Marketing Strategy
Over the years I’ve advised small businesses all over the world on Marketing Strategy. Here are some key strategic points that will keep your Marketing Strategy on course…
Marketing Strategy No.1 – Taking Consistent Action Is The Only Way To Find Out What Really Works
One of the most common things I hear Small Business Owners say to me when they meet me for the first time is, “Direct Mail doesn’t work!”
My response to this is, “How many times did you send your mailing?”
Nearly everyone of them replies by saying “Once or twice.”
Direct mail and the whole of marketing is built on a series of sequences which must be repeated and stuck to. And those that think less and do more (in my experience) seem to be better at the marketing game.
Now I’m not saying you should keep running an ad or a sales letter that got zero response but you should test a new approach until you find the one that produces a result. If you do you will begin to find things do work (including Direct Mail, Classified Ads, Websites, etc). You just need to give things a little time, stick to the plan and understand that it’s the way you’re doing things and not the media if things aren’t working.
Marketing Strategy No.2 – The List Is What Makes Or Breaks The Success Of Your Marketing
When I’m speaking at conferences or running one my mastermind groups I think the question I get asked the most is “If you could pick one thing to keep in your business if you lost everything what would it be?” And my answer is always, “The ‘LIST’!”
You see the ‘list’ you are talking to through your marketing media dictates the success of the media you are using. The truth is no matter how brilliant a headline is or compelling an offer may be, all of that counts for nothing if it’s all aimed at the wrong audience.
So remember when you’re sending a mailing, a batch email, a fax blast or a leaflet drop, the list that your media is going to needs to be tightly matched to your message.
Marketing Strategy No.3 – The ‘Offer’ Is Everything
When I look at any marketing material that has not pulled a great response there is always a number of reasons why. But the most frequent reason of all (outside of the ‘list’ not being targeted enough) is the lack of an ‘Irresistible Offer’.
The great thing about an ‘offer’ is that it costs nothing to think up and usually can create an increase in response of over 100% – 200%.
But the other thing about an ‘offer’ is realising that it is the reason for you to create and send out all of your marketing materials. This is a breakthrough for many small business owners. As soon as they get this they change the way they run their marketing.
So next time you create a sales letter or run an ad ask yourself “what’s the offer going to be this time?” and you’ll be starting down the right road.
Marketing Strategy No.4 – Headlines Are The Reason Why A Prospect Will Read The Rest Of Your Ad
The secret to a good headline is creating something that connects with the conversation that’s already going on inside the prospects head.
It’s not about creating clever slogans or anecdotes. Instead get inside the customer’s shoes and think like they think. Then craft a headline that answers a problem or suggests a result that they would love to achieve.
For example, a headline I used to great effect for a debt management client increased leads by over 200% in just one week. It read, “Did You Know That You Don’t Have To Keep Making Debt Repayments If You Can No Longer Afford Them?”
If you were killing yourself to keep up with your credit card payments wouldn’t that make you read the next part of the ad?
Marketing Strategy No.5 – Guarantees Increase Sales
I think the biggest fear most small business owners have when I talk to them about marketing is offering a really strong guarantee.
The thing is ‘guarantees’ are all about perception rather than reality.
The purpose of a guarantee is to create the perception in the prospects mind of, “these guys must be fantastic or insane if they are offering me that level of guarantee.”
One good way to come up with a guarantee like this is to create a list of your prospect’s biggest fears. Then all you need to do is tell them you guarantee that none of these will come to bear and if they do they’ll get a complete refund.
If you’re still worried about the thought of giving such a generous guarantee just ask yourself how many times have you not delivered on quashing these fears? If the answer is once in a blue moon then you know you can make the offer of the guarantee because you’re going to win more than you will lose.
The upside though is in the numbers and in particularly your sales conversion ratio. As soon as you use guarantees in the way I’ve just discussed your sales conversion will soar and so will your profits.
Marketing Strategy No.6 – Your Call To Action Has To Be Believable And Make Sense
A ‘call to action’ is one of the most potent marketing strategies available to any business. Your ‘call to action’ needs to combine huge perceived value and limited availability all in the same box. The result is that it makes potential buyers act now!
For example, when Elton John announces a new set of concert dates there is an immediate and natural ‘call to action’ due to the huge value Elton delivers and the limited number of tickets available.
So much of what I’m sent or read lacks a call to action of this nature. And if it does have a call to action it’s most probably something that I don’t believe is true.
You see when someone says they’ve only got 15 copies of a Free Report I immediately think, “that just doesn’t ring true”, because who prints just 15 copies of a report and can’t print another one if it’s needed.
But if they say “For all those that request a copy of the Free Report there is a Special Offer worth over £500 to the first 3 people that respond”, I am much more likely to respond on the hurry up!
Marketing Strategy No.7 – Benefits Speak Louder Than Features
Writing copy for ads and all other forms of media is all about explaining the value of your proposition to your reader.
But in most ads and marketing materials I’m sent to critique or improve upon, the copy is all centred around the company or the service/product. In other words its all about them and how good they are.
This may be true but it’s not what the reader is interested in. There’s only one thing the reader’s interested in and that’s them selves.
So when writing copy you have to think in terms of the problems you’re going to be solving, how you solve them and what the result of solving them will be.
If you’ve got any queries please make a comment and I’ll come right back to you.
Speak soon…
