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September 22, 2025 14 mins

If your marketing feels like a rollercoaster—busy one month, crickets the next—there’s a good chance you’re facing hidden gaps in your system. It’s not that you’re doing something wrong; it’s that disconnected efforts, blind spots, and overcomplication can quietly derail even the most well-intentioned strategies.

In this episode, I break down the three most common marketing gaps that hold small business owners back, and how to spot which one is affecting you most. We’ll talk about why consistency matters more than complexity and how to focus your energy on the right part of your customer journey. If your marketing results feel unpredictable, this conversation will help you get back on track with less stress and more clarity.

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Episode Transcript

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Janice Hostager (00:05):
I'm Janice Hostager.
After three decades in themarketing business and many
years of being an entrepreneur,I've learned a thing or two
about marketing.
Join me as we talk aboutmarketing, small business and
life in between.
Welcome to my Weekly Marketing.

(00:33):
Hey friend, welcome back to myWeekly Marketing.
Okay, so let me ask yousomething.
Do you ever feel like you'reworking so hard in your
marketing, like you're postingon Instagram and sending emails,
maybe even trying some ads, butyour results still feel
unpredictable?
Like one month you hit a client, the next month crickets.
If that's you, here's what Iwant you to know.
It's probably not that you'redoing something wrong or that

(00:54):
you're bad at marketing.
The issue is that there arehidden gaps in your marketing
system and those gaps leakmomentum, they leak leads, and
they leak revenue.
So today we're going to uncoverthose hidden gaps and talk
about exactly how to close them.
By the end of this episode,you'll know what's holding your
marketing back and the simplesteps you can take to finally

(01:15):
start seeing consistent results.
I'll also let you in on a wayto discover what your gaps are
and how to close them.
So stick around to the end,because you're going to walk
away with clarity on whereyou're stuck and how to move
forward.
Okay, so let's start with thebig question.
Why do marketing gaps evenhappen?
The first reason - overwhelm.

(01:37):
There are millions of tacticsbeing thrown at you.
I totally get it.
Reels, funnels, TikTok, AI, ads, and you feel like you need to
do all of them.
But when you try to doeverything, nothing really
connects.
It becomes less of a system andmore just kind of throwing

(01:57):
spaghetti at the wall to seewhat sticks.
When there's no strategy, itbecomes a random acts of
marketing.
The second thing I think thathappens it certainly happens to
me is our blind spots.
Most business owners arenaturally strong in one area.
Maybe you're amazing atbuilding awareness with social
media, but you don't have asystem for actually converting
that attention to customers.

(02:18):
Or maybe you're great at makingsales calls but you're not
bringing in new people to talkto.
When one area is weak, itcreates a hidden gap, and I get
it.
We all gravitate to what we'regood at and avoid the things
we're not.
Nobody is blaming you for that,but being aware of what those
things are can make a bigdifference in your business.

(02:41):
And the third reason whymarketing gaps happen is what I
call the "busy but brokesyndrome.
You're hustling, you're posting, you're signing up for
challenges and doing all thethings, but because there's no
system, you're mistakingactivity for momentum.
It's where you're busy all thetime but not actually doing the
things that move the needle, andthat just requires some

(03:02):
self-awareness and a clear pathof action every week.
It's easy to slip into this -it happens to me all the time.
But when you catch yourselfspending an entire morning, like
I did today, trying tounderstand why ManyChat wasn't
working instead of justcontacting support, it's time to
redirect yourself.
Marketing gaps are like this.
Imagine you're carrying abucket of water up a hill, but

(03:24):
that bucket has holes in it.
No matter how hard you work,the water leaks out before you
reach the top.
That's what hidden marketinggaps do.
They drain your effort andexhaust you way before you get
results.
Okay, so that's why gaps happen.
But now let's talk about threeof the most common types of
hidden gaps I see over and overagain.

(03:44):
Gap number one is the Awarenessgap.
This is when not enough peopleknow you exist.
Maybe you're relying onreferrals or posting when you
remember.
Without new people enteringyour world, your pipeline dries
up.
There's a lot of noise outthere, a full inbox.
Social media is like a zoo,right?

