When it comes to “marketing” there is considerable confusion about what to do and how to make. “Place an AD into a magazine that cover your industry or niche” may says some “expert”, “Blast your Ad to millions through Facebook says another, “Get clicks using Pay Per Click (PPC)” screams another. But it’s not that simple, is it?
I suspect that you know by now that succeeding online or offline is more than just placing an Ad in “this or that” platform or using “this or that” system. You probably know too that to generate leads, make a sale and succeeding need hard work and perseverance. Yes, it’s hard but you can do it. Many people may question “If these things don’t work what does work?”.
In other words… what does great marketing look like? My best short answer is that good marketing does the following:
– Great marketing teaches
– Great marketing sells
– Great marketing follows up
– Great marketing creates value
– Great marketing gets shared If you have a bit more interest about it, continues reading and let’s look at each briefly.
1) Great Marketing Teaches
Many years ago there was a school of selling that believed prospects should not be educated, that they should be “teased” and “tricked” into making the purchase. Those days are over. Today’s consumer, and in special this new internet-age consumer, wants and needs more information than ever before.
– They want to know what your product or service does.
– They want to know what’s in it for them – how they will benefit.
– They want reviews.
– They want to ask questions.
– They want testimonials.
– They want to be reassured you are for real.
2) Great Marketing Sells
Far more than just teaching for the sake of teaching, great marketing builds sales momentum from the teaching that is shared. The entire point of writing articles, add content in your blog or facebook page, and more, is to make a sale. Keep giving out great content is great marketing. The new era consumer wants to be informed. But I am not saying piece of marketing must “close the deal”. No. Not at all. I am saying that all information shared should lead the reader to one of a few conclusions bellow.
– You (the person doing the marketing) know what you are doing.
– What you are teaching about works in your life.
– What you are teaching about can work in the reader’s life too.
– Getting started is easy.
3) Great Marketing Follows Up
We live in a distracted time. We are so distracted that we have to pass laws to stop people from texting while they drive a car! Never before have there been so many distractions, so many choices. In the case of marketing online, in part, it is why websites no longer convert visitors into buyers very well.
But there is a way to dramatically increase sales online or even offline, if you stop trying to make the sale now and start building your list instead. Then let email follow up do the selling. And how you can build your list? A strong word: free. And here two ideas: doing it offline, in an event or trader show for example, offer something for free in exchange for the potential customer give you his/her email; or doing online, offer a discount or something digital for free driving traffic for a specific “squeeze page”.
4) Great Marketing Creates Value
Without value, without over-delivering on your promise, you will make the first sale but no more. And again, it works online as well as offline. What is better…making $10 profit one time or making $7 profit three or five times? Get the idea? Create value and making the customer feeling that he got a great deal is key for your continue sales and success. And think about this: It costs six times more to make a customer the first time than to sell a second item to your existing customer.Six times! That’s huge.
You can add value also after the sale in one of many ways. I’ll give you here, two just two to get your thinking: Offer an exclusive bonus and/or offer a free consulting.
5) Great Marketing Gets Shared Here
I start with a simple question? What is the most powerful form of advertising on the planet and all times? What is the one form of advertising that no money can buy? If you answered “word of mouth” you are correct. Word of mouth advertising, also known as friends telling friends, is the most powerful form of advertising known to mankind — and you can’t buy it no matter how much you spend.
When a friend tells you about a product they love you are “pre-sold”, meaning you will buy that product (in most cases) if you need what it does. This can’t be bought, it can only be earned. It’s also the reason why so many “review” sites exist online. Most of them fail because the “reviews” are not reviews at all but rather thinly-veiled sales pitches for the product being reviewed.
If all of these sounds a bit daunting to you – like more than you will ever be able to do – don’t be worried. What is important here is that you figure out that if you make your customer happy, he or she should be your best bet for great reviews and “word of mouth” marketing.
No matter where you stand now, knowing where you want to go is the first step in achieving your goals. Now that you know what great marketing looks like evaluate where you are now, where you want to be and set your goals to reach your destination. If you need any help with your marketing, feel free to contact us. We know how to make our customers happy.