific interests. Test both, but don’t over-engineer.
The “right” audience is the one that responds. Trust your data more than your assumptions.
9. What is a good ROAS / cost per lead / conversion rate for my ads?
I care less about chasing someone else’s “perfect” metric and more about this question:
Can you profitably acquire customers with these numbers?
General sanity checks:
Cost per lead: If you’re high-ticket, you can afford higher CPLs. If you’re selling a $27 product, you can’t.
ROAS (return on ad spend): For many online businesses, breaking even or a small profit on the front end is a win if you have solid back-end offers and repeat sales.
Conversion rate: If nobody is clicking, it’s the ad. If they click but don’t buy, it’s the landing page or the offer.
You define “good” by your margins, your price point, and your ability to monetize leads over time.
10. Why aren’t my ads delivering or getting approved?
Most common reasons:
Compliance: Your ad violates platform policies (language about health, money, “before/after,” personal attributes, etc.).
Technical issues: Pixel not set up, wrong optimization event, tiny audience size, weird placements.
Learning phase / low budget: Budget too low, too many changes, or not enough time for the system to learn.
What to do:
Read the actual policy rejection (annoying, but necessary).
Tone down anything that sounds like a promise, an attack on identity, or a medical claim.
Simplify your campaign structure and give it a real chance (7–10 days) before you panic.
EMAIL MARKETING
11. Is email marketing still effective, or is it dead?
It’s absolutely not dead. It’s just boring when people use it badly.
Email still wins because:
You own your list; you don’t own your followers.
It’s direct, personal, and searchable.
It drives a huge percentage of online sales, especially for small businesses.
If your email feels like spam, your subscribers will treat it like spam. If your email feels like a trusted friend who also happens to sell helpful things, it will print money for years.
12. How often should I email my list without annoying people?
You’re not annoying people by emailing. You’re annoying them by sending irrelevant or low-value emails.
For most founders:
Minimum: 1x per week.
For launches or promotions: It’s okay to send more (even daily for a few days) if you’re clear about what you’re doing and who it’s for.
You want your audience used to hearing from you. Ghosting your list for weeks and then showing up only when you want to sell is what actually annoys people.
13. What is a good email open rate and click-through rate?
Ballpark, not gospel:
If you’re consistently seeing 30–50% opens from a warm, engaged list, you’re doing great.
Click-through will be a much smaller subset; what matters is: are people taking the actions you care about (replying, applying, buying)?
More important than chasing a number is watching:
Are your opens stable or trending up?
Do you get replies and DMs after sending?
Does revenue clearly correlate with sending email?
If yes, your email is working.
14. How do I grow my email list with quality subscribers?
Think quality over volume and relevance over “freebie for the sake of a freebie.”
Try:
A highly specific lead magnet that directly links to your paid offers (checklist, quiz, workshop, mini training).
Clear, repeated CTAs across your content: “Get the full breakdown in my free guide / join the list for X.”
Collaborations, podcast swaps, guest trainings where your opt-in is the clear next step.
If you wouldn’t be excited to sign up for your own list, your audience won’t be either.
15. How do I stop emails going to spam / improve deliverability and reduce unsubscribes?
Deliverability is part tech, part behavior.
On the tech side:
Use a reputable email platform.
Authenticate your domain (DKIM, SPF—boring but essential).
Don’t buy lists. Ever.
On the human side:
Only email people who actually opted in.
Invite replies. Real two-way engagement helps your sender reputation.
Clean your list regularly (remove cold subscribers who haven’t opened in months).
Unsubscribes are not failure; they’re a sorting mechanism. Focus on sending clear, honest, helpful emails to the people who want to be there. The rest can opt out and make room for the right ones.
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XO,
Krista