(04:05):
It's really hard to stand out,and because there's so much
going on all the time, we try tobe in all the places, and
that's, honestly, just a recipefor disaster.
A quick fix is choosing oneawareness strategy.
Maybe consistent Instagramposts or podcast guesting -
something that falls into theawareness phase and then commit

(04:28):
to it.
There are a lot of ways todrive awareness.
If you serve a pain point thatpeople turn to Google for, maybe
it's focusing on your searchengine optimization, or maybe
even Google ads, or maybe it'sgetting on podcasts or getting
in publications.
Whatever it is, go all in onone thing at a time.
That'll give you traction andthat will build your confidence

(04:52):
for moving forward too.
Gap number two is the Conversiongap.
This is when people see you,maybe even follow you, but they
don't take the next step.
They're curious, but they don'tconvert.
Usually, this means you don'thave a clear freebie - also
called a lead magnet, or anemail nurture sequence in place
that solves a problem for yourcustomer.

(05:13):
Truthfully, people areinundated with freebies and
especially with AI, you need togive something of value away,
and there's so much informationright now.
People are drowning ininformation.
So your freebie could be a lotof different things, depending
on your industry.
It could be a mini training, aplanner, a contest, a toolkit or

(05:35):
a challenge.
Those things convert a littlebetter than just, maybe, a free
download these days.
But whatever it is, share yourbest stuff.
That's how you stand out andget noticed.
Then you have them on youremail list.
Even today, email is still themost cost-effective way to
convert subscribers to buyers.
As they say and have said foryears, the money is in the list.

(06:13):
And you don't need a thousandlead magnets, just one that
leads to your offer, thatpre-qualifies them to be
interested in what you'reselling.
Don't give them anything, leadthem down the trail.
If you're running a contestthat is giving away, say, a free
MacBook Pro, but you are ahealth coach, you're probably
not going to get the people thatare interested in your product
or service to be on your list.
You're just going to get a lotof unqualified entrants.
So make sure that whatever yougive them leads to what you're
selling.
So create one irresistible leadmagnet that leads to your offer

(06:35):
and set up a simple three orfour email nurture sequence to
follow it up.
Okay, gap number three, what Icall the retention gap.
You get customers, but they'reone and done.
No repeat sales, no referrals.

(06:55):
That's because you don't have asystem for follow-ups, upsells
or turning happy customers intopromoters.
Most e-commerce businesses see15 to 30% of their customers
come back for another purchase,and a healthy repurchase rate is
20 to 40%, depending on yourindustry, product type.
So that should make you standout and say, "wow, maybe I
should be paying attention tothe people that have already
bought from me.
So there are a few factors thatpush the repeat sales rate

(07:19):
higher.
One could be a subscriptionmodel, could be a loyalty
program or perks for repeatbuyers.
Making sure that you'rereliable and have good customer
support and do things quickly,that can make a difference.
And strong post-purchasemarketing, such as emails and
follow-ups and reminders.

(07:39):
Those will all help push thatrepeat sales rate higher.
Things that pull it lower wouldbe one-off services and products
, poor customer experience orhigh friction, so that means
that it's difficult to buy.
Like the checkout process iscumbersome or you make him go
through a meeting first orsomething like that, so those

(08:01):
things can actually pull yourrepeat sale rate down.
And then also weakcommunication after your first
sale.
Make sure that you have anoffer ladder where your customer
can go after your initial offer.
So an offer ladder would besomething that starts out low,
low price point for people thatare just coming into your

(08:22):
program or your process, andthen the next step would be
something a little more advanced.
And then the third step wouldbe something even beyond that.
So if you have a coachingprogram, that could lead to a
mastermind, if you have aphotography service, you could
offer a different type ofsitting than the one they bought
and then follow up with themand stay in touch and add

(08:44):
follow-up emails after a projectends or create a referral bonus
.
That's another good way ofhelping those people become your
champions.
Simple shifts that keepmomentum going are powerful.
So these three gaps -awareness, conversion, retention
are the biggest culprit behindinconsistent results and

(09:05):
inconsistent sales.
Okay, so I've created somethingthat I call the Ultimate Gap
Finder.
I call it the Trail to the SaleFramework.
Think of it like a hiking trail.
Without a map, you're justwandering through the woods,
taking random turns, hoping youend up at the right destination.
But with a trail map, everystep is clear.
You know where you're going andyou know how to get there.

(09:27):
The Trail has eight stages.
Awareness, which we just talkedabout.
Consider, where I like to movepeople to my email list so that
I can send out nurture sequencesfrom there.
Compare, which is where youshow people how you're different
from the competition - howyou're better than the
competition.
The Evaluation stage, whichisn't for all products or

(09:48):
services, but it gives outpeople an opportunity to try you
out.
Maybe that's a conversion eventlike a webinar or a free trial,
a freemium trial, somethingalong those lines.
Sell, which is where we look atpricing and addressing
objections.
Supersize, where you can getthem to move up, or maybe buy a

(10:09):
suggestion sale item.
Serve, which is after the sale- how well you serve them and
how well you take care of thepeople that have already bought.
And then Send, which is where Iask people to share with others
and give me an evaluation andrefer.
So this is why this matters.
If one stage is missing, thewhole trail breaks down.

(10:31):
So if you're missing Awareness,nobody knows you exist.
If you're missing Consider,people know about you, but don't
take the next step.
If you're missing Evaluate,people look at you and your
competitor, and they choosecompetitor because they haven't
tried it out yet.
If you're missing Serve, yousell once, but your clients
won't come back because you'renot serving them.

(10:52):
See how each stage builds onthe last.
So let me give you a story.
One of my clients was doing allthe things - running webinars,
podcasting, even running ads.
But when we mapped her effortsonto the Trail to the Sale,
guess what?
She had awareness and a goodoffer, but she had no consider
stage, she wasn't capturingemails and she wasn't nurturing

(11:14):
people through her email service.
Once we plugged in a stronglead magnet and a nurture
sequence, suddenly thingsstarted working for her.
Same effort, different result,because now it was connected.
So how do you figure out whereyour hidden gaps are?
First of all, Diagnose.
Pay attention to where peopleare dropping off.
Are you struggling to attractnew people?

(11:35):
Are they signing up but notbuying?
Are they buying once butdisappearing?
Step two, Simplify.
Focus on closing one gap at atime.
Don't try and fix everythingall at once.
Pick the weakest link andstrengthen it.
And step three, Systematize.
Once something's working, makeit repeatable.
Use templates, automations andprocesses so you don't have to

(11:59):
reinvent the wheel every week.
Here are three quick actionsthat you can take this week.
First of all, audit yourcustomer journey.
Write down how somebody goesfrom finding you to buying from
you.
Do people fall off?
Where do they fall off?
Take a look at that.
Next, create or refine oneclear lead magnet that connects
to your offer.

(12:19):
It just takes one, but it needsto be really good and it needs
to be really strong.
And then finally, send afollow-up email to one past
customer and thank them forbeing a customer, and invite
them back or ask for a referral.
Small shifts like that can behuge.
Okay, so now you're listeningand thinking, "Okay, I see the

(12:41):
gaps, but I don't know how toput all the pieces together.
" That's exactly why I built acourse called Modern Marketing
Mastery.
Inside the course, I walk youthrough step-by-step through the
Trail to the Sale so that youcan stop guessing and stop doing
random acts of marketing andfinally have a strategy that
works.
You can join the waitlist atjanicehostager dot com forward

(13:04):
slash modern marketing mastery.
I'll also put the link in theshow notes.
But if you're first wonderinghow to figure out where your
marketing gaps are, you canstart with my free marketing
clarity quiz.
It'll help you see which gap iscosting you the most right now
and I give you the exact stepsyou need to close that gap in
your business.
You can find the marketingclarity quiz at janicehostager

(13:26):
dot com forward slash quiz andagain, I'll put the link in the
show notes.
So I just want to encourage you.
You're not broken.
Your business is not broken.
You just have gaps, and gapscan be closed, and I want to
commend you for taking messyeffort, because that's how we
figure out where our gaps areand that's how we move forward.
So this week, pick one smallaction to start closing your

(13:49):
hidden gaps.
Take the free quiz to find yourfocus.
And remember, momentum comeswith consistency, one clear step
at a time.
Thanks so much for joining metoday.
For more information aboutanything we talked about, visit
myweeklymarketing dot comforward slash 126.
See you next time.
Bye for now.
